Sharpness Issue - 5D Mk IV

[rasorjb]

I think I've got an issue with my 5D Mk IV. For whatever reason, my pictures that I shoot with my 600EXII are significantly sharper than ANY image I take with just natural light. I've taken images on a tripod on bright days and they don't look as good as they do with the flash on. I've sent my camera to Canon and they said that the adjustment was off and fixed it, however I'm still seeing issues. 

Addtionally, I have FoCaL and have micro-adjusted for both of my lenses. 24-105 Mk II and 50mm 1.4. Issue is with both lenses. 

Any ideas?

[Waddizzle]

Post sample photos, if you can. 

I'm [not] sure how consistently the EF 50mm f/1.4 can focus.  Unless the lens is way off, an AFMA one that lens could be an exercise in futility.  Your Ef 24-105 f/4L II IS USM may be worth effort, though.

[RobertTheFat]

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@rasorjb wrote:

I think I've got an issue with my 5D Mk IV. For whatever reason, my pictures that I shoot with my 600EXII are significantly sharper than ANY image I take with just natural light. I've taken images on a tripod on bright days and they don't look as good as they do with the flash on. I've sent my camera to Canon and they said that the adjustment was off and fixed it, however I'm still seeing issues. 

Addtionally, I have FoCaL and have micro-adjusted for both of my lenses. 24-105 Mk II and 50mm 1.4. Issue is with both lenses. 

Any ideas?

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Sight unseen, I'd have to suppose that your shutter speed is too slow. When most of the light comes from the flash, you get an advantage from the fact that the flash pulse is very short. Try to keep the shutter speed as high as possible without exceeding the sync speed (probably 1/200 or 1/250 on a 5D4).

[diverhank]

Yes sample pictures with exif data (Av, Tv, ISO) and whether on tripod, is subject moving and what method of focusing (e.g. auto, manual, using touchcreen or not, etc) would really be helpful.  Without additional data, as Robert said, we'd suspect problems in technique.  

Somehow I think you've been there done that...not any sort of a novice but just in case...With flash, the focus is better in low light with the AF assist, the harsh flash light gives you more contrast and the extremely short flash duration helps freeze the motion so less blur for moving subjects.  I use flashes quite often and got good results but pictures with flashes should not be consistently sharper than pictures without.

[ebiggs1]

Perhaps the flash is producing images that are more contrasty than without.  This often makes the image appear sharper when it is not.