authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

I am using a Canon 80D with 60mm 2.8 lens. Camera is in P mode with Flash. I have the focus set to use the center 9 focus points. Went to a party and took photos. Had a 3 people standing together and I took the photo. The center photo is sharp and is the right person, however the left person is out of focus. Now I am thinking this is a screwy lens but this phenomenon does not always happen. Sometimes it the other way around. I took a group shot of 6 people. Some are in sharp and in focus and some are not. I took 3 shots. The focus is different on all 3 photos with not all being in focus at once. I tried using all 45 focus points and letting the camera decide which was not a whole lot better. However I can shot center focus with a single person and get a great shot. Obviously I do not understand how to control focus.

What am I doing wrong.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Got a sample pic with the EXIF info? Offhand I suspect it may be that the lens was wide open and that you were fairly close to them. The DOF wide open can be an issue... See this tool and input the values to know if it's a DOF issue...

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

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

In P mode at a party...were you using flash? If not, could be motion blur from slow shutter speed. Post a photo or continue to receive guesses as answers.

Before clicking the attach button, check the box labeled "store original."

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Are you taking pictures with your f/stop at f/2.8? If so, this is why. If one person is even 10 inches behind or in front of others, the people behind will be out of focus. This is because at f/2.8 your lens has a very shallow DOF (depth of field) Try shooting people standing together at f/8 or higher. You'll get better results.

authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

Here is a sample

(Download)

authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

Yes, Flash

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Appears to be a depth of field issue. Looks like you focused on the people furthest back (they are super-sharp), so your closest two are not within the range. Screamin Scott gave a link to a calculator and Jeep Daddy mentioned using smaller aperture for more depth of field. Do controlled tests to study the range of each aperture setting, based on distance and focal length.

Controlled tests should also help you rule out lens or focus problems.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Hard to be certain, but it does seem to be a DOF issue. DOF at that aperture and 5 foot from subject seems to be about six inches, which seems to be shallower than what shown here...

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Sorry, you did say that in the opening. I usually read three times to make sure I get it all; must have only done twice here

jak86094

Since you are fairly close to the subjects and using a flash, light shouldn't be the problem. In fact, it means you should be able to close down the aperture a couple of stops (or more) and still get a proper exposure. That will increase the depth of field substantially. Then focus in the middle of the group (depth wise). As suggested, testing is the way to really learn your camera/lens and the depth of field at different F-stops.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

I always use M (manual) when making a flash photo, not P. This allows me to set the shutter speed to 1/200 or 1/250 sec to minimize how much ambient lighting affects the photo. I also set the aperture as needed so that what I am shooting is in the DOF. In this case f/8 or f/11 would have been better, although what you used, f/5.6, should be good for most situations, just not this one.

A technique I use in situations like this is to aim & focus on someone mid-distance, that is, in the middle of the group to be photographed. Then, with finger holding the "shoot" button to keep the focus, bring the camera to center the group, then shoot. Hopefully, the DOF will be adequate that no one is too far from perfect focus.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Alas, the posted version is not the original file from the camera where we would be able to see the details of the EOS body and EF-S lens from the EXIF data. Can you post the original file rather than this Photoshop version?

Without the EXIF details, we can only assume the lens was focused on the woman in the center backrow. The image is so detailed, we can see the individual hairs on her face and inside her nose. We can see the individual facial hair of the woman next to her in glasses / Tigers logo and the partial head of the person obscured in the center of the frame. The "where" of this combo where the camera is focused is insanely sharp and detailed.

The location of the AF and the depth of field at f/5.6 are incorrect as needed to capture this entire group at the same level of sharp focus. My experience is to always focus on the nearest eye of the person nearest the camera, being the woman in light blue and glasses on our left of the image. Or maybe in this group, maybe the eyes of the child in the foreground. Still, f/5.6 is too wide to cover the entire group and 1/60 is likely too slow to reliable freeze the motion of this small group.

I mean "focus" via setting a specific AF point (or zone / group of AF points) to the specific location of focus. This is completely different from "focus and recompose". For event photography, this takes practice and skill and preparation. You won't get a good candid response if the subjects are sitting there waiting for you to configure the camera and focus. For this group, you need to look at their arrangement, decide the AF location and the exposure settings needed to capture them, and prepare the camera. Then raise, enable the AF and shoot / "cheers" all in one smooth and quick motion.

Program Auto lets the camera make an initial decision. Sometimes, the camera needs the 'help' of being told where to focus and it will determine a smaller aperture is needed for the composition. Otherwise, you have to tell the camera what to do, adjusting the Program-determined parameters or using another shooting mode. Manually setting the AF point to the child or the woman with glasses on the left is the primary change, then adjusting to probably f/9 would give the result you're likely looking for in this image, preferably also at 1/100 to assure the subject's small movements are frozen.

Finally, in your processing workflow, create your JPEGs in the sRGB colorspace, another change that will improve the shared / posted results.

authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

The original file is a 30M RAW. Way to big to send. How do I get around this and keep the original data?
I used Camera Raw to make the JPG. I changed nothing.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Use Canon DPP to 'Convert and Save' a JPEG conversion. Adobe strips the EOS data, you have no way to stop this Adobe action other than to use the Canon software instead. The EOS data will only emphasize / confirm the analysis above regarding suggestions of using a different exposure mode and shooting / focusing technique.

authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

ok thanks