nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

I was shooting a dance recital from the balcony of an auditorium. (I'm terrible at estimating distances)
Camera- Canon 7D; Lens Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L lens, focal length 123mm; Auto ISO and WB. Aperture 2.8, shutter speed 1/640. Most of my photos were soft. What was I doing wrong?

nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

oops! forgot to send the cropped version.

letmedance Loc: Walnut, Ca.

Quickly cause I am working. ISO is 3200 causing a bit noise. Also your lens will be sharper @ F5.6 or higher, F2.8 is OK but your Pictures will not be as sharp.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

ISO 3200...that's my guess...and shot wide open...stop down a 1 or 2 stops

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Date Time Original: 2013:05:26 13:19:05
Exposure Time: 1/640
F Number: f / 2.80
Exposure Program: Shutter priority
ISO Speed Ratings: 3200
Aperture Value: 3
Exposure Bias: -0.33
Metering Mode: Pattern
Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
White Balance: Auto white balance
Make: Canon
Model: Canon EOS 7D
LensModel: EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM

nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

ST3v3M: Is that your list of things I was doing wrong?

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Sorry, I stepped away and clicked Send as an automatic response. Laf
What I meant to do was show the Exif Data before anyone asked.

I do have a question though, what metering mode did you use? The Exif Data shows Pattern, but my manual does not show that.

nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

Thank you, letmedance.

nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

Thank you Cdouthitt. Shooting in a dark auditorium is a challenge.

nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

I don't remember what metering mode I was in, but I don't recognize that term "Pattern". Do you know? It's not in my book. I have evaluative, partial, spot & center-weight. In any case, it's possible that I had the wrong mode; it seems I'm always forgetting some setting.

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Thought the same.

Danilo Loc: Las Vegas

Your selected shutter duration would normally be considered sufficient to eliminate the effect of camera movement from your image, but I'm going to suggest otherwise. I suspect that as you depressed your shutter release button, there was movement transferred to the camera, causing your images to appear blurred.
I don't think your exhibit allows for a positive conclusion, but this is my speculation based on what I see. I think the use of a tripod, or other similar devise would be helpful.

nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

I did use a tripod; can't remember if I used the remote shutter.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Ok...here is my take on this.

I've lamented over the lackluster performance of some very high dollar lenses and have pixel peeped until my eyes were coming out of the sockets in an effort to get sharp images...and here is the conclusion that I came up with.

The enemies of sharpness are; lack of light, distance, and wide open aperture

Your shots are just what would be expected given:

1.) You are shooting in low light. In low light sharpness is dulled dramatically...the edges of things start to "blend in" to each other. If you want to illustrate this to yourself just take an image wide open of something in "normal light" house light...and then put up a flash in an umbrella and watch what happens..your lens becomes laser-surgical sharp...even wide open. Light makes any lens appear very sharp...and the lack thereof does the opposite.


2.) Wide open. Though the 70-200 is a good lens....it's not a sharpness-monster and to get good sharpness...it needs to be stopped down a few stops...just like any lens.


3.) Distance. You shot this and they didn't even come close to filling the frame, you even cropped it, and so they occupied even less of the frame. In my experience, what makes sharpness is frame filling...not objects that are small occupying a small area of the frame. If you were too far to fill the frame with them then you are out of luck.

If you want the "environmental" sort of shot where you get their surroundings also...then don't pixel peep...you'll be disappointed every time.


That's my experience and my observations.

If I shot these at ISO 3200 in horrible light wide open far away, i wouldn't be displeased at the results, given all that they look pretty good.

nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

Thanks, rpavich. Important info to remember.