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Hi All
Been struggling to get a sharp landscape shot using the D20 and 17-40L lens, especially at smaller apertures (f22) - strange huh!
I think it is mainly to do with my focusing, ie. Im not sure where to focus when using f22. Do you focus on the foreground, middle or far distance, or somewhere inbetween for the best results? Would auto or manual focus be best?
I am using a tripod and remote shutter, so no camera shake issues.
Could it be that Im using the max aperture, ie. f22 and it's behaving funny because its at its limits or am I just expecting too much!?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
Ewan
As a general rule with landscapes focus one third of the way into the scene to maximise depth of field. The smaller aperture should also help maximise this and tripod & remote release should ensure good sharp detail. Depth of field extends from about 1/3rd of the way in front of your point of focus to 2/3rds beyond it. With the lens/camera combination you're using you should have excellent sharpness front to back with f22. I suspect it's one of those digital thingies (I use film so what I take is what I get) where you may have to tinker with the camera settings or 'work' on the image further once it's taken. There are plenty here I'm sure who'll be able to help you soon! Manual or automatic focus should give the same results.
Ian.
I don't know if this is of any help, but just a few moments ago I was reading a tutorial on this website about depth of field on this link http://www.ephotozine.co.uk/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=63
The bit of interest is "As a rule-of-thumb, there's twice more depth-of-field behind the subject than in front of it. So if you photograph a distant subject such as a landscape and focus on infinity you waste lots of depth-of-field. By focusing a little closer, you'll extend the depth-of-field at the front so it comes nearer to the camera, while still making sure that infinity falls within the depth-of-field behind the actual point of focus."
Now I am no techie and my knowledge of cameras extends to automatic settings (hence why I was reading tutorials) but I am wondering if that could be of any use?
Its worth having a look at the article, they do say use F22
if you have it, so you have the right setting.
Thanks Ian & Becky
Thats a real help. I have been focusing pretty much randomly (shock horror) or more often right at the front of the image....
Glad to know F22 is correct. Ian - yes, digital can be funny sometimes, Im really trying to cut down the amount I have to 'process' aftwards. It would be great to get a nice clear image straight from the cam, which I have achieved with my other lenses. This is going to take a bit of practice I think.
The only other thing I could think of was the cleaning of the lens - ie. if i've smudged it at all.. I'll give it another go. I have been using a circular polariser for some shots, and that might be having an effect I guess.
Cheers!
Ewan
Very useful - thanks Gary. Look forward to doing a couple of tests over the weekend!
Would be nice to get it sorted so I can start to really concentrate on composition etc without thinking Im getting another slightly blurry photo!
Cheers 
Ewan
One other thing to bear in mind is that Canon files tend to be quite soft out of camera and like most modern SLRs require a good deal of sharpening.
With my KMD5 i turn off all sharpening in the raw converter (ACR in my case) and sharpen in photoshop. I can get away with LOTS of shrapening. Something like 300% at 1 pixel radius works well (I know it seems extreme but trust me on this one).
A lot of people are affraid to sharpen their images and either under sharpen or massively oversharpen.
Try pushing the amount slider up and see how mcuh you can get away with. You want to avoid any halos as these will be obvious in print. If you have PSCS2 the smart sharpen works well, especially as the highlight and shaddow sliders help you to remove most but not all halos.
Hope this helps.
Andrew
have you tried not stopping down so much?
Diffraction becomes an issue at tiny apertures, much more on digi sensors than on film, in my experience.
Try shooting at f16 (or even f11 if you havent much foreground). I never stop my 17-40 down to f22, unless i need the long shuutter for something. most of my landscapes are taken between f8 and f16
Quote: Been struggling to get a sharp landscape shot using the D20 and 17-40L lens, especially at smaller apertures (f22) - strange huh!
Is any of the image sharp ? if not this could be down some other fault in your technique, as you are at f22 the chances are your shutter speed is fairly slow and you may be getting camera shake/movement causing the problem.
BOB
There shouldn't be a problem. Agencies ask for no sharpening as the settings for sharpening should be applied in relation to the size of the final image.
Might be worth the time to check that the lens is focusing accurately. You can occasionally get a lens that is slightly out.
A quick way is to find a flat subject with good contrast, set the camera on a tripod, use mirror lock up and the centre focus point.
Check the image at "actual pixels" in Photoshop. Any focus inaccuracy is easily apparent.
Check it at f4 and f8
Just a thought, but you say camera shake shouldn't be an issue, and small apertures should give greater depth of field, so, is any of the shot in focus, if yes then it is generally an issue of focussing on the wrong thing, if not, then are you shooting in cold conditions. If yes, you may be getting condensation on your lens.
Just another thought late at night, but you said you used a polariser on some shots - remember that cuts down the light by 2 stops at maxm. effectiveness, so if you had your aperture set, the shutter speed would get corespondingly longer, possibly into the danger zone for camera shake
happy Easter
Stephen
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