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72 | PhotoPlus February 2015

PROBLEM #40

you have to make sure the shutter speed is fast enough to freeze any movement, you need to think about the choice of aperture, the depth of field, the ISO, the focal length of the lens, the lighting conditions and more. However, your first concern will probably be

focusing. Your EOS camera has a choice of three different autofocus modes, which you can set on the camera itself, and a manual focus option, which you set on the lens. Set the wrong focusing mode and you’re likely to end up with a blurred mess.

If the subject isn’t moving, such as someone having their portrait taken, or when you’re taking a still-life or a macro shot, then choose One-Shot AF. In this mode, the lens will stop focusing once it’s locked onto a subject and won’t move again unless you take your finger off the shutter release. It’s not to be confused with Single Shooting drive mode, which only lets you take one picture when you press the shutter release; you can use One-Shot AF mode in combination with your camera’s Continuous drive mode, it’s just that the focus will be locked for the first frame and won’t change for the sequence of pictures.

A moving storyAI Servo AF is the mode to choose if your subject is moving. In this mode, the camera continuously adjusts the focus in order to try and keep the subject sharp as it moves through the frame. Advanced EOS D-SLRs, like the 5D Mark III, let you customise the response of AI Servo AF, so that it prioritises sharp focus ahead of releasing the shutter.

The default focus mode on all EOS cameras is AI Focus. In this mode, the camera will detect whether the subject is stationary or moving, and set the appropriate focus. If you’re anything like us, you’ll prefer to know precisely which focusing mode the camera is in at all times, and we’d always recommend choosing One Shot or AI Servo accordingly.As well as choosing the right focus mode, telling the camera where you want it to focus is, of course, crucial. Instead of leaving all the AF points activated and hoping the camera picks out the subject, manually choose an AF point that matches up with the detail you

Activate the High-speed Continuous shooting drive mode and shoot in short bursts – this increases your chances of at least one frame being sharp

There are plenty of reasons for rejecting a photo. The exposure might be completely off. Maybe

you’ve clipped off an important detail when you framed the shot. You may not have caught ’the moment’ – the point that separates a stunning photo from a so-so one. But more than likely, especially if you’re just starting out in photography, you’ll ditch pictures because they’re not sharp.

It’s understandable this may sometimes happen. Not only do

How do I take even sharper photos?Learn D-SLR skills for taking crisper pictures without resorting to digital sharpening…

STEP BY STEP

Use manual focusSlide the AF/MF switch on the lens to MF – the focus

indicator in Live View will switch from vertical to horizontal orientation. Lock the camera on a tripod so it’s easier to keep the focus plane in position.

With the mirror locked up and the ability to magnify details in the image, Live View can help you get bitingly sharp shots

How to get crisper results using Live View

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“It’s safe to say that you’ll probably need a shutter speed faster than you think”

Magnify the imageMove the focus indicator to the point you want in focus.

Tap the magnifying glass button to blow up this area by x5. Twist the lens focus ring to find the sweet spot of sharpness. Tap the button again to magnify by x10.

Use DoF previewThis may be too big to be able to assess how sharp

the point being focused on is compared to nearby areas. Press the depth of field button, located near lens mount, to help judge the sharp and soft areas.

Try picture stylesChoose the Landscape picture style and increase

the sharpness and contrast further to display low-contrast images with more ‘bite’, making it easier to see it they’re in focus; the Raw file remains unaffected.

want to be in focus. If the lens has trouble locking on – perhaps the subject doesn’t have enough contrast or a clear edge for the AF system to bite onto – aim the AF point at something else at the same distance and half-press the shutter to lock the focus before recomposing the shot.

The length of time it takes to record a picture is the second most important factor when it comes to getting sharp results. The faster the exposure, the more likely is that you’ll successfully freeze the motion. There are two types of motion you need to think about: subject movement and camera movement. The shutter speed required to stop a moving subject depends on the distance the subject is from the camera, the speed it’s moving and the direction of travel, but it’s safe to say that you’ll probably need a shutter speed faster than you think. If you’re panning, or moving the camera to follow the action, then you can get away with slower shutter speeds.

How to make the most of your three-legged friend

Whether you consider it a clichéd or classic slice of photography advice, ‘using a sturdy tripod’ is the easiest route to sharper pictures. You’ll still need to use good technique in order to get sharp shots from a tripod-mounted camera though, such as locking the mirror up and switching off the Image Stabilizer on the lens (in our experience, you’ll get sharper results even with those IS lenses that can detect when they’re on a tripod). Here are some other techniques to be aware of.

Lock it down Before you take the shot, do a final check to make sure all the locks and knobs are tightly fastened.

Fat legs If your tripod legs have

thin bottom sections, don’t extend these

first – go for fat ones instead.

A little spiky Some tripods have spikes under their rubber feet – use these for extra stability when shooting on grass.

Just stop it If you’re adjusting the angle of the lens, ensure the top leg locks are firmly pushed to their stops.

Tripod know-how

74 | PhotoPlus February 2015

Lens quality Obviously some lenses are engineered to be sharper than the rest, but that quality comes at a price. Take the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM – it’s been widely acclaimed for its remarkable sharpness wide open at f/2.8, but it costs north of £1700. However, you can maximise the quality of any lens with a few simple techniques. For a start, avoid putting important details at the very edge of the frame – it’s the centre of the lens that delivers the best sharpness. Some lenses produce a more accurate autofocus if you fine-tune them using a camera’s AF Microadjustment option, but to be honest the whole process is rather unsophisticated. Finally, remove the red and green fringing you often see along high contrast edges by using Chromatic Aberration Correction. If your EOS doesn’t have this, shoot Raw and do it in Canon DPP or Adobe Camera Raw.

Handholding technique

It may be tricky to gauge how sharp an image is when reviewing it on the rear screen, particularly if you haven’t taken similar images to provide a comparison. To judge sharpness, you’ll need to zoom in and check the details when you play back the image. Once you’ve set the magnification, use the thumbwheel or cursor keys to scroll between images – the magnification will stay locked in the same place, making it easier to compare. You’ll have sharper shots on a tripod-mounted camera, compared to a handheld shot, and even better results if you activate the Mirror Lockup function (to kill vibrations) and fire the shutter without touching (jarring!) the camera – either using a remote release or the camera’s self-timer function.

The rule of thumb when shooting handheld is to make sure the shutter speed never drops below the focal length, expressed as a fraction. So a 20mm lens shouldn’t be used at a shutter speed slower than 1/20 sec, and 1/400 sec should be the minimum with a 400mm lens.

But forget that rule! Some photographers can comfortably get sharp pictures below this recommended minimum, while others may struggle to do so at shutter speeds twice as fast. Add one of Canon’s high-end four-stop Image Stabilizer lenses into the mix, and you may be able to get sharp shots at speeds, well, four stops slower than recommended (so, 1/25sec instead of 1/400 sec for a 400mm lens). Realistically though, your hit rate shooting a 400mm lens at 1/25sec isn’t likely to be too high.

Besides, none of this will make the slightest bit of difference if you’re not holding the camera steady. Here’s a simple guide to getting it right…

How sharp is tack-sharp?

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It looks fine full-size. But try zooming in…

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1/25 sec at f/16 17-40mm zoom

Jabbing the shutter release button will jerk the camera – roll your finger onto it instead.

Use Stabilizer Mode 1 when photographing stationary objects and Mode 2 when moving the camera to follow active subjects.

The viewfinder eyecup is there for a reason – keep your brow pressed against it.

Rotate or remove a lens’s tripod foot like this to enable you to cradle the lens in your left hand.

You’ll never take a sharp shot with your arms flapping like this – keep them tucked into your sides.

Pull the strap tight around your arm to act as a brace. Ideally, brace yourself against a solid object too.

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Every month we highlight an EOS camera or type of lens and provide priceless advice to get more from your gear

5 hints and tips for...

1 See the light Canon’s trio of fast 50mm prime lenses and their wide apertures let in lots of light, meaning you can use fast shutter speeds. You can keep the ISO low in too: an aperture of f/1.8 at ISO400 will give the same shutter speed as f/5.6 at ISO6400.

2 Don’t swivel Avoid locking focus with the central AF point and then recomposing. The depth of field offered by a 50mm’s wide maximum aperture is wafer-thin, and the point you focused on may not be in focus any more when you recompose.

3 Cut it out If you select a fast 50mm’s widest aperture in bright sunlight, the shutter speed required to prevent overexposure may be faster than that offered by the camera. In this case, fit a strong ND filter to cut the light entering the lens.

4 Non-standard? Although 50mm is referred to as the ‘standard’ focal length for the 35mm/digital full-frame format, it can distort shot up close. On an APS-C camera, a 50mm lens gives an angle of view closer to 80mm, which helps to ‘flatten’ a portrait.

5 Stop it down We appreciate you didn’t buy a fast lens to not use it’s maximum aperture, but a 50mm lens isn’t sharpest at its widest aperture; two stops down (eg f/2.8 instead of f/1.4) will tighten things up while retaining lots of background blur.

50mm prime lenses

Unintentional camera movement is invariably the more challenging type of motion to try and deal with. In fact, the camera doesn’t have to be flailing wildly for pictures to be ruined. The action of the mirror bouncing up and down can be enough to literally take the edge off details during slower exposures. Activating Mirror Lockup in the camera menu can help when the camera’s mounted to a tripod. Alternatively, shoot in Live View mode as the mirror will automatically be locked up to allow the image to be fed to the Live View screen. Mirror lockup, or Live View shooting, is particularly useful when using longer lenses or taking macro shots. This

is because the magnification offered in these situations means that any subtle movements will be equally magnified.

Finally, don’t be afraid to use a higher ISO setting in order to hit the faster shutter speeds that are often required for sharp photos. Although picture quality deteriorates at higher ISOs, at least you can do something about the resulting noise when you process the files. It’s preferable to have a sharp but slightly choppy shot taken at ISO3200 than trying to digitally sharpen a butter-soft one taken at ISO100.

a question of aperture Your choice of aperture has a very big part to play when it comes to the sharpness of an image.

n Narrower apertures (represented by high f-numbers like f/16 and f/22) offer a greater depth of field than wider apertures (such as f/2.8). Depth of field is the amount of front-to-back sharpness in an image.n Despite giving the largest depth of field, the narrowest apertures on the lens actually produce softer images. Try sticking in the middle of the range instead, usually somewhere between f/8 and f/11.n The narrower the aperture, the longer the exposure time needs to be to record a picture – and that can lead to

blurred shots. You may need to sacrifice some depth of

field and use a larger aperture instead. Alternatively, increase the ISO to give you faster shutter speeds.

Narrow apertures can lead to diffraction and

longer exposure times, which can soften a shot

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