Soft images

boomer · Dec 2, 2022

I have an older dslr that I think I bought in the early 2000's and I usually use a prime 300mm f4.5. Recently I have started to get a lot of soft/busy images. Originally I thought that I was just getting old and was having a hard time focusing because of my eyes so I tried more autofocus. Result were still soft. I then thought maybe it was because I was taking deer pictures from a vehicle and because the vehicle was warm, I was getting some kind of heat distortion, so I moved from the vehicle with a tripod. Still soft. I have been trying to use a more closed f stop to get more depth of field and that has helped slightly but also messes with having enough light early and late. I also took a few shots at a ruler from a 45 degree angle and the sharpest portion of the ruler was where it was focused. So now I'm wondering, has this camera just met its life expectancy? Should I get a new one? Or, will I just have the same issues and be out the money for the new camera? Anybody have any suggestions for me?

wetmule · Dec 8, 2022

What camera/lens combo? Likely an issue with the lens. Have you tried a different lens with the same body to test for sharpness?

TheOneRidgeRunner · Dec 8, 2022

ISO settings checked?

boomer · Dec 9, 2022

wetmule said:
What camera/lens combo? Likely an issue with the lens. Have you tried a different lens with the same body to test for sharpness?

I haven't. That's a good idea and I will give it a shot.

boomer · Dec 9, 2022

TheOneRidgeRunner said:
ISO settings checked?

Thanks for the suggestion. I will have to check that out.

Manti377 · Dec 20, 2022

There are a number of factors that can contribute to soft pictures. You identified heat distortion from your truck. Still getting soft pictures once your were out of the truck and shooting from a tripod maybe due to heat trapped in your lens hood from being in a warm vehicle -next time remove the lens hood to allow the glass to reach outside temps. Finally there probably is nature heat distortion occurring between you and the subject your were shooting.

Looking at your photo it think it is either warm air in the lens hood and a soft nature heat distortion. Its not a missed focus issue as I do not see any parts of your photo that is in focus.

Try putting a target on a wall and take photos through all the f stops at the same ISO. See if you have crisp edges (also it will identify the best f stop of the lens as often lens will have an f stop that is crispest). Then try this with another lens. If the results are the same for different lens and the photos lack crispness then its a camera issue. If your 300 f4.5 is soft but the other lens is sharp then its a lens issue.

c3 · Dec 20, 2022

What you are seeing is called 'Diffraction'. When you stop down the F stop, depending on the lens, to F/11 or higher you will start to see significant softening of the whole image. If you are shooting at F/22 or F/32 your images will be marshmellow soft.

Your stopping down to get deeper depth of field is probably the cause with the lens you happen to have.

Keep your lens between F/5.6 and F/11 depending on the lens and you will see significantly better results than those super high f stops.

If you have too much light in the snow or bright grass, you'll need to put on an ND and or circular polarizer to knock down the amount of light a bit to keep those mid range f stops.

As Manti377 said above, shoot a chart from wide open to fully stopped down and compare images to find the money spot. Could just be your lens doesn't like F/16 and higher. It's actually pretty common of an issue.

Pretty sure if you shoot f/5.6 to f/8 and nail your focus, you'll be way happier with your images. Get that lens to nail focus on their eye lashes and let the rest of the image get softer. It brings everyone's attention to the very thing you are trying to show.

I do get it that it's a B to be that good at focus, but that's where the money shots come from.

Cheers, Pete

boomer · Dec 22, 2022

Thanks for all of the great advice. I shot a target on a wall that several of you suggested and it seems that the crispest shots came at f6.7, although 5.6 was pretty close. I've come to the conclusion that I am suffering from several small issues that are compounding. It is obvious that I need to do what I can to stay at f6.7 or close to. I am also trying to push the lens too far in terms of distance, the 300mm isn't really enough lens to take pictures at some of the distances that I try and I end up cropping afterword and lose a lot. I am also having a hard time with focus as my eyes are getting worse as I get older. A good tripod, or rest also seems to help. I am looking forward to implementing a few new things and see what I can come up with. I was hoping to get out today but the weather has closed most of the roads around me so I will try again soon.

Thanks again for helping me out.

Manti377 · Dec 22, 2022

If you shoot a Canon camera with an EF mount there's a 500mm f4 II at a great deal in the classifies. I know the seller

sticksender · Dec 22, 2022

Not sure, but when I click your images to view the larger versions, to me your plane of focus is behind the subject in both of those images. It may seem obvious, but if you are using auto-focus I guess just make sure your focus grid is set to target the center.

30PointBuck · Dec 22, 2022

Is there a filter on the lense?

ricochet · Feb 27, 2023

Older lenses can also develop fungus problems.

boomer · Mar 3, 2023

ricochet said:
Older lenses can also develop fungus problems.

Can those be cleaned? I wondered about taking the lens in and having a professional look it over.

Red Rabbit · Mar 5, 2023

If on a tripod, is the image stabilization turned off, using a cable release, 2 second shutter delay?

ricochet · Mar 13, 2023

boomer said:
Can those be cleaned? I wondered about taking the lens in and having a professional look it over.

Honestly don't know if fungus can be cleaned. I do know that usually when I have soft pics it's either because of atmospheric conditions, (heat waves, etc.) or just dust on various surfaces. It's amazing how little dust it takes on inner surfaces of your camera to throw off focusing.