Is the lack of sharpness my fault, or my camera/lens?

[eichert12]

I've recently been out shooting a couple of my brothers football games and been very disappointed with the sharpness of the images. While some of the shots I know I botched, there are many others that seem to be properly focused on the subject that I was after, however, they lack the crispness and sharpness that I would expect from my equipment. I have a Canon Rebel XTi, and shot the game using my 24-105mm 4L lens. Considering I'm shooting with an L lens I'd expect much better results. Most of the shots where taken with the lens wide open which I suppose could be part of my problem, but after reading this thread [1] I'm wondering if there is either something I could be doing wrong, or if there is something wrong with my lens and/or camera.

What's the best way to determine what the problem is? Do people have a standard subject they shoot to evaluate the sharpness of their lenses? How can I figure out if my lens is less sharp than it should be?

[1] http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=75438

Cheers,
Steve

[DavidTO]

Post some pictures. Best would be to link to the original. Provide the EXIF data, so we can see what you're doing. You'll get lots of useful feedback. :deal

[eichert12]

I'll go through and see if I can find a shot that illustrates the problem that I'm seeing. None of the pictures jumped out as a good example when I just ran through the photos. Some of the photos where taken by my wife with the "program mode", and some were taking at a higher ISO 400 which could be having some impact?

Do you have any recommendations on the type of shot to pick out? The entire gallery is at:
http://eichert.smugmug.com/gallery/3767746

I certainly don't expect you to comb through the gallery, so I'll run through them tomorrow morning when I'm not falling asleep and see if I can find a good one to get feedback on. :)

Thanks,
Steve

[kini62]

I've looked at your gallery. And from the shots that aren't heavy crops, or are not cropped at all, most look OK.

Some are a little soft. I get the same thing or used to a little more with my 30d. My 40D seems a little better if focus accuracy and reliability.

Try and shoot a stationary object at low iso in good light or with a flash. Refocus and take several shots. Then check sharpness.

If it's still not sharp your camera or lens may need to be adjusted.

Gene

[eichert12]

Thanks for taking a look Gene! As I went through the photos in that gallery last night looking for a shot, I couldn't find any that jumped out. I guess it's been more of an overall feeling lately. As my wife was looking over my shoulder last night I asked her if she felt that some of the pictures we've taken lately haven't been as sharp as she would expect, and she had the same general feeling as I did, which was that they definitely seemed to be lacking sharpness.

I was planning on trying to setup a stationary object in good lighting as you suggested and shooting it with both my 50 1.4 and the 24-105 4 and comparing sharpness. I'm guessing the lenses will vary regarding what aperature will give the best sharpness so if anyone has any experience with both the 50 1.4 and 24-105 4 and could offer some advice on what aperature's to shoot at for comparing sharpness I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Steve