How To Take Good Photos With 50mm F1.8 Lens

[giraffez]

I brought one of these over the weekend from the rave reviews on this forum. But i can't seem to get any good photos out of it. It seems to blur all over the place - the background (which i expect) but also parts on the subject.

I set my autofocus to the centre dot and point it directly at my dogs nose. Still cannot get a good pic.

[Vickie]

What aperture are you using? Try 5.6 instead of 1.8 and I think you will get better results.

[huga]

What camera are you using it on?

[Kirislin]

Yep, I agree with Vickie. Was any part at all in focus? When you focussed on the dogs nose, was that in focus but everything else blurred, cause that's what you'd expect if you had it set on 1.8. If you like that effect but want to see the dogs eyes, focus on them instead. Then the eyes will be clear and sharp and everything else soft. Another thing you can do is take a side on shot of your dogs head, or get a little bit further back.

Post some results too. Dont be disheartened I am sure you will get to love it.

Edited September 14, 2010 by Kirislin

[tlc]

Wasnt there a thread a while back with someone who had one of these lenses but it didnt have auto focus?? correct me if Im wrong.

To get used to mine before I took close up shots I took shots from a distance just to get the feel of it, this lense also takes great action shots.

[Guest Tess32]

I brought one of these over the weekend from the rave reviews on this forum. But i can't seem to get any good photos out of it. It seems to blur all over the place - the background (which i expect) but also parts on the subject.

I set my autofocus to the centre dot and point it directly at my dogs nose. Still cannot get a good pic.

Is the nose in focus?

It's an extremely shallow depth of field at that aperture - I would at least start off with 2.8 so you can get a feel for it.

It's a nice lens and people go on about it sometimes without mentioning it actually has a steepish learning curve if you're going to shoot at 1.8.

[huga]

Wasnt there a thread a while back with someone who had one of these lenses but it didnt have auto focus?? correct me if Im wrong.

To get used to mine before I took close up shots I took shots from a distance just to get the feel of it, this lense also takes great action shots.

Yep - Fran has a D3000 (I think?) without the autofocus motor. That's why I asked what camera is being used.

[tlc]

Ah yes, I knew I didn't dream it!

[anniek]

This can be even more exaggerated with most dogs faces because of the long nose/muzzle.

You should try it on 1.8 in a moving car with a greyhound

[kja]

Some good advice already.

You need to understand WHY and WHEN a shallow depth of field is desirable. Just because you have a fast lens, doesn't mean you should shoot everything with it wide open. Just because you're in low light, doesn't mean you should shoot at 1.8 all the time - you may need to up your ISO to maintain a smaller aperture instead, for instance. it's simply another tool for you to create the image you want to create.

Do a test through the apertures - establish a subject that doesn't move and that is in good light and that has some depth to it. Pick one focus point and start at 1.8 (put your camera in Av so you set the aperture and the camera chooses the shutter or in M and when you stop down one stop slow your shutter by one stop to keep everything equal)...then go through your aperture to about f11 or f14ish.

Compare the shots side by side. This is the best way to see how your depth of field changes as you stop down or open up - illustrating it with your own shots really does help solidify the concept and helps you develop a sense of when YOU think a particular aperture might be appropriate.

Shooting with a very shallow depth of field can be challenging. Remember that the closer you are to your subject, the shallower your DOF is, too. So maybe even back off slightly to start - you can always shoot to crop if that helps you get the technique of shooting down. It's all about practice, so don't get discouraged!

[Linda K]

another point is that on auto focus, just because you are telling the camera to use a focus point does not mean the camera will use that one, it will always go for an area of high contrast. A great tip is instead of using the whole eye to focus on, use the corner of the eye, so you have a contrast with eye and fur, rather than the whole eye. If you move fractionally between focusing and pressing the shutter, which can cause the camera to refocus slightly. Manual focus would avoid this, or using a narrower aperture - say F4 or 5.6 to start with, and practice before getting wider and wider will help.

[giraffez]

What camera are you using it on?

Canon 550d

Thanks all, i was shooting at 1.8 aperture.... I thought that was the beauty of the lens.....never even consider shooting at a higher aperture. Will give it a go over the weekened

Edited September 16, 2010 by giraffez

[giraffez]

Shooting with a very shallow depth of field can be challenging. Remember that the closer you are to your subject, the shallower your DOF is, too. So maybe even back off slightly to start - you can always shoot to crop if that helps you get the technique of shooting down. It's all about practice, so don't get discouraged!

Yes i noticed that. At 1.8 if i'm up close, the dof is shallow but if i take it a lot further back, it's almost like a high aperture shot. But iwas intending it for close up shot which are the ones i'm having problems with

[Ashanali]

I'm late to this, but this link will explain it all really well and the diagrams are useful.

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

[alecrain]

And you also may want to focus on the eyes not the nose, human eye will automatically look first at the eyes in the portrait- if the eyes are not sharp the whole photograph will seem off

[giraffez]

And you also may want to focus on the eyes not the nose, human eye will automatically look first at the eyes in the portrait- if the eyes are not sharp the whole photograph will seem off

But if i focus on the eyes, i lose half the frame below because i'm pointing higher. Should i change my AF dots to a higher dot, at the moment i have it set to the centre dot.

[alecrain]

You can either change the AF point or simply re-aim after focusing on eyes, remember to hold shutter button half pressed.

Good luck

[Kirislin]

Yep, change your AF points. You can also move them to the side for a different composition.

[Kalevi]

Thanks guys - I'm enjoying this thread too :-)