drcjc Loc: Berkeley (originally Brooklyn)

Actually I am shooting raw with the canon, both photos were cropped to look about the same size. It is true the lumix has a longer EFL - but I tried to make the photos as close to the same settings as possible.

I am still wondering what to do with the customizing in the canon.

drcjc Loc: Berkeley (originally Brooklyn)

Canon has IS too. I did this on the fence with a remote, so it shouldn't be a shaking problem.

emmons267 Loc: Arizona, Valley of the Sun

Pg. 191 in the manual. Check custom function group 2 - Image. The manual explains each setting and its effects.

If you're shooting RAW, the image most likely won't be as sharp as JPEG.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

I would say actually a little of both you and your camera.

A suggestion. Let me ask, are you using all the focal points in the camera? If so, they're useless because you're allowing the camera to decide where to focus and that will very often cause out of focus photos, especially wider shots that you want the photo crisp on a certain subject or person.

Check your owner's manual for the way to set your focus to a single point, dead center. You can't run this way on full auto you'll have to be in the Program setting but that's no big deal.

Okay, once you're on single point, frame your shot with the focus point exactly where you want the focus to be, say a person's eye. Now, holding the half press, re-frame the shot the way you want it... do not release the half press because the focus and exposure are locked as long as you hold it.

Once you're re-framed fire. Repeat the same procedure for every shot and it will give you focus where you want it.

I work this way all the time and always get clear, crisp shots probably 99% of the time.

Good Luck

steve40 Loc: Asheville/Canton, NC, USA

Canon kit lenses, are not known for their exemplary quality. I think you will find!, that is a greater part of your problem.

anotherview Loc: California

Ditto:

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

Having got used to a Sony Alpha 230 I bought a Canon EOS 450 to get a few additional settings etc the focus never seemed to be as sharp as the Sony image. However, it is the in camera sharpening that is different a little extra PP clarity usually brings the canon snap up to scratch.

You also had different F stops and slightly different focal length. these also make a difference when looked at on a computer.

Also a question of how sharp is sharp - We now look at all our images bigger than 8X10 on our monitor and zoom in by up to 150% to crop. if you print a post card size picture of both your images you will be hard pushed to say which is sharper. Are we getting too finiky about our hobby. I take it you are not a professional.

wings42 Loc: San Diego, CA

I agree with SharpShooter. The best bird shots with my Nikon D7000 with a 55-300 mm lens are when the birds are close. Also, watch your stance: legs hip width or a bit more apart, elbows down and against your body if possible. Stay relaxed to avoid muscle vibration. Breath settled and even stopped in a relaxed way (like if you're aiming a gun) with a gentle squeze of the shutter release.

The best shots for me are in good light with shutter speed at 1/1000 or faster. Set the ISO to allow that speed or faster if the camera is hand held. We're hikers and walkers as much as photographers so my camera is always hand held. If it's too dark for ISO of 1600 or less, you'll have to slow down the shutter, but not below 1/500 with your lens unless you use a quality tripod. So, for birds, I pretty much don't even try to photograph them after early sunset or before early sunrise.

I loved my Lumix DMC FZ 28 and am doing better with my Lumix DMC FZ-200 after a month but there's a definite learning curve with it. You might look for an upgrade to your camera at http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-FZ70-Digital-Optical-Stabilized/dp/B00DY2Y28M/ref=sr_ob_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1377547453&sr=8-2 . The price of the soon to be released Lumix FZ70 is $100 less than I paid for the FZ-200.

One thing I found is that shooting in RAW with the Nikon, the unprocessed pictures don't look as good as with the Panasonic JPG pictures. But when you post process them (I use Lightroom 5), the cropped and processed Nikon's Image Quality (IQ) is much better than any point and shoot camera by an order of magnitude if I did everything right.

Patience is called for. A pro once told me that only about 1 in 20 are keepers for him. I do much worse than that but am slowly getting better with time and a lot of study and practice. Mastering photography is in many ways like mastering a musical instrument, a combination of technical skills and art.

Annas Hummer female about 10 ft away Lumix FZ-200


Snowy Egret about 30 ft away Nikon D7000

farnsworth52 Loc: W. Pa.

I have a T2I and haven't had this problem. My thoughts are to take both lenses and test the auto focus with both,under controlled environment. Test against something that is printed and solid colors. If both the lenses focus correctly at different distances they are probably ok. Be sure your eye diopter is focused for manual and test again. You may just need to get more familiar with your camera. Don't crop and use a tripod. Refresh the manual

Brian in Whitby Loc: Whitby, Ontario, Canada

I moved up from a Panasonic Lumix FZ 20 about 12 megapixels to the T2i with the same lenses and noticed a significant improvement in quality with the T2i.

I would suggest downloading some test targets, printing them and setting up some test shot using autofocus on both cameras. For the T2i do some shots with the highest resolution and quality possible for JPG as well as the same shots in RAW. You can use the RAW + JPG setting to do this.

Process the RAW without any adjustments, using the default settings of your software. (This is a bit artificial but will give the truest comparison.) and export the files as JPGs with the highest possible settings.
Now you will have 3 sets of photos from the Panasonic JPGs the Canon JPGs from the Canon camera and the Canon JPGs from the RAW files.

To compare them, import all three images into layers in your photo processing software. to compare them make one layer visible (The bottom layer) then toggle the other two layers visible so any differences will be readily apparent.

Following this procedure should give you a well controlled experimental result.

You can download a PDF copy of the ISO 12233 Test Chart here:
http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~westin/misc/res-chart.html

Please post your results, I am very interested in the outcome. I am going on holidays but I will try it myself when I return.

Bram boy Loc: Vancouver Island B.C. Canada

she has one on raw

Bram boy Loc: Vancouver Island B.C. Canada

raw choose the best and the most just by setting it raw

Bram boy Loc: Vancouver Island B.C. Canada

he , she has it on auto focus

drcjc Loc: Berkeley (originally Brooklyn)

I am impressed and certainly have enough to keep me busy for a while. Will post when I've processed it all! :)

Thank you all so much for your help!

Today I tried some pics with my 50 mm prime lens - it does seem to look better. But I don't have comparisons. Will do that soon. Photo to follow.

Thanks again - all of you!

drcjc Loc: Berkeley (originally Brooklyn)

Here's my latest photo with the 50mm prime lens. I think it looks better - sharper - will try to mimic it with the other kit lens to see what's going on.

Tippy in the park