Inconsistent Sharpness Issue withCanon 5d Mark iv

[KBoyerPhotos]

I have a 5d Mark iv and am having lots of trouble with sharpness consistency on every image.  I am shooting back to back images with exactly the same settings and some of them are tack sharp and others are totally blurry and I have not changed any settings.  Can someone please help.  I have tried everythiing to "fix" this and am out of ideas. I just want nearly ALL my images to be sharp!  

[jrhoffman75]

Does it seem to happen with all lenses or just the 24-70?

[KBoyerPhotos]

That is a great question. 24-70 is my go to lens so that is what I primarily shoot with. I am going to go look at my 70-200 images and see if it does the same thing.

here is the dropbox link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yyyo5lx30lsusu8/AABamoCdILoG4D5qNA6zIVxHa?dl=0

[KBoyerPhotos]

Ok - I had to go back to August of 2020 as that was the last time I used my 70-200... I don't see the issue in August w/ my 70-200 But I make a practice oout of deleting "bad" images and only keeping the good ones for my clients.  So, it is hard to tell if I had the issue or not with the 70-200.  As a side note, I am fairly certain that I had it even when I rented a a 24-70 lens in the fall as a backup because I was having such issues.  You bring up a good point... this 24-70 lens has seen ALOT of wear and tear....  I use it very heavily.  Maybe it is worn out? 

[rs-eos]

In looking at the metadata, it states you were using a "pattern" metering mode.  Is that evaluative?  How many focus points do you recall having on the images as you took them?   I'm wondering if multiple points were being used and it just grabbed focus on a point other than on the eyes.

[KBoyerPhotos]

Yes, pattern is evaluative metering mode.  I use one of either a single point or one that looks like a cross with the center square being the most common but able to move to the outsides of the cross as well.  

[Waddizzle]

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@KBoyerPhotos wrote:

Ok - I had to go back to August of 2020 as that was the last time I used my 70-200... I don't see the issue in August w/ my 70-200 But I make a practice oout of deleting "bad" images and only keeping the good ones for my clients.  So, it is hard to tell if I had the issue or not with the 70-200.  As a side note, I am fairly certain that I had it even when I rented a a 24-70 lens in the fall as a backup because I was having such issues.  You bring up a good point... this 24-70 lens has seen ALOT of wear and tear....  I use it very heavily.  Maybe it is worn out? 

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At first glance, I would point out that you are not using the most accurate AF point(s) in the camera.

Both of our lenses are "Group A" lenses.  This lens group yields the highest performance.

I do agree that your images could be sharper than how they appear to be.  The softness in the above images seems to be evenly distributed on the subject, which leads me to conclude that DoF is not an issue.  But, camera shake could be.

One Shot AF is faster and more accurate than AI Servo.  When taking portraits of still subjects, the subject must learn how to remain still, or freeze in place, until the picture is taken.

[KBoyerPhotos]

Thank you all so very much for your input and research.   I typically shoot schools and young children and families so shooting fast and with subjects that move is a priority.  I will research the focal points show below and see if I can't figure out what is going on.  It is literally making me crazy.  😞 

Thanks again to all of you for your help. If you think of anything else, I would love to hear it and open to any conversations or tips you might have! :). 

[jrhoffman75]

The cmaera is reporting the same info on both groups of images.

The only thing I can think of is that these subjects aren't what I would consider requiring AI Servo. As you no doubt know, AI Servo senses subject motion as you initially acquire focus via a 1/2 press of the shutter button and then predicts where the subject will be when the shutter fires.

If the subject is stationary and you are perhaps moving the camera slightly it may result in an incorrect prediction - the subject didn't really move but the camera predicted it would.

That's just my thoughts. Maybe some other folks can jump in.

[Ray-uk]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:

The only thing I can think of is that these subjects aren't what I would consider requiring AI Servo. As you no doubt know, AI Servo senses subject motion as you initially acquire focus via a 1/2 press of the shutter button and then predicts where the subject will be when the shutter fires.

If the subject is stationary and you are perhaps moving the camera slightly it may result in an incorrect prediction - the subject didn't really move but the camera predicted it would.

That's just my thoughts. Maybe some other folks can jump in.

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I think that is very likely, going by the the thumbnails in the original screenshots the OP is using the camera in machine gun mode and I guess handheld so AI servo is struggling with this combination.

[KBoyerPhotos]

what program did you use to look at the focal points and focus information in these images? Would love to know how you did this. I have often wondered after the fact where the focal point was located.  Thanks for sharing this.