Can't take sharp photos with Canon 5DS

[limvo05]

Hi All,

I recently switched from Nikon to Canon, and bought a new Canon 5DS along with the Canon 24-70 II 2.8 lens directly from Canon USA. For some strange reasons I am not able to get sharp photos with this camera and lense. Curious anyone else have the same problems, and more importantly how to adjust or correct it? The photos look sharp when not viewing at 100% sizing, however, when zoomed in at 100% it definitely not clear. To be clear, these photos were taken on stable tripod and timer, so no movement. I also using manual focus and live mode, thus I certain the photos were focused before taking the photos.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Lim

[Waddizzle]

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@limvo05 wrote:

Hi All,

I recently switched from Nikon to Canon, and bought a new Canon 5DS along with the Canon 24-70 II 2.8 lens directly from Canon USA. For some strange reasons I am not able to get sharp photos with this camera and lense. Curious anyone else have the same problems, and more importantly how to adjust or correct it? The photos look sharp when not viewing at 100% sizing, however, when zoomed in at 100% it definitely not clear. To be clear, these photos were taken on stable tripod and timer, so no movement. I also using manual focus and live mode, thus I certain the photos were focused before taking the photos.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Lim

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Well, I do not know what advice to give you, or even it is possible to give you advice on what could “wrong”.  You say that you are manually focusing the lens, and your that your photos are not sharp.  ???

If it is possible, I suggest that you take a couple of photos in AF mode, and compare them to your manually focused photos.  Are you using Live View shooting mode, and magnifying the photos to focus? If not, you should be.

[limvo05]

Thank you for responding to my question. I've tried that also. Auto or manual, the photos aren't sharp like I expected. Not sure if there is some incompatibility between the lense and the camera? I've read a few articles re the high resolution of the 5Ds. That said, in a pretty controlled environment, I would think the photos should be pin sharp, by controlled environment I mean, still object, in door, etc. Thanks, Lim

[Waddizzle]

Contact Canon Support.  They may want to take a look at your gear.

One suggestion, though.  If you are using a filter, only use a Clear filter.

[limvo05]

Why did I not think of that? I do have a Hoya CP filter on. Let see the photos look without the filter. Thank you for the suggest!

[RobertTheFat]

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@limvo05 wrote:

Thank you for responding to my question. I've tried that also. Auto or manual, the photos aren't sharp like I expected. Not sure if there is some incompatibility between the lense and the camera? I've read a few articles re the high resolution of the 5Ds. That said, in a pretty controlled environment, I would think the photos should be pin sharp, by controlled environment I mean, still object, in door, etc. Thanks, Lim

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Have you calibrated the lens with the camera using autofocus microadjustment? With that kind of resolution, there's not much margin for error at 100% view. It wouldn't have to be off by much to be noticeable.

[Waddizzle]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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@limvo05 wrote:

Thank you for responding to my question. I've tried that also. Auto or manual, the photos aren't sharp like I expected. Not sure if there is some incompatibility between the lense and the camera? I've read a few articles re the high resolution of the 5Ds. That said, in a pretty controlled environment, I would think the photos should be pin sharp, by controlled environment I mean, still object, in door, etc. Thanks, Lim

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Have you calibrated the lens with the camera using autofocus microadjustment? With that kind of resolution, there's not much margin for error at 100% view. It wouldn't have to be off by much to be noticeable.

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Bob, there are a host of unknowns.  It could be slow shutter speed, camera shake due to not using a remote shutter control, tripod shake from a raised center column, and a few other issues.  Too many unknowns to offer meaningful advice.

[limvo05]

Hi Robert, Just took some sample photos to test, with and without filter. Below are the test photos (with and without) respectively.

Without

With filter

[wq9nsc]

Are you shooting in RAW and at what ISO?  I found that in the mid ISO range the default noise reduction for my new 1DX Mark ii using DPP was too high resulting in reduced sharpness.

Since I got the new camera 10 days ago I have mostly been shooting my daughter's indoor soccer games and the lighting is dim and horrible (uneven with a mix of high pressure sodium and mercury vapor reflecting off the inside of the dome roof).  Even using a 70-200 F2.8 without the 1.4X extender I am having to use 32,000 ISO for most shots and once noise reduction is applied it looks fine at 5x7, OK at 8x10, but very soft at 100%.  But at least a cooperative barn cat strolled out a few days ago letting me get a shot at 100 ISO providing an opportunity for a sharp image to make me feel better.

[limvo05]

This photo was taken before Xmas. As you can see from the photo, part of Buddy the GSD is super sharp, parts are very soft. Most of the time I am shooting in AV mode, with ISO set to 100, and always in RAW.