Just looking for feedback
Discussion
I went and got a 5D mark III with the "kit" lens and then got a 85mm F1.8..
I have taken a couple of photos with it last week, and just want to get some feedback on them, I've had a play with the white balance, exposure, sharpening and noise reduction..
Anyways, I have a couple of issues, maybe they just me not knowing what to do etc
I shot all of these photos at F2.5 and ISO400
Photo 1
ƒ/2.5 1/1250 ISO400
Photo 2
ƒ/2.5 1/800 ISO400
Photo 3
ƒ/2.5 1/640 ISO400
My fav out the three is the 3rd photo, I shot it from a couple steps further back, I have cropped on both sides and done some photoshopping, which I'm quite s
t at but I think its alright for how much I dont know about using photoshop still, but I like having more around the car than it just being tight to the car..
My issues are, some of the photos I took, the higher parts of the car are in focus but not the bumper, on the right corner of the 2nd photo the light hits the car, its like that on a couple of my photos and is quite off putting but I dont know how to stop that from happening, and finally some of my photos didnt focus on anything at all
I have taken a couple of photos with it last week, and just want to get some feedback on them, I've had a play with the white balance, exposure, sharpening and noise reduction..
Anyways, I have a couple of issues, maybe they just me not knowing what to do etc
I shot all of these photos at F2.5 and ISO400
Photo 1
ƒ/2.5 1/1250 ISO400
Photo 2
ƒ/2.5 1/800 ISO400
Photo 3
ƒ/2.5 1/640 ISO400
My fav out the three is the 3rd photo, I shot it from a couple steps further back, I have cropped on both sides and done some photoshopping, which I'm quite s
t at but I think its alright for how much I dont know about using photoshop still, but I like having more around the car than it just being tight to the car..My issues are, some of the photos I took, the higher parts of the car are in focus but not the bumper, on the right corner of the 2nd photo the light hits the car, its like that on a couple of my photos and is quite off putting but I dont know how to stop that from happening, and finally some of my photos didnt focus on anything at all
Shooting at F2.5 with an 85mm lens won't give you a great depth of field which is why the bumper of a car may be sharp while the roof isn't. If you want a greater depth of field, stop down the lens, i.e. use a smaller aperture. You've got lots of room to do that with the fast shutter speed you were using.
As to the reflections on the side of the car, you could remove these by using a polarising filter. These come in two flavours - plane and circular. Do some research on what these do and decide which one suits your needs best.
You've started out with a serious bit of kit in that full-frame DSLR you've bought. It would probably be helpful to learn some of the basics of photography such as the relationship between ISO - shutter speed - aperture and how to choose the optimal setting for each of these to achieve your desired result.
It's often expressed as a triangle these days.....
As to the reflections on the side of the car, you could remove these by using a polarising filter. These come in two flavours - plane and circular. Do some research on what these do and decide which one suits your needs best.
You've started out with a serious bit of kit in that full-frame DSLR you've bought. It would probably be helpful to learn some of the basics of photography such as the relationship between ISO - shutter speed - aperture and how to choose the optimal setting for each of these to achieve your desired result.
It's often expressed as a triangle these days.....
Edited by Schtum on Saturday 17th January 00:35
Schtum said:
Shooting at F2.5 with an 85mm lens won't give you a great depth of field which is why the bumper of a car may be sharp while the roof isn't. If you want a greater depth of field, stop down the lens, i.e. use a smaller aperture. You've got lots of room to do that with the fast shutter speed you were using.
As to the reflections on the side of the car, you could remove these by using a polarising filter. These come in two flavours - plane and circular. Do some research on what these do and decide which one suits your needs best.
You've started out with a serious bit of kit in that full-frame DSLR you've bought. It would probably be helpful to learn some of the basics of photography such as the relationship between ISO - shutter speed - aperture and how to choose the optimal setting for each of these to achieve your desired result.
I'm happy with the DOF, its just the issue of getting what I want in focus, sometimes its the bumper and below then other times its the windowscreen and roof etc, As to the reflections on the side of the car, you could remove these by using a polarising filter. These come in two flavours - plane and circular. Do some research on what these do and decide which one suits your needs best.
You've started out with a serious bit of kit in that full-frame DSLR you've bought. It would probably be helpful to learn some of the basics of photography such as the relationship between ISO - shutter speed - aperture and how to choose the optimal setting for each of these to achieve your desired result.
The issue with the reflection is the sun hitting the right hand side of the car, not on the window or anywhere else, its just on the right hand side,
I was using a polarizer in the photos, a Hama PRO 1 Digital Circular PL.
I have been learning some things, I'm happy with everything other then the issues I pointed out, I have it on Aperture mode, I pick the ISO and it does the shutter speed.
michael243 said:
Schtum said:
Shooting at F2.5 with an 85mm lens won't give you a great depth of field which is why the bumper of a car may be sharp while the roof isn't. If you want a greater depth of field, stop down the lens, i.e. use a smaller aperture. You've got lots of room to do that with the fast shutter speed you were using.
As to the reflections on the side of the car, you could remove these by using a polarising filter. These come in two flavours - plane and circular. Do some research on what these do and decide which one suits your needs best.
You've started out with a serious bit of kit in that full-frame DSLR you've bought. It would probably be helpful to learn some of the basics of photography such as the relationship between ISO - shutter speed - aperture and how to choose the optimal setting for each of these to achieve your desired result.
I'm happy with the DOF, its just the issue of getting what I want in focus, sometimes its the bumper and below then other times its the windowscreen and roof etc, As to the reflections on the side of the car, you could remove these by using a polarising filter. These come in two flavours - plane and circular. Do some research on what these do and decide which one suits your needs best.
You've started out with a serious bit of kit in that full-frame DSLR you've bought. It would probably be helpful to learn some of the basics of photography such as the relationship between ISO - shutter speed - aperture and how to choose the optimal setting for each of these to achieve your desired result.
The issue with the reflection is the sun hitting the right hand side of the car, not on the window or anywhere else, its just on the right hand side,
I was using a polarizer in the photos, a Hama PRO 1 Digital Circular PL.
I have been learning some things, I'm happy with everything other then the issues I pointed out, I have it on Aperture mode, I pick the ISO and it does the shutter speed.
With respect to the sunlight on the RHS of the car are you at 90 degrees to the sun when using the polariser because it doesn't really give the impression of having a polariser fitted, did you rotate the filter to see the effect and how it negates such highlights?
You have taken on quite a task leaping in with a 5D Mk3 it is one hell of a camera to start off with if you have little or no photography experience, a bit like learning to drive in a Cerbera
Surely the light on the right issue can only be sorted by moving the car, moving the sun or getting a massive reflector and holding it to the left! I don't think Photoshop should replace getting the composition right in camera to start with.
If you're happy with your aperture but can't control which part of the car is out of focus, then you need to read up on focusing modes I would think.
If you're happy with your aperture but can't control which part of the car is out of focus, then you need to read up on focusing modes I would think.
Yellabelly said:
Forgive me but if you are happy with the DoF why is one of your issues the varying focus? Do you understand what Schtum was explaining to you that shooting at f2.5 with an 85mm lens will always give you a very shallow DoF so you will always get OOF areas on a subject such as your examples. Try shooting with an aperture of F5.6 using matrix metering and if hand holding then use Auto ISO, if using a tripod then set it to ISO 100 making sure that VR is switched off.
With respect to the sunlight on the RHS of the car are you at 90 degrees to the sun when using the polariser because it doesn't really give the impression of having a polariser fitted, did you rotate the filter to see the effect and how it negates such highlights?
You have taken on quite a task leaping in with a 5D Mk3 it is one hell of a camera to start off with if you have little or no photography experience, a bit like learning to drive in a Cerbera
Hi, the only thing I dont like with the DOF, is the fact it focuses on the different parts at times, I did have it in Auto focus, but I will try manual focus next time, 50% of my photos was exactly in focus how I wanted and the rest was either focused on a different part or not focused at all, I was just wondering it theres a way around it without having it in manual, but if the car isnt moving I will have more time to take the shot etc.With respect to the sunlight on the RHS of the car are you at 90 degrees to the sun when using the polariser because it doesn't really give the impression of having a polariser fitted, did you rotate the filter to see the effect and how it negates such highlights?
You have taken on quite a task leaping in with a 5D Mk3 it is one hell of a camera to start off with if you have little or no photography experience, a bit like learning to drive in a Cerbera
I dont remember seeing any sun last week, it was a Cold WET windy day, I probably just rushed it to get back inside but again I wondered if using the lens hood would of helped instead, I need to slow down and take more time to compose the shots
bernhund said:
Surely the light on the right issue can only be sorted by moving the car, moving the sun or getting a massive reflector and holding it to the left! I don't think Photoshop should replace getting the composition right in camera to start with.
If you're happy with your aperture but can't control which part of the car is out of focus, then you need to read up on focusing modes I would think.
I couldnt move to sun, the car or get a massive reflector and hold it to the left? If you're happy with your aperture but can't control which part of the car is out of focus, then you need to read up on focusing modes I would think.
They was only the first shots with the camera I took, I'll go out and take some more soon and have a little play, I was just looking for a little guidance
michael243 said:
Hi, the only thing I dont like with the DOF, is the fact it focuses on the different parts at times, I did have it in Auto focus, but I will try manual focus next time, 50% of my photos was exactly in focus how I wanted and the rest was either focused on a different part or not focused at all, I was just wondering it theres a way around it without having it in manual, but if the car isnt moving I will have more time to take the shot etc.
I dont remember seeing any sun last week, it was a Cold WET windy day, I probably just rushed it to get back inside but again I wondered if using the lens hood would of helped instead, I need to slow down and take more time to compose the shots
By focussing mode don't mean whether its in auto or manual, but in auto, what is the focus point selection mode? In other words, if you want camera to focus on the bumper you have to tell the camera to focus on the bumper - so are you selecting a focus point on the bumper?I dont remember seeing any sun last week, it was a Cold WET windy day, I probably just rushed it to get back inside but again I wondered if using the lens hood would of helped instead, I need to slow down and take more time to compose the shots
kman said:
By focussing mode don't mean whether its in auto or manual, but in auto, what is the focus point selection mode? In other words, if you want camera to focus on the bumper you have to tell the camera to focus on the bumper - so are you selecting a focus point on the bumper?
This... If you want the bumper to be in focus... you need to focus on the bumper.The other thing i will say, you could spend £20,000 on camera gear, but photos of cars in car parks will still be photos of cars in car parks. Yes having a fast lens will let you have a shallow depth of field, but no more so than a £90 50mm 1.8 on any old camera body.
The biggest thing you could do to improve your photo's (the lambo one is probably about as good a shot as you could hope to take in that situation) is think more about where (and when) you are taking your photo's and how you are going to compose them.
If you are just going to car meets in car parks, your ability to take good photo's will be very limited!
The first thing that strikes me as 'not great' are the backgrounds. Maybe you like them but to me it suggests you're seeing the car and not the rest of the image. Both are important.
michael243 said:
I'm happy with the DOF, its just the issue of getting what I want in focus, sometimes its the bumper and below then other times its the windowscreen and roof etc
Learn about the focus points and select the one you want. I expect the Canon has lots; don't let it choose, choose for yourself (then the camera will autofocus using that one). Read the manual on this - it's important.michael243 said:
I have been learning some things, I'm happy with everything other then the issues I pointed out, I have it on Aperture mode, I pick the ISO and it does the shutter speed.
That's what I do kman said:
By focussing mode don't mean whether its in auto or manual, but in auto, what is the focus point selection mode? In other words, if you want camera to focus on the bumper you have to tell the camera to focus on the bumper - so are you selecting a focus point on the bumper?
Ah, I understand now, I have all 61 points on, I wasnt aware you had to manual select a point of focus, I had the assumption that it would know what I wanted to focus on from the angle I was pointing the camera at the subject from.Then there's One shot AF and Evaluative metering
jimmy156 said:
This... If you want the bumper to be in focus... you need to focus on the bumper.
The other thing i will say, you could spend £20,000 on camera gear, but photos of cars in car parks will still be photos of cars in car parks. Yes having a fast lens will let you have a shallow depth of field, but no more so than a £90 50mm 1.8 on any old camera body.
The biggest thing you could do to improve your photo's (the lambo one is probably about as good a shot as you could hope to take in that situation) is think more about where (and when) you are taking your photo's and how you are going to compose them.
If you are just going to car meets in car parks, your ability to take good photo's will be very limited!
The photos was taken in the NEC carpark simply as I was there so thought why not? The other thing i will say, you could spend £20,000 on camera gear, but photos of cars in car parks will still be photos of cars in car parks. Yes having a fast lens will let you have a shallow depth of field, but no more so than a £90 50mm 1.8 on any old camera body.
The biggest thing you could do to improve your photo's (the lambo one is probably about as good a shot as you could hope to take in that situation) is think more about where (and when) you are taking your photo's and how you are going to compose them.
If you are just going to car meets in car parks, your ability to take good photo's will be very limited!
With the 85mm it was tight to get the whole car in the photo due how far you have to step back to fit it in all in the frame
I will be taking photos in the streets in London as soon as the weather is better, and warmer for myself to be out all day.
Simpo Two said:
The first thing that strikes me as 'not great' are the backgrounds. Maybe you like them but to me it suggests you're seeing the car and not the rest of the image. Both are important.
The backgrounds of those photos I couldnt really get a different look onto as at the back of the Audi photo was always going to show the cars in front and around it, like wise with the other two, the background is an empty carpark, the photo below shows how the cars was parked.michael243 said:
I'm happy with the DOF, its just the issue of getting what I want in focus, sometimes its the bumper and below then other times its the windowscreen and roof etc
Learn about the focus points and select the one you want. I expect the Canon has lots; don't let it choose, choose for yourself (then the camera will autofocus using that one). Read the manual on this - it's important.michael243 said:
I have been learning some things, I'm happy with everything other then the issues I pointed out, I have it on Aperture mode, I pick the ISO and it does the shutter speed.
That's what I do 
I will go and do that now, I didnt know you could do that, its something I've never done with my previous camera either.
Congrat's on picking the 5D3.
In common with all Canon multi point focus systems, when all points are active the default is for the system to choose the point closest to the camera to focus on. Also like most cameras with phase detect focus, if the closest point has no variation in contrast or texture it will be ignored and move on to the next one.
It's for these very reasons that most people don't use all 61 points for static subjects.
The focusing system of the 5D3 is a very complicated beast and It took me sometime to understand how it can work. I recommend you re-read the focusing section of the manual and practice using the single and single point expansion settings.
Best of...
In common with all Canon multi point focus systems, when all points are active the default is for the system to choose the point closest to the camera to focus on. Also like most cameras with phase detect focus, if the closest point has no variation in contrast or texture it will be ignored and move on to the next one.
It's for these very reasons that most people don't use all 61 points for static subjects.
The focusing system of the 5D3 is a very complicated beast and It took me sometime to understand how it can work. I recommend you re-read the focusing section of the manual and practice using the single and single point expansion settings.
Best of...
michael243 said:
The photos was taken in the NEC carpark simply as I was there so thought why not?
With the 85mm it was tight to get the whole car in the photo due how far you have to step back to fit it in all in the frame
I will be taking photos in the streets in London as soon as the weather is better, and warmer for myself to be out all day.
Fair enough and i agree, but i would't hope to take stunning photos of cars there, you can only work with what you have got.With the 85mm it was tight to get the whole car in the photo due how far you have to step back to fit it in all in the frame
I will be taking photos in the streets in London as soon as the weather is better, and warmer for myself to be out all day.
As Simpotwo says, the subject is only 1 part of the photo, you also have to consider background, foreground, lighting, etc etc...
Taking photos on the streets of London can make some very interesting photos or can make for some very dull photos of cars at the side of the road. I would put the location (i.e the background and the rest of the content of the photo), the composition, lighting, exposure and other things before the type of car in the photo as things that are important for making a nice image.
If you just want to take photo's of nice cars, and 'spotting' the cars is the main object of your trips, than none of this will be particularly important. However as you have spent a lot of £££ on a very nice camera and lens combo, i am guessing you are after something a bit more than this. Have a search from some of the photos that Dean and GFwilliams ( may have written their usernames incorrectly ) have taken, i am sure one or other of those guys has done a number of threads demonstrating how they achieve the results that they do. They may be useful for you for getting some inspiration.
Geordie MGmike said:
Congrat's on picking the 5D3.
In common with all Canon multi point focus systems, when all points are active the default is for the system to choose the point closest to the camera to focus on. Also like most cameras with phase detect focus, if the closest point has no variation in contrast or texture it will be ignored and move on to the next one.
It's for these very reasons that most people don't use all 61 points for static subjects.
The focusing system of the 5D3 is a very complicated beast and It took me sometime to understand how it can work. I recommend you re-read the focusing section of the manual and practice using the single and single point expansion settings.
Best of...
Hi, I will have a look in the manual and have a play around with the settings, I just want it to be good for my eyes and the vast majorly of people who view the images In common with all Canon multi point focus systems, when all points are active the default is for the system to choose the point closest to the camera to focus on. Also like most cameras with phase detect focus, if the closest point has no variation in contrast or texture it will be ignored and move on to the next one.
It's for these very reasons that most people don't use all 61 points for static subjects.
The focusing system of the 5D3 is a very complicated beast and It took me sometime to understand how it can work. I recommend you re-read the focusing section of the manual and practice using the single and single point expansion settings.
Best of...
jimmy156 said:
Fair enough and i agree, but i would't hope to take stunning photos of cars there, you can only work with what you have got.
As Simpotwo says, the subject is only 1 part of the photo, you also have to consider background, foreground, lighting, etc etc...
Taking photos on the streets of London can make some very interesting photos or can make for some very dull photos of cars at the side of the road. I would put the location (i.e the background and the rest of the content of the photo), the composition, lighting, exposure and other things before the type of car in the photo as things that are important for making a nice image.
If you just want to take photo's of nice cars, and 'spotting' the cars is the main object of your trips, than none of this will be particularly important. However as you have spent a lot of £££ on a very nice camera and lens combo, i am guessing you are after something a bit more than this. Have a search from some of the photos that Dean and GFwilliams ( may have written their usernames incorrectly ) have taken, i am sure one or other of those guys has done a number of threads demonstrating how they achieve the results that they do. They may be useful for you for getting some inspiration.
That was actually the first place I took my camera out to test what it could do, I'm looking into considering the other aspects in the shot and not just the subject but thats where I fail, I dont have a very creative head if you've not noticed that yet, so that's something I need to learn/develop As Simpotwo says, the subject is only 1 part of the photo, you also have to consider background, foreground, lighting, etc etc...
Taking photos on the streets of London can make some very interesting photos or can make for some very dull photos of cars at the side of the road. I would put the location (i.e the background and the rest of the content of the photo), the composition, lighting, exposure and other things before the type of car in the photo as things that are important for making a nice image.
If you just want to take photo's of nice cars, and 'spotting' the cars is the main object of your trips, than none of this will be particularly important. However as you have spent a lot of £££ on a very nice camera and lens combo, i am guessing you are after something a bit more than this. Have a search from some of the photos that Dean and GFwilliams ( may have written their usernames incorrectly ) have taken, i am sure one or other of those guys has done a number of threads demonstrating how they achieve the results that they do. They may be useful for you for getting some inspiration.
I'm just looking to achieve nice photos, that's simply all I want, I know I have MUCH and MUCH to learn, I dont know who "Dean" is
and GFW photos are on a complete different scale on what I'm trying to achieve, below is how I want the photos to end up, and I'll try until I get to a standard thats acceptable
I know that these photos wasnt taken in a carpark, so had room on either side to get the car dead centered, the backgrounds dont matter that much as they will be blurred, I see that sometimes the background can take a lot AWAY from an image ruin the image and draws your eyes to the background and not the subject
It's a learning curve for me a very big one, I'll be in London soon and taking some images and seeing how they end up and will update here accordingly.
Photoshop/Lightroom/White balance are on the long list I'm going to play around with and see what's what and what's best to use.
If there's any feedback to give about anything I've missed out please let me know, I'm happy to hear what people think.
You're on the way Michael. First you have to see the image, then you have to capture it. The above examples have backgrounds that go 'into' the picture rather than across it, which makes a big difference. They've also had a bit of tweaking in processing. But first, concentrate on finding a car in the right place/seeing the image
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