shutter speed verses sharpness: Canon 6d @300mm no IS.

[dsullens]

I recently sent my camera back to Canon for recalibration after I noticed all of my telephoto shots seems to be fuzzy after cropping. The results came back and they basically found nothing wrong with the camera or lens..

My question is based on the results below is there a shutter speed for taking telephoto shots where the sharpness falls off due to internal vibration of some sort?

I am also at a loss as to why mirror lockup ,(with MF) would not be the same as a shot using live view with AF.

Is there shutter movement that occurs during mirror lockup using eyeview that does not occur using LiveView AF?

(I have not performed this test at higher shutter speeds due to internal lighting issues)

I performed these tests using the following fixed points:

RAW mode

focal length 300

Fstop 5.6

ISO 200

Shutter speed 1/60

No IS enabled

Camera mounted.

All shots were taken with 10 second shutter delay

Calibration target area is dead center of focus area.

Here are the tests I performed:

1.LiveView AF mode: sharp as a tack consistently

2.LiveView Quickmode: slightly less sharp but still extremely good

3.EyeView Miror Lockup,(switched to MF after allowing LiveView AF mode to find focus)

4.EyeView No MirrorLock,(switched to MF after allowing LiveView AF mode to find focus)

1.LiveView AF mode

2.LiveView Quickmode

3. Eyeview Mirror lockup

4.Eyeview NO Mirror lock

[ebiggs1]

Your samples all show one of two or both, camera shake and/or misfocus.  And just to complicate things you added a filter to the lens.  If you want to find the best qualities of a lens, there can be no filter.  IMHO, of course.

[cicopo]

Agree with the idea you can't do this & use a filter, even a very good one. What brand & model are you using?

[Peter · Accepted solution]

In live view, the second curtain of the shutter can make the shake. Mirror lockup mode you have both the first and second curtain. Normal mode you have the mirror, the first and the second curtain that can make the shake.

You have already proven with your second image that your normal AF focus correct, so the other two pictures are unsharp because of shake.

[RobertTheFat]

1/60 second is usually too slow with a 300mm lens. Even with IS, which the Exif data say you're not using, it would be problematical.

[dsullens]

Thank you Rob, so regardless of the type of Tripod or stability of the camera does the rule of focal length inverse to shutter speed apply? ( 300mm would 1/300 sec?) I thought was only for hand held shots?