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5D Mark IV - Soft images / Noise

madsthepilot
Apprentice

Hello!  

 

I just want to first start by saying I'm not a professional but I do have several years of experience shooting Canon. I had an 80D and then I bought a 5D Mark IV this year in July (brand new). It has not been dropped, bumped, or mishandled in any way. 

 

There seems to be some sort of issue (whether it's something I'm doing or the camera) with the focus. It's annoying me so much to not have razor-sharp-focused images. I do certainly know about shutter and ISO, etc., and how they contribute to the overall quality of the image. That being said, I cannot figure out why my photos are turning out consistently soft/ noisy/ unfocused. 

 

After purchasing this camera, the photos were focused and clear. I will post an example of this. Now, all of my photos are turning out bad. I will also post a picture of this. 

 

Please feel free to give any advice/ suggestions. I am not super knowledgeable on the many specific settings within the settings menu, so I may not always be able to answer questions as far as those go. I shoot strictly in manual and am very familiar with all of those settings. Thank you in advance! 

 

Image 1 

ISO - 1000

70mm

F/4.0

1/2000 sec

 

20201009-5B1A2578-2.jpg20201107-5B1A5414.jpg

 

Image 2 

ISO - 1250

70mm

F/4.0

1/2500 sec

 

As you can see, the second image (which is cropped down a bit to emphasize detail) is not nearly as focused/ clear as the first. 

 

Thanks again in advance for the help! 

Maddy

3 REPLIES 3

wq9nsc
Authority
Authority

How much cropping was done to your second image compared to the first one?  What was your distance from the subject in each?

 

A 70mm lens at f4 has a depth of field of critical focus between .25 and 4 inches at the distance you likely used for these photos so it is possible only a tiny portion of a 3D subject is in perfect focus. 

 

But my biggest question is why so high of a shutter speed?  If you want the reduced depth of field from shooting with your lens wide open, I would increase shutter speed only to the point where now over-exposure occurs at the native ISO which is 100.  Anything beyond that will begin to have a slight but discernible impact upon image quality as the ISO is increased.  I shoot field sports and rarely do I go above 1/1000 shutter speed and then only when I am shooting in full daylight with a f 2.8 lens wide open.  You can go to a much slower shutter speed without concern for motion blur given your focal length and subjects.

 

Rodger

EOS 1DX M3, 1DX M2, 1DX, 5DS R, M6 Mark II, 1D M2, EOS 650 (film), many lenses, XF400 video

ebiggs1
Legend
Legend

Great shots!  First let's reset the 5D Mk IV back to default.  Menu, tools, clear all settings and clear all custom settings.

One thing to remember is for the most part the lens makes the photo not the camera. The camera is merely a storage device.  However, you do need to tell the camera certain instructions. 5D Mk IV's best is probably at ISO 200 and a SS of 1/200. 1/200 is fast enough for  most people shots. ISO 200 is where the sensor is at its best.

 

"ISO - 1000

70mm

F/4.0

1/2000 sec"     ...and...

"Image 2 

ISO - 1250

70mm

F/4.0

1/2500 sec"

 

You didn't say which or what 70mm lens you have.  But these settings for what you were shooting are way off base, IMHO, of course. Now that we have the 5D Mk IV reset to factory default let's do this little test to make sure all is right. Set the 5D Mk IV to P mode.  Set ISO to 200. Use One shot and just the center focus point, not Ai-servo, and make sure the lens is on AF. Set WB to daylight. Now go outside on a nice day and do several shots of general subjects. Make sure some have god vertical lines like a fence or trees or buildings, etc.  If all is good, exposure is good, IQ is good, there isn't anything wrong with your gear.

 

Let's tackle your settings. The young lady, she's beautiful, BTW, shows a very shallow DOF. But it's OK in that shot. Better settings might have been f8, SS 1/200, ISO 200 or whatever is close to that for correct exposure. The WB looks good.

Same thing for the young man except your WB is too red in that shot.

 

Besides using more optimal settings for the work, I suggest you use Raw format. Import in to Lightromm or Photoshop. Not having either nor wanting to purchase them you can use the free from Canon DPP4. However, Raw files give you far more latitude to do post editing which is something you want if the best is your goal. Two edits that I do on every shot is lens correction and add some sharpening. Shooting Raw you set almost everything in post editing so WB doesn't make a difference since you will set it in post for instance.

 

You should always try to stick to the lowest ISO you can. Base ISO is typically ISO 100 for Canon. 200 is a good choice as a general ISO.  Exception, below the base, ISO 100, isn't as good either.

 

Let us know how it goes with the simple test.  Do some more with the kids too.

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

ebiggs1
Legend
Legend

xxx.jpg

zzzz.jpg

Some unsharp mask applied and WB correction. I used the gray bar to the right as a gray point. More detailed editing could do more but this was just a quick few clicks.  It's a pretty nice shot, kido! Smiley Happy

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!
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