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24Peter
02-10-2006, 12:08 PM
A few random shots...

From my yard this morning
(Canon 70-300 IS, 1/640, F6.3 235mm ISO 200)
http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/upload/huge/IMG_3831.JPG

Two from a trip to San Diego, a couple of weeks ago.
(Kit lens 1/400, F7.1 55mm ISO 100) "Mutt & Jeff"
http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/upload/huge/IMG_2673.JPG
(Kit lens 1/400 F7.1 40mm ISO 100) Just Mutt
http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/upload/huge/IMG_2681.JPG
SketchySmurf
02-10-2006, 01:41 PM
don't know much about the kit lens, but if you had it at full zoom on the second shot, I would say it looks rather soft...

but the third shot is excellent!
24Peter
02-10-2006, 02:00 PM
don't know much about the kit lens, but if you had it at full zoom on the second shot, I would say it looks rather soft...

but the third shot is excellent!

Not that the kit lens is razor sharp anyway, but the second shot is cropped pretty heavily so that's probably what you're seeing. :)
aparmley
02-10-2006, 02:15 PM
Cool Photos - I wish we had beautiful birds like that around us. We have cool finches and hummingbirds, but those are like the size of a twinky!

I'd say the kit lens on the second image looks RAZOR sharp - Thats unbelievable - USM I assume but still - You can't make chicken salada outa chicken sh$t so I assume it was nice and sharp prior to USM.
24Peter
02-10-2006, 03:02 PM
I'd say the kit lens on the second image looks RAZOR sharp - Thats unbelievable - USM I assume but still - You can't make chicken salada outa chicken sh$t so I assume it was nice and sharp prior to USM.
Nope, no USM. I almost never sharpen my images, mostly because I use PhotoImpact 11 to edit and I don't like their sharpening algorithm. Despite what some people say sbout the kit lens, stopped down in the middle of the zoom range it isn't bad. :)
arigato
02-10-2006, 03:30 PM
I just recently started seeing the term USM kicked around and have no idea what it means. Can anyone enlighten me? I can infer it has to do with post processing in a program like Adobe...am I right? Dang acronyms!
coldrain
02-10-2006, 03:53 PM
One of the sharpening algorythms, "UnSharp Mask"
SketchySmurf
02-10-2006, 09:14 PM
Not that the kit lens is razor sharp anyway, but the second shot is cropped pretty heavily so that's probably what you're seeing. :)

as in cropped and then expanded, correct? So you're losing resolution after the expansion...
coldrain
02-11-2006, 01:35 AM
Just cropped. If you do not sharpen photos you do not get tack sharp images, the Canon cameras are quite laid back with in camera sharpening so you may see this soft look. It does not look exceptionaly soft, just next to scaled down photos you see the difference.
SketchySmurf
02-11-2006, 06:45 AM
hmmm...the cropping part is where I get confused. The implication here is it would have been sharper had he not cropped the image.
24Peter
02-11-2006, 08:29 AM
The dimensions of the cropped image are 1740X2610. The original image was 2304X3456. ImageEvent (and I guess most on-line photo sites) resizes displayed images depending on the size the viewer chooses. In this case, I used the setting which displays an image (any image) at approx. 533X800. So an uncropped image might look a little sharper relative to a cropped image because there's more detail crammed into the same 533X800. But frankly I think it's pretty hard to tell on such a small size given that both the original and cropped image are way over 533X800. I see more softness due to blown highlights in the "Mutt & Jeff" (aren't they just so cute?!? It's one of my favorite photos :rolleyes: ) image than a lower res image but we all see what we want to see I guess. ;)
cwphoto
02-11-2006, 06:36 PM
Great work Peter, my fav is number one. That 70-300 IS continues to surprise me.
24Peter
02-11-2006, 07:34 PM
Thanks Christian. I love that first shot as well. It's my new desktop image on my computer. :)

I'm gonna need to send the lens (70-300 IS) to Canon because it has that portrait orientation problem. But other than that, it's a great lens.
24Peter
02-11-2006, 09:02 PM
Some more shots with the 70-300 IS from a few months back (see the whole gallery here: http://imageevent.com/24peter/birdbathparttres )

http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/birdbathparttres/large/IMG_9819.JPG

http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/birdbathparttres/large/IMG_9821.JPG

http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/birdbathparttres/large/IMG_9832.JPG

http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/birdbathparttres/large/IMG_9750.JPG

http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/birdbathparttres/large/IMG_9747.JPG