Canon 70-300 mm IS USM blurry photos

[kpsanghvi]

Recently I bought a new  70 - 300 Canon IS (not the L white one). I was clicking famingoes and  other waders. Used servo focus and one shot in aperture priority mode with a wide aperture. I was not too impressed by its sharpness especially at 300. The sharpness I get with my 18-135 STM is much better compared to the 300 especially when cropped . Since the investment is already made and I cannot exchange it also for another lens what is the best way out. How do I improve sharpness. At what tele does it give the best sharpness. Should I send it for a check. It is under warranty. What would be the best option if I were to sell it buy another one.

After I had problems I read on the net that the sharpness of this lens isn't good at all. I am wondering why does Canon still sell it or does not do something about it. Does not it have a reputation to save.

[Waddizzle · Accepted solution]

I will take it as a given that you cannot return a new lens to where you purchased it.  What is the full, exact model number for the lens that you're talking about?

What camera are you using with the lens?  Some cameras have AFMA, Auto Focus Micro Adjustment.  Zoom lenses have long been known to sacrifice image quality for the convenience of mulitiple focal lengths, but they have gotten much better over the years, especially in the medium price range. 

Many zoom lenses perform better, and worse, at certain ranges of their focal lengths.  It is not uncommon for telephoto zooms to suffer a fall off in image quality at the top end of their zoom ranges.  However, you should not be seeing out of focus pictures.

If you are taking pictures handheld, try taking some from a sturdy tripod, just to see if camera shake is what you're seeing.  Also, make sure the Image Stabilization is turned on when using it handheld, and do not move the camera too quickly.

[EDIT]  Can you post a sample picture?

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

"... why does Canon still sell it or does not do something about it."

This is the lens you bought, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens?

Yes?  You have to remember Canon has a price point that it has to meet in order to satisfy most of its customers.  Most simply will not spend into the thousands for a tele lens.  Plus most want a full feature zoom that does as much as possible.  Hence the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens at a very reasonable price.

"Does not it have a reputation to save."

Yes they do. Both of the big two camera makers make a lens like this.  The Nikon version is the Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Lens.  And it is in the same price point and performance category as your lens.  I am afraid this is as good as it gets unless you want to invest more money.

Now that said I am going to bet some of the issues your are seeing is user error or your technique.  The good part of that is, it can be corrected! A couple things to keep in mind. One a 300mm lens on your camera is going to show you what nearly a 500mm lens does on a 35mm film or full frame DSLR camera.  You are beginning to talk about some serious tele power.  And it brings along all its little issues with it. You need to hold the lens very steady at the long end.  You can google some proper holding techniques. It is also going to require a lot of light because you need the SS at or above 1/500 for best results.

Don't use AI-Servo right now.  Get to know the lens first.  Also select just the center focus point. Turn the others off.

Two things you said are going to bring out all the short comings of the lens quickly.  First, "...especially when cropped...". Cropping always pushes the envelope.  It will show every flaw.  And second, "...with a wide aperture...".  Any lens no matter the cost is not at its best wide open.  A stop or two down is where the sweet spot usually is.

So you can add don't shoot wide open and don't crop too much.  There are some other things you can do in post editing to help make the photos better.  What software do you use?

[kpsanghvi · Accepted solution]

Thanks Waddizzle and be 1. Sorry for being a little late in my reply. I am using a Canon 70D. All the pictures I clicked were on 1 shot focus with A1 Servo mode and IS at the 2 position. I am an amateur photographer who has been doing photography as a hobby. Possibility of not the steadiest hand cannot be ruled out. I am more worried about sharpness and not out of focus I am using the Canon software which came with camera. I will take your advice regarding not keeping the aperture widest and not cropping to much.

One last query do you think not taking photographs at the maximum Tele of 300 and clicking somewhere between 270-280 mm help.
Thanks a ton once again

[Waddizzle · Accepted solution]

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@kpsanghvi wrote:
Sorry at the risk of sounding stupid how do I add attach a photo

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When you are typing a reply into the textbox, you should see a row of icons at the top of the box.  Let your mouse hover over each one, and they tell you what each of them can do.  For example, the first one, the big black letter B, turns bold type on and off.

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

First off nobody gets every photo absolutely right.  Have you heard the common phrase "I get more keepers that way."?

The reason that phrase exists is, some pictures despite our best efforts don't turn out as we wanted.

It could be the limit of the lens or camera.  And yes even you.  I confess it happens even to me! 

Fact is a 300mm lens that is rather slow, is very dim light and on a light body can be a challenge to get all perfect. It will take time and practice. You need to be lucky, too.  However the more you practice the luckier you will be.  Make sense?

Remember with the crop factor figured in, you are dealing with nearly 500mm of telephoto.  That is equivalent to a 10x power telescope or binoculars. Problem is all the issues are also magnified 10 times.

Go out and use your gear.  Expect some to not turn out as you thought.  But hopefully more and more will as you learn.  The samples you displayed are not bad at all.

[RobertTheFat · Accepted solution]

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@kpsanghvi wrote:
Thanks a ton. It is a big relief that the lens is normal but what would I like to know is that how does one differentiate between blurriness due to lens or hand shake or depth of field.

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If part of the picture (i.e. everything within a fairly narrow range of distances) is in focus and the rest isn't, the problem is shallow depth of field. If the camera shakes, everything will be blurry.

[kpsanghvi]

Have posted 3 test photos. Would need your expert opinion about lens sharpness. 

Regards and thanks a ton

[RobertTheFat]

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@kpsanghvi wrote:

Have posted 3 test photos. Would need your expert opinion about lens sharpness. 

Regards and thanks a ton

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Given that they're displayed at Web resoluion, I don't see how those pictures could have been improved. All the blurriness that I can see appears due to depth-of-field limitations.

[ebiggs1]

I totally agree with Robert.  They look like what is to be expected from that lens.

[kpsanghvi]

Thanks a ton. It is a big relief that the lens is normal but what would I like to know is that how does one differentiate between blurriness due to lens or hand shake or depth of field.

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

First off nobody gets every photo absolutely right.  Have you heard the common phrase "I get more keepers that way."?

The reason that phrase exists is, some pictures despite our best efforts don't turn out as we wanted.

It could be the limit of the lens or camera.  And yes even you.  I confess it happens even to me! 

Fact is a 300mm lens that is rather slow, is very dim light and on a light body can be a challenge to get all perfect. It will take time and practice. You need to be lucky, too.  However the more you practice the luckier you will be.  Make sense?

Remember with the crop factor figured in, you are dealing with nearly 500mm of telephoto.  That is equivalent to a 10x power telescope or binoculars. Problem is all the issues are also magnified 10 times.

Go out and use your gear.  Expect some to not turn out as you thought.  But hopefully more and more will as you learn.  The samples you displayed are not bad at all.

[RobertTheFat · Accepted solution]

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@kpsanghvi wrote:
Thanks a ton. It is a big relief that the lens is normal but what would I like to know is that how does one differentiate between blurriness due to lens or hand shake or depth of field.

---

If part of the picture (i.e. everything within a fairly narrow range of distances) is in focus and the rest isn't, the problem is shallow depth of field. If the camera shakes, everything will be blurry.

[kpsanghvi]

Thanksa ton Waddizzle, ebiggs1 and Bob for enlightening me and that too with absolute alacrity and promptness.

[TomDibble · Accepted solution]

I have the older model (I assume you have the 70-300 IS II, as you have bought it recently; mine was bought a few years before the ii came out).

I have found that the tricks to getting sharp photos with this lens are:

1. NEVER shoot fully zoomed-out. Try somewhere in the 225-250mm range, which is just "full zoom out, then nudge it barely back". I get much more reliably sharp images at this range, and a crop of this zoom range to the same size image as the 300mm has better detail resolution.

2. Never shoot "wide open" if sharpness is more important than shallow DoF. The best aperture, per FoCal, is around 11-13 when zoomed in to the 225-300 range. Zoomed out f/8 is sharpest. These aren't going to give any good "bokeh" results, but they will yield better sharpness at the focal plane.

3. Calibrate the AFMA if possible with your camera. Amongst all my lenses, the 70-300 is by far the one most in need of autofocus microadjustment, primarily at the "long" end. It isn't a huge deal, but your copy may be in need of some adjustment. I highly recommend Reikan's FoCal product for this, as it is highly automated and yields consistent results (well, as consistent as your lens' autofocus is ... my 50mm 1.8 has horribly inconsistent autofocus and, predictably, yields differing AFMA values every time I test it).

Overall, treat the 70-300 as a 70-200 with just a shade more reach and a min aperture of f/8 (and not-nearly-as-sharp glass and not-nearly-as-high price accordingly). Staying in that range gives me nice, consistent results. I always notice it when I step out of it.

[kpsanghvi]

Thanks Tom. Will try not to use extremes of focal length and wide apertures

[ebiggs1]

Tomdibble has hit on some common know issues with any lens.  Rarely is any lens at its best wide open, low f-stop number.  And most zoom lenses are not at there best at either end fully zoomed or contracted.  This does not mean you should not use either of these.  Just beware of the physical limits of the design.