Canon R50, RF Macro 35mm f1.8 Jewelry Photography Blurry Photos

[kelsi001]

Dear All,

i am totally new to the professional camera side. I bought Canon R50 plus RF Macro 35mm f1.8 for Jewelry photography. I am on AV mode with 100 ISO and shutter 1/30 but i am not sure why pictures are always blurry. It’s not shaky but blurry like no sharp details at all and i am trying to see if someone can actually help with this. 
Thank You

 

[stevet1]

Tiffany,

A couple of things come to mind:

1) What aperture are you using? I have read that lenses are not at their best at their widest aperture.

2) The minimum focusing distance for that lens is 6.7 inches. Are you trying to get closer than that?

3) Try placing your jewelry against a darker background. Lenses need contrast to focus well. If your subject and the background are the same color, your camera will struggle to focus.

Steve Thomas

[jaewoosong]

few points:

• shooting a prime lens wide open at f1.8 generally will produce "soft" images.  if you step it down to 2.8, you'll get a sharper image.  also shooting at f1.8 produces a very small DOF which would mean a very small "slice" of your jewelry will be in focus and the rest will be "blurry" due to bokeh.  Maybe shooting at F4.0 may be better to have more of the jewelrey in focus.
• did you manually set ISO and shutter?  1/30 shutter is pushing it to limit handheld shake so having a bit faster shutter like 1/60 could help with any camera shake.

[rs-eos]

Are you using a tripod?  If so, and your lens has Image Stabilization (IS), then turn that off as it may be fighting with IS.

Is the surface that the jewerly is atop parallel to your camera's lens?  If not, you risk not all parts of the item being in focus, especially if at very wide aperatures and especially so with a macro lens being so close.

This particular image appears underexposed and quite flat contrast-wise.   Do you have lighting you can set up?   Do note though that jewelry photography can be challenging.  I would do an internet search for jewelry photography to get tips and tricks for various lighting setups that would really help to bring out sparkle and to apply very smooth gradients.

Agreed with Steve in trying a darker background.   Though this can be challenging as well since it will get illuminated just as the item, so a black background will turn grey.   You should indeed look what others are using for backgrounds; I image a black velvet may work out very well.

Possible, but very difficult, is to have the item suspended in air.   Then position it far enough away from a dark background that would fall to black (prevent any lights from illuminating the background).

[johnrmoyer]

I do not know what you already have or can afford, but I hope some of this might be helpful.

When my wife sold jewelry many years ago, I used a light box that had led lights with a known color and a mount for the camera. I connected a usb cable between the camera and computer and used the Canon software to control the camera and capture photos directly to the computer.

Light tents are now less expensive than the light box.

Some possible causes of blur in photos.

1. camera moves fixed by using tripod or other solid platform for camera

2. something being photographed moves fixed by faster shutter speed

3. out of focus or focus on the wrong thing fixed by manual focus or greater depth of field

4. high ISO noise reduction blur fixed by a longer exposure / slower shutter

5. small aperture diffraction blur fixed by Canon DPP software "digital lens optimizer" or by focus stacking

Suggestions:

1. set camera to save both RAW and JPG

2. edit the RAW file using the free to download Canon DPP software and use unsharp mask and digital lens optimizer

3. use a tripod or set the camera on something that will not move if you do not have a tripod

4. https://cam.start.canon/en/C011/manual/html/UG-03_CustomShooting_0040.html has instructions for setting depth of field on your camera

5. https://cam.start.canon/en/C011/manual/html/UG-05_Shooting-1_0240.html#Shooting-1_0240_4 digital lens optimizer for your camera

6. ISO speed settings: https://cam.start.canon/en/C011/manual/html/UG-05_Shooting-1_0090.html

7. setting camera to save RAW image file: https://cam.start.canon/en/C011/manual/html/UG-05_Shooting-1_0030.html

8. If you set a custom white balance to match your lighting: https://cam.start.canon/en/C011/manual/html/UG-05_Shooting-1_0160.html#Shooting-1_0160_3

There is information that I found helpful at https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm

[p4pictures]

If you are using Av mode, what aperture did you chose?

At close distance, the depth of field is very limited, so you might need to use f/8 or f/11 even more to get the whole necklace sharp. Doing this makes the camera set a slower shutter speed. 

I would suggest you try shooting in manual exposure with auto ISO, set the aperture to f/11 and shutter speed to 1/60s or more and let the ISO be determined by the camera. If you do that and the results are sharp and as expected then it demonstrates that the settings are sufficient. If the results show noise - a grainy look - then it means a high ISO was chosen, and the only solution to that and keep your shutter and aperture settings is to add more light to your scene.

If you have a tripod, then you can also try Av mode with f/11 and ISO 100. The shutter speed will be determined by the camera and since the camera and jewellery won't move the results should be sharp and clean of noise. The quality and stability of the tripod you use is key here.

[kelsi001]

Stevet1, 

as of today the only thing I changed was making it 8" away from product and it automatically made the shutter speed as 1/60. I am using f8 and here is the result. it solved a lot but I still think it can be better. 

[kelsi001]

Guys I am really surprised that you replied and all the comments are really helpful. I am going to try each one's comment and show you the results. You guys are really amazing. I thought it will take days for someone to help and reply. I really really appreciate your help. Thank You all and Thank You Canon Community. 

[kelsi001]

I manually set ISO to 100 and the shutter speed change based on the F value I put (F8). when you mean f2.8 you mean another lens or change the F to 2.8?

[kelsi001]

this picture is the best I can get till now. I am using a really good tripod. but the gems are not sharp. can it be better? 

ISO 100.

F8.

Sharping level 2.

Exposure +2.

Shutter 1/40

Automatic Focus.