out of focus: hello everyone this picture was taken with my 500d using a17-85mm lense f5.6 - 500th sec. - ISO 100 - focal length 85mm. why is butterfly on the left out of focus. What...

ron moore Loc: surrey, UK

hello everyone

this picture was taken with my 500d using a17-85mm lense
f5.6 - 500th sec. - ISO 100 - focal length 85mm.
why is butterfly on the left out of focus. What am i doing wrong.

regards ron moore

sarge69 Loc: Ft Myers, FL

It's called DOF 'Depth of Field'

Because of your apeture, certain items are in focus and items just in front and/or just in back are out of focus.

Search on this forum for apeture

You'll learn a lot

Sarge69 ;) :thumbup:

ron moore Loc: surrey, UK

sarge
what aperture and speed should I have used to get both
butterflies sharp and in focus

ron

sarge69 Loc: Ft Myers, FL

I'm not an expert but figure it this way

F 5.6 is a medium

F 2.4 f 2.8 are very narrow DOF

F 11 to F22 make the distances in focus larger.

So you were probably at F 4 maybe.

What I do is see what the camera says for a photo, ie.,
shutter 1/500th and apeture f 2.4 and then I go into apeture priority and force the camera to shoot at f11

If it can, it will, if it can't then it won't. If its too dark then set your ISO up a notch or two to adjust.

There's so much to learn you'll have fun for months.

Sarge69

ron moore Loc: surrey, UK

sarge

thanks for help

ron

traveler90712 Loc: Lake Worth, Fl.

ron moore wrote:

hello everyone

this picture was taken with my 500d using a17-85mm lense
f5.6 - 500th sec. - ISO 100 - focal length 85mm.
why is butterfly on the left out of focus. What am i doing wrong.

regards ron moore

Ron, to me it looks like a focus problem. I'm not a Canon shooter, but curiosity had me look up the manual. Look on page 66 and see if that helps.

coondog Loc: Lost in Vermont

Sarge is correct. It's a DOF issue. Increase your aperture setting. This will allow more things to be in focus (closer stuff..and far away stuff). Experiment..you'll get it.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

ron moore wrote:

hello everyone

this picture was taken with my 500d using a17-85mm lense
f5.6 - 500th sec. - ISO 100 - focal length 85mm.
why is butterfly on the left out of focus. What am i doing wrong.

regards ron moore

I would guess you are within 5' or so from the bush-- yes it makes a difference: Using your camera, f/stop, and focal length, the DOF @ 5' is .21', @ 10' it's .88', and so on. Generally, as you move closer, DOF shrinks.
So, standing where you are, using the lens and aperture, with two butterflies on different focal plans, the DOF is too shallow.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

LoneRangeFinder wrote:

quote=ron moore hello everyone br br this pictur... (show quote)

And if you go to f/16, the DOF @ 5' is .61', but jumps to 2.53' @ 10'-- so f/stop is the key.

WhiteEagle Loc: Waycross, GA

ron moore wrote:

hello everyone

this picture was taken with my 500d using a17-85mm lense
f5.6 - 500th sec. - ISO 100 - focal length 85mm.
why is butterfly on the left out of focus. What am i doing wrong.

regards ron moore

Ron, I use a Canon 3TI(600D) and on the left front of the camera almost under the lens is a depth of field button. I just found this little jewel this morning shooting some tiny flowers. If you are using Canon lens and press this button you can see what will be in focus and what isn't. Then adjust your f/stop(higher) till you get everything you want infocus

WhiteEagle Loc: Waycross, GA

Ron, I just checked the 500D has this button also.

ron moore Loc: surrey, UK

hi everyone

thank you all for your comments and help, very much
appreciated. I would like to ask you all what settings
you would have used for this picture.
very sunny hot day no clouds and i was standing about 5` away.

regards ron moore

oldtool2 Loc: South Jersey

ron moore wrote:

hi everyone

thank you all for your comments and help, very much
appreciated. I would like to ask you all what settings
you would have used for this picture.
very sunny hot day no clouds and i was standing about 5` away.

regards ron moore

Ron,

Using your settings you have 1.2 inches of in focus in front of your focus point, 1.32 inches in back of it.

You need to spend some time studying this site:

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

You probably should have been using around f/18, not f/5.6 This would have given you about 3.5 inches of focus in front & back of your focus point.

A real general rule of thumb, the closer your subject the larger your f-stop number.

Jim D

Al FR-153 Loc: Chicago Suburbs

ron moore wrote:

hi everyone

very sunny hot day no clouds and i was standing about 5` away.

regards ron moore

According to your EXIF, you were actually a distance of .56m from the butterfly that was in focus. That equates to 21.84", not 5 feet. Therefore, the butterfly that is in focus is tack sharp, however, the butterfly that was an inch or two closer (the one on the left) is no longer in focus.

The EF-S17-85mm lens is an 1: 4-5.6 lens. To get both in focus, you will have to shoot at about f8 to get away from the DOF issue. In other words, a macro type lens. My EF-S18-135 1:3.5-5.6 is marked as a macro (.45m - 1.5 ft) or 18 inches, however, that is at focus point, not necessarily at the DOF I would desire. I'm not sure if you have the same marking on your lens barrel or not, you might look.

In reality, you have a very sharp photo of the butterfly on the right...enjoy that. Sorry that you didn't get them both in focus, but hope this helps resolve your question.

ron moore Loc: surrey, UK

hello everyone

thank you both for your time and helpful advice

regards ron moore