Island Cottageby
BAMartinComment by MelonMusketeer: I'm not sure what happened when you shot this one. It looks like possibly camera movement during exposure. With the exposure time being 1/200 with the Canon, even at 135mm it seems that it would be sharper than it is.
Some of my photos were looking pretty soft like this a while back, and I found that the rear element of one of my lenses had some kind of ick on it. Cleaning that up improved it a lot.
Check that lens by looking thru it with the aperture held open. I think that there is a way to take it off the camera and keep the aperture open wide so you can inspect the glass for any smudges or mold spots.
I found when shooting with my older non IS/VR lenses, that shooting from a car sitting still with the motor idling was making my photos soft due to the vibration of the motor running. Shooting with a tripod on a bridge with any traffic on it can do this too, because of the vibration.
Two other things, 1, check the diopter setting for the viewfinder, esp if you were using manual focus for this one, and, #2, keep shooting.
I hope that one or more of these suggestions will help at least some with finding a way to correct the softness for future shooting.
My last entry crashed and burned, but it don't make a big difference in the way life will be a couple of months down the road.
It's a bummer about the low score with this one. It's a very nice scene, and one that I would greatly enjoy seeing in person.
ETA, I thought about one more thing, shooting with a tripod and having IS turned on can do this too. Check the lens manual about it.
Message edited by author 2011-11-14 00:40:36. 
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