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Hello fellow lens loving junkies! I have been struggling to get very sharp, non-grainy images. I have a Canon Rebel Eos T3i. Even images at 100 ISO are not as sharp as I would like. Not sure if it is just that my camera is a 12 megapixel, or not. I have been struggling for months now to get the extreme detail and high resolution I want. I have been considering a camera base upgrade to Canon 70D, but wanted to ask if there was anything else I should consider first. I really struggle in low light conditions, even with a f/1.8 lens on. Images appear almost blotchy and/or grainy, plus the depth of field is extremely short with that lens. My camera has been exposed repeatedly to -40 degree weather, due to cold weather shoots I do during the winter, not sure if that would affect the sensors or not. Thanks!

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  • \$\begingroup\$ What are your settings? Can you post an example of one of your photos? How sharp is "as sharp as you like"? Does your expectation stem from images of other photographers, possibly found online? If so, please post such an image here. \$\endgroup\$
    – null
    Commented Apr 22, 2015 at 14:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ Are you shooting in RAW or JPEG? I've used a T1i with a Quantary 70-300 f/5. At 1600 with 1/60 I don't think I can complain too much (especially given the lens) when shooting in RAW and sharpening with GIMP. Can you give an example of what you have and what you want? \$\endgroup\$
    – SailorCire
    Commented Apr 22, 2015 at 14:32
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    \$\begingroup\$ Are you using a tripod? Because in low light conditions the settings that eliminate motion blur to an acceptable degree will not be good enough if you don't want to see any blur down to the level where the pixels start to become visible. Blowing up an image like that and demanding that is is still sharp requires eliminating the motion blur to almost zero. It's just like using a huge, meters long zoom lens. \$\endgroup\$
    – Count Iblis
    Commented Apr 22, 2015 at 17:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ Is the problem mainly limited to low-light conditions? \$\endgroup\$
    – MikeW
    Commented Apr 22, 2015 at 23:54

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You need more light. Low light is tough, and most folks aren't restricting themselves to iso 100. Good exposure, stabilization, and using appropriate shutter speeds are required, and that may involve tripods and motion blur with moving subjects. Noise occurs when you underexpose as much as with higher ISO settings. If you use higher ISO settings but expose properly, you'll have less noise.

In addition, the EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens, wide open, is soft. Period. That lens's "sweet spot" is in the f/4-5.6 range. So, even if you're properly exposed and you can still handhold with f/1.8, you're not going to get anything tack sharp, unless you're at least at f/2.8.

Consider whether using an external flash or shooting under better lit conditions might not be appropriate. Cameras still need more light to see by than our eyes do.

See also:

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