Portrait clarity help please with photos

<p class="MsoNormal"]<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"]I have been helped before by you kind folk and I looking once again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] Clarity, I&rsquo;m having issues with portrait clarity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] I find that a lot of my portrait shots need to be touched up dramatically in DPP to get them clear, they seem to have a blur about them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] I have tried different aperture settings and shutter speeds, shoot with a tripod and shutter release but I still think they should be better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] The most common settings I use with my 50D are, lens 55-200 lens set around the 80-100mm range, AF &amp; IS on, Manfrotto tripod, 430EXii flash (not always used), shutter at 1/250, aperture ranging from F2.8 to F8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] Do I need to go to a faster shutter speed to stop what looks like model movement blur? Buy an L series lens (not zoom) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"]When I do still life I don&rsquo;t seem to get the issues, as I said it looks the model has moved ever so slightly to create this blur, but it happens to regularly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] Any help would be greatly appreciated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] Thankyou all so m[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.26.38/G104-thumb.JPG[/img]uch
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As always with every thread, uploading a picture of your results would help greatly. We can only do so much with only a description.

Firstly turn off your IS when on the tripod...those gyros are going nuts looking for movement ..which is not there ......A really simple start is to try the 430 in Manual mode, set to say 1/4 power ...camera in manual and start at 1/125 to 1/160 to cut out some but not all ambient and then shoot at f9 and then drop if needed (check your histogram for clipping) ISO Between 100 and 200 ..I dont have that lens but would suggest shooting around the 60mm mark ...its still ok to use teh tripod but turn off the IS ...flash is pretty harsh though so try to modify in some manner





hope this helps in some manner ..I am a hack and by no means a pro but it works for me





AL

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Originally Posted by Scott

<p class="MsoNormal"]<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"]I have been helped before by you kind folk and I looking once again.<span> Clarity, I&rsquo;m having issues with portrait clarity.<span> I find that a lot of my portrait shots need to be touched up dramatically in DPP to get them clear, they seem to have a blur about them.<span> I have tried different aperture settings and shutter speeds, shoot with a tripod and shutter release but I still think they should be better.<span> The most common settings I use with my 50D are, lens 55-200 lens set around the 80-100mm range, AF &amp; IS on, Manfrotto tripod, 430EXii flash (not always used), shutter at 1/250, aperture ranging from F2.8 to F8.<span> Do I need to go to a faster shutter speed to stop what looks like model movement blur? Buy an L series lens (not zoom) <span>When I do still life I don&rsquo;t seem to get the issues, as I said it looks the model has moved ever so slightly to create this blur, but it happens to regularly.<span><span>
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I'm going to try to restate someone else's suggestions, but in a different manner to hopefully provide more educational value.


First, with due respect, the 55-250 (is that right?) lens isn't well-reviewed by Bryan. You might be best aiming for an aperture of f/8 to balance best optics with least diffraction. I second the suggestion to disable IS when shooting on tripod.


Second, let's talk ISO/shutter/aperture optimization. I'd start with manual exposure mode, f/8 at 1/250th, and ISO 100. F/8 optimizes optical quality of most lenses, and 1/250th puts you right at flash sync speed for the 50D. ISO 100 means the camera is least sensitive to light. Mount your flash, and try a shot. Look for the green flash confirmation light on the back of the flash (beneath the charged light/test button). Is it lit? If so, you have at least enough power from the flash to take your picture "properly". If not, raise the ISO until you get a confirmation light. For the moment, I think you want to optimize towards max power on your flash - that tends to be the shortest burst of light, and therefore the best action freezing.


Third, make sure all of the camera's noise reduction features are turned off.


I'd consider a 50mm f/1.8 "nifty fifty" lens, stopped down to f/2.8 or further, as a simple way to "amp up" your portraits. Alternatively, an 85/1.8 would do the job well too, for more money though.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 11pt;"]Scott,<o:p></o:p>


<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 11pt;"]Obviously the images are soft. The 55-200 is its sharpest at 135 at f11. One other issue that was not mentioned in the other post, is your camera focusing correctly? --1.) Are you close to the minimum focus distance for this lens? 2.) Focus on a yard stick at a 45 deg angle (18 inches) and see if you are front or back focusing, use the same set-up to check this.<o:p></o:p>


<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 11pt;"]Make sure IS off, Mirror lock-up enabled, and use self timer.<o:p></o:p>


<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 11pt;"]Let us know.<o:p></o:p>


<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 11pt;"]Bob<o:p></o:p>

Scott, I read this post last night and just noticed you gave a quick shout out to the guys who contributed and help improve your results... can you follow up with some similar picsto compare? I'm sure folks would be interested in seeing before and after comparisons.


Dave

<p class="MsoNormal"]<span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;"][img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/5x3/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.26.38/dcvsdvsdv.JPG[/img]Hi Dave and all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] Well I have crunched the numbers and found the best combinations with my EFS18 &ndash; 200mmIS lens and 50 D. (not 50 &ndash; 200 as I mentioned before, sorry) I understand, now, that every lens has an ideal focal length to have optimum clarity; I just had heaps of trouble finding it, well time at least.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] The suggestions I did get from every one else were very helpful also, so once again thank you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] Below is a photo I took, one of a million or so it felt, and the settings I came up with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] I found that shooting portrait at varying distances from my subject with my lens. gave me a window of clarity to use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] To much outside this window gave me very poor results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] Please comment if you like on the following. Cheers
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<p class="MsoNormal"]<span style="font-size: small;"]<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"]1/200, F/8, 80mm, ISO400, picture style standard, white balance cloudy, RAW, sharpness 3.[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/5x3/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.26.38/dcvsdvsdv.JPG[/img][img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.26.38/dcvsdvsdv.JPG[/img]
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Hi Scott,


Looking at the above photo - I notice that the person's hair seem the sharpest at the middleon top of the head. (back focus).


Where was the focus point? If you used the center point, then it would be around the right eye - not good for this pose.


Give us more info on the focus point.