18-55 IS lens advice

[jamez]

i currently use this lens as my general lens, however i seem to really struggle getting a good sharp picture with lens in outdoor situations, inside with the flash, the pictures are great cant fault them, but as soon as i use it outside the quality is a bit of pot luck. it seems to be particularly poor at landscape stuff.

I use a petal hood and a UV filter with this lens, could these be having an effect?

Thanks in advance

[briansquibb]

Re: 18-55 IS lens advice

I use this lens all the time - got some great outdoors pictures.

Try on a tripod, disable IS

Brian

[Canon-Fodder!]

Re: 18-55 IS lens advice

i currently use this lens as my general lens, however i seem to really struggle getting a good sharp picture with lens in outdoor situations, inside with the flash, the pictures are great cant fault them, but as soon as i use it outside the quality is a bit of pot luck. it seems to be particularly poor at landscape stuff.

I use a petal hood and a UV filter with this lens, could these be having an effect?

Thanks in advance

Hi Jamez;

For posts like this, it's always best to provide some sample images of what you think is a 'problem'... Ensure the EXIF data is intact, or, if not, post the camera settings alongside the image... In 9 cases out of 10; it's normally user-error! Posting samples & data will facilitate a targetted response...

[jamez]

Re: 18-55 IS lens advice

here are a couple of pictures as requested

[briansquibb]

Re: 18-55 IS lens advice

#1

- flare in bottom right hand corner

- dark beach - this is exposure problem due to the bright sunlight fooling the camera. There are several ways round this:

- change exposure comp to -2, which means the exposure will be calculated as if it is darker than it is
- change the af point to the bottom (pointing at beach) and set the metering to spot
- Use AE lock - this feature allows you to lock the exposure on the subject and its lightPoint the camera so the AF point is on the beach and press/keep pressing the AE lock whilst you move the camera back to the scene and take the picture.

I find the last one the easiest to use as you dont have to change the camera settings

Brian

[@imagesBV]

Re: 18-55 IS lens advice

I don't know what camera you are using - but if you have live view then try manual focus using the screen (or if no live view - manual focus using the viewfinder) and compare with auto focus.

Could this be that the IS is causing an out of focus effect - I understand that can happen if the lens is really still and hunts to find something to correct.

[briansquibb]

Re: 18-55 IS lens advice

Where is the AF point - if it is in the middle of the picture then the foreground will be blurred

[NigelL]

Re: 18-55 IS lens advice

#1

- dark beach - this is exposure problem due to the bright sunlight fooling the camera. There are several ways round this:

- change exposure comp to -2, which means the exposure will be calculated as if it is darker than it is

Sorry Brian, but if someone's struggling with dark or under-exposed images, surely they should be dialling in + exposure compensation!

Nigel

[briansquibb]

Re: 18-55 IS lens advice

Sorry Brian, but if someone's struggling with dark or under-exposed images, surely they should be dialling in + exposure compensation!

Nigel

doh - you are absolutely correct

[Canon-Fodder!]

Re: 18-55 IS lens advice

Hi Jamez;

The first place I would start is by stepping down the aperture to somewhere around f/8 - f/11... That's likely to be the lens 'sweet-spot'... At f/22 you will be getting lens aberration which will have an degrading impact on image quality...

You may also want to use ISO100 for these bright conditions as well; that will aid a sharper image...

I see these were processed in DPP... What processing are you doing after upload? Are these straight out of the camera? Were they RAW or JPEG files? Did you make any 'sharpness' adjustments?

These are all things to look at when considering reasons for 'non-sharp' images... The UV filter is unlikely to have any impact - apart from adding to flare potential in images such as #1...

[Nathaniel]

Re: 18-55 IS lens advice

I am interested in this subject as I use this lens as well. However, I have confined it's use to indoor photos with IS switched on, whilst for outdoor subjects I use my EF28mm-105mm USM lens, which I find isa good all rounder. Coming back to the IS lens, is it better to switch off the IS for outdoor photos as a general rule of the thumb? One doesn't need the IS for outdoor shots OR am I wrong in this assumption?

[Canon-Fodder!]

Re: 18-55 IS lens advice

Hello Nathaniel;

The only time I turn any of my IS modes OFF is when I'm using the lens on a fixed-head tripod. In those cases, there can be some 'interference'; but otherwise, there's no harm in leaving IS switched permanently ON; that's what it's there for! Certainly in very good light, you shouldn't need it, but in poor light (even outdoors) it comes into its own...

The 18-55 only has a single IS mode; On or Off... other lenses have 2 modes used for still subjects, and moving objects. In those scenarios you do have to be aware of what IS mode you are using; but for the 18-55, personally I wouldn't worry about it...