Picture quality

pvnacharpvnachar
edited November 2014 Posted in » Canon 60D Forum
Hi,
I bought a Canon 60D with 18-55mm lens two months back. The photos I've taken don't look like they were taken with a 18mp camera. They are less sharp and more noisy. I took in both AF and MF. I would like to know if there's a problem with the camera or if any settings need to be checked.
Image quality is set to L (rounded) max.
This even happens in RAW format.
Please help me out.

Comments

  • ohyeaharohyeahar
    edited November 2014
    I'm going to assume that you’ve tried the things I mentioned in the other thread you started:
    http://forums.cameratips.com/discussion/2300/canon-60d-basic-tips

    I think maybe it’s best to show some examples. Upload your photos to a photo hosting site and share the link here.
  • pvnacharpvnachar
    edited November 2014
    Yeah, sure!
  • pvnacharpvnachar
    edited November 2014
    http://s44.photobucket.com/user/pvnachar/library/

    Doesn't feel like 18mp pictures. Some are taken in AF some in MF, with IS on.
  • TheGafferTheGaffer
    edited November 2014
    @pvnachar
    Hi - I think that at least some of your problem is the subject matter, as there are a lot of "non solids" there.
    Clouds, candle light and spider webs are extremely difficult to auto-focus on. Page 80 of the manual gives some more examples.
    Can you tell us which shots were AF and which were MF (and the ISO setting(s) as that may be contributing to noise)?
  • pvnacharpvnachar
    edited November 2014
    I forget which ones were! Let me check the info on the images.
  • pvnacharpvnachar
    edited November 2014
    Sunset and cloud are AF, all others are MF.
  • ohyeaharohyeahar
    edited November 2014
    I would highly suggest uploading to a service that allows full-res download of your images. The free Photobucket accounts don’t allow it, so it’s hard to tell what’s wrong when there’s so much compression taking place.

    Flickr is a good choice since it also displays your EXIF data (shutter, aperture, ISO, etc).
    Otherwise, Dropbox and Google Drive also work well.
  • pvnacharpvnachar
    edited November 2014
    Yeah sure! I'll upload it to Drive or Dropbox.
  • pvnacharpvnachar
    edited November 2014
    https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rcz71cs5eaei2xz/AADuaKd5qidHdeAo7hw9mL8Ea?dl=0

    I think this meets your requirement!
    Thanks :)
  • ohyeaharohyeahar
    edited November 2014
    5376 [palm tree/rainbow]
    f/7.1, 1/50, ISO100
    This is a good shot. To make this into a great shot, you’ll need to dive into it in post-production. Try rotating it counter-clockwise by 10 degrees while cropping in. This is will straighten out the center tree and get rid of those distracting leaves in the edges and corners. Then selectively boost the exposure of the just the tree to bring out the color.

    5355 [blue skies]
    f/10, 1/100, ISO100
    This is a good shot. There’s softness in the trees when zoomed in, but it’s not too big of an issue I think. If you want everything to be sharp across the frame, you’d probably need to do multiple shots across different focal distances and then blend them in post.
  • ohyeaharohyeahar
    edited November 2014
    5330 [powerline]
    f/13, 1/160, ISO100
    There appears to be blur from camera motion. It looks like this was taken from a moving vehicle.

    4830 [flame]
    f/9, 1/250, ISO6400
    You could have dropped the ISO to 2500 and opened up the aperture to f/5.6 for a cleaner image.

    4441 [flame/wick]
    f/5, 1/60, ISO3200
    I like this shot. You got the wick in focus, and there’s nice round bokeh balls in the background. What’s not to like?

    4238 [candle-lit pavement]
    f/5.6, 1/8, ISO3200
    Too dark. If you had a tripod, I would have used it for a long exposure with a stopped down aperture and then selectively boosted the exposure of the greenery in post.

    3907 [dripping towel]
    f/5.6, 1/400, ISO6400
    I feel like you may have missed focus on this one. Perhaps your subject breached the minimal focal distance.

    3787 [peppers]
    f/5.6, 1/80, ISO500
    Looks good. What’s not to like?

    3781 [leaf drip]
    f/5.6, 1/80, ISO1000
    Looks good. What’s not to like?

    3766 [the spider]
    f/13, 1/10, ISO6400
    Was this handheld? 1/10 second is a tough speed to hand-hold even with IS. Some of the softness may be due to camera shake rather than missed focus.
  • pvnacharpvnachar
    edited November 2014
    Ok! Thanks a lot for your feedback and guidance. I will be back with some more shots.
  • ohyeaharohyeahar
    edited November 2014
    3744 [forest]
    f/8, 1/500, ISO2000
    Unless there was movement from wind, you should have been able to slow the shutter one or two stops (1/250 or 1/125). This would have dropped your ISO to 1000 or 500 resulting in a much cleaner shot.
    In terms of composition, I think aiming just a bit higher would help. First, it would allow you to include the top of the trees so it doesn’t look like you cut them off, and it would get rid of the top of the wooden post on the bottom of your shot which is quite distracting.

    3759 [ground]
    f/5.6, 1/80, ISO100
    If not zoomed in, this is a dreamy looking shot due to the softness, but I get the feeling you’re looking for sharpness. Assuming your camera isn’t shaking too much, it looks like maybe the wind could have been a factor. Perhaps you could have bumped up the shutter to 1/500 and ISO to 640. Also, it seems flare is present. A different angle may have helped.

    3710 [white flowers]
    f/5, 1/60, ISO3200
    I would have shifted the focal plane slightly towards the camera, or perhaps changed the shot angle because the out-of-focus elements in the foreground are a bit distracting.

    2597 [toppled candle]
    f/5.6, 1/1000, ISO6400
    This is a tough shot in difficult lighting. I think you got the exposure pretty good. Have you tried dropping the shutter one or two stops to bring down the ISO? Eg 1/500 with ISO 3200 or 1/250 with ISO 1600. I suppose this depends on how aggressively the flame was flickering.
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