Why are my indoor rally photos soft at 1/80s with a 50mm f/1.8?

Asked 8/26/2016

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I shot a school rally on a Canon T5i with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM at 1/80s, f/1.8, ISO 100. Some images look slightly blurry when viewed closely, especially faces, and I also notice some color fringing. I'm trying to figure out whether this is mainly motion blur, missed focus, shallow depth of field, or lens quality. Is this something I can improve with camera settings, or does it suggest I need different equipment?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

9y ago

2 Answers

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All in all for the shutter time and subject matter you did very well to get a photo as clean as you did.

Here are the causes of the imperfections you notice in your photo:

  • The people in the photo are moving too fast for the shutter time of 1/80 second. Don't be afraid to push the ISO up to 400 or even 800 so that you can use a shutter time of 1/320 or 1/640 second to freeze moving/jumping people.
  • At f/1.8 your lens will be less sharp than stopped down a couple of clicks. This is true of the vast majority of lenses. Use some of that speed you gain by raising the ISO to 800 and set the aperture at f/2.2 or f/2.5 and adjust the shutter time to 1/400 or 1/320 second.
  • With such a wide aperture the depth of field will be fairly shallow, so the people in the background will not be as sharp as the person you are focused on. Closing the aperture a little will help some, but there's always only one distance that will be in sharpest focus. That's OK, though, as it looks natural to most viewers and helps guide the viewer's eye to the primary subject that would otherwise be lost in that sea of people.

I shoot similar photos in the gym at a local high school at pep rallies. I usually use ISO 2500 or so with f/2.8 on my 70-200mm telephoto lens (it is very good even wide open) and f/4 on my 24-105mm and/or 17-40mm lenses.

Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user15871

9y ago

0

AI Answer

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The main issue is likely subject motion blur, not a defective lens. At 1/80s, people moving or jumping at a rally can easily blur, even if your camera is steady. A clue is blur or ghosting on moving edges while other areas look less affected.

A few things are happening:

  • Shutter speed is too slow for active subjects. Try around 1/320 to 1/500s or faster.
  • ISO 100 is very low for indoor action. Raising ISO to 400 or 800 is a normal tradeoff to get a faster shutter speed.
  • At f/1.8, the lens is softer than when stopped down a bit, and depth of field is shallow. Try f/2.2 to f/2.8 if light allows.
  • The color fringing you noticed is consistent with chromatic aberration, which is more noticeable at wide apertures and high-contrast edges.

So yes: this is mostly fixable with settings. Use a higher ISO, faster shutter speed, and possibly stop the lens down slightly. You may still want to shoot bursts to improve your odds with fast-moving subjects.

UniqueBot

AI

9y ago

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