lend me your eyes please

[jann1033]

vision being worse than usual i am trying to decide if this lens is soft enough to warrant getting another macro but since i can't really see that well don't know what is lens softness and what is eyes not working..these were taken with and without my tamron 1.4 converter and with and without the 1:1 filter( lens is 1:2 and comes with a 1:1 filter)...hoping i can tell which is which ...a disclaimer : since i am having a hard time seeing to begin with and had to manual focus, hopefully the focus was right. there was a breeze as well so hopefully it didn't create to much movement.

so would you spend $400+ for another lens?

.i used a tripod but not a wind break. i am thinking of getting the macro focus screen when i get the 40d which i hope will help as will the larger lcd...so hoping that would take care of some of the softness due to not hitting the manual focus spot on.

the auto focus on this lens is pretty much not working but since macro means manual anyway i am leaning toward that not mattering that much, unless the focus would work perfectly with one of the canon macros and i would only have to manually tweak at most.. i think with the converter i am getting like 1.4:1 so i don't really have to use the 1;1 which is a pain since you have to be so close....but any comments would be appreciated.

1:2 with 1.4 converter so no 1:1 filter

1:2, so no filter no converter, just the lens as is

converter and 1:1 filter

thanks

 

[DVC Jen]

I kinda like the soft feel of the first two - I think it works well with them.

Did you sharpen at all? I don't think it looks terrible - and with these types of photos the soft looks works - for me. But that is just my opinion and taste - everyone else may feel differently.

I do understand about you wanting a lens that is tack sharp. Do you have anything else you took with just the lens and not any of the other stuff?

 

[jann1033]

I kinda like the soft feel of the first two - I think it works well with them.

Did you sharpen at all? I don't think it looks terrible - and with these types of photos the soft looks works - for me. But that is just my opinion and taste - everyone else may feel differently.

I do understand about you wanting a lens that is tack sharp. Do you have anything else you took with just the lens and not any of the other stuff?

the second and third are just the lens...maybe i 'll have hub take some when he gets home since his eyes are better than mine . i just sharpened with lightroom which i think i have set around 20(?)...
it's weird looking to me that the water drops seem sharper than the stamens( or is that pistels, i never remember ) even the ones around the same distance...which is why i wondered if i just couldn't see period. i was looking at some canon 100 and 60 mm shots and some looked really sharp others not so sharp...
i also wonder how the focus system on the 40d would effect overall sharpness...not sure how the cross hair deal works.
so i have a hard time telling what is the lens, what is the rebels focus system, what is me not being able to see while taking the photo and what is me not being able to see the photo i took..or all of the above.. maybe i need a giant magnifying glass to hang around my neck

 

[thomas998]

I feel your pain in trying to do a manual focus... the viewfinders in the latest cameras don't seem to be very manual focus friendly, nor can you tell from the LCDs just how focused or not your picture is... I once took a whole series of shots in low light that I was sure was dead on focused... they even looked good on the LCD... popped them in the computer and it was clear that they were dead on for the area two feet behind my subject.

As for your shots.. they look a little soft... I wonder did you use RAW or were you using jpeg... I tend to think RAW works better even for minor things like sharpening.... I'm not familiar enough with lightroom to know what you mean by sharpened by 20... I would have used probably started with the manufacturers software or photoshop CS3 and used unsharp mask.

If your not sure if your camera is focused or not... just shot several pictures while focusing in and out from the flower... I've done that in low light shots before because I didn't have enough light to be sure whether I was in focus and memory is cheap... if I get 1 focused shot and 5 blurs I'm happy... that's why they put a delet button on the camera.

 

[handicap18]

My $0.02.... the first 2 look soft, but I can't tell if it is a focus issue or a soft lens issue. I'd have to know where exactly your focus point was to make a better assessment. The 3rd one looks like it is very much in focus, but is on the soft side. That one looks like it could be sharper. Still an excellent image though. The 4th one is tough to tell overall. Looks overexposed or just that the colors are all so similar they blend together to much and that makes it harder to evaluate this issue.

Hope that helps. If not, hey it was only 2 cents so I didn't loose much.

 

[jann1033]

#4 i think it's the colors since the histogram is ok, all shot in raw.. usually i have the focus point in the middle but since i was using manual i don"t think it lights up anyway.(?) but i was focusing on the stamen pistel things i thought
sent somewhat less blind hub out with camera on P , tripod, just the lens...conclusion to me i think the lens is just soft.the light is pretty much straight on here( northwest corner of house so sun was getting lower, first batch the sun was still behind the house so they were in the shade)

maybe i'll wait till i get the other camera but don't think that is going to help...so looks like a good macro is just one more thing to add to my list