now -- cannon 10D problems

[Dahitman44]

We have had problems with this camera from day one. When we take a pic of a bunch of people the center people are in focus, but the edge people are out of focus.

I am using a 35mm lens on it -- I don;t think that should really matter though.

Any ideas? Somebody thought I have it on center focus -- how do I change that?

And no I can't find the book.

thanks

hit

[WCS]

To change autofocus points: On the back of your camera, you will find 3 buttons in the upper right hand corner. Press the button farthest to the right. Look into the viewfinder and you will see the active autofocus points light up. Turn either the dial on top or the dial on back to change the focus points. One important thing to consider is that you can only change autofocus points if you are in "P", "TV", "AV" or "M" modes. I don't see the focus point as being your problem however. The simplest thing that comes to mind is your depth of field is too shallow to sharply focus on a large group of people. Try increasing the f-stop to a higher number. Doing this will require more light, so you may have to bump up the ISO or use a tripod if low light is an issue. You will be able to find a manual on Canon's HSOforum in pdf format for both your 10D and 20D cameras.

[Steve Foss]

Good advice from WCS. I doubt very much you have a camera problem, but a depth of focus or a lens problem instead.

Increasing depth of focus as WCS suggested will solve your problem as long as that really is the problem. If you have three rows of people and the center row is in focus but the front and back rows are fuzzy, it's a DOF issue.

If all rows/levels in the center of the image are in focus but the image is a bit fuzzy around the edges, you have a lens problem. Some lenses deliver sharper images edge-to-edge than others. The best lenses produce sharpness throughout the whole image, while some do best toward the center of the image and are softer around the edges. Increasing DOF by stopping down the lens (increasing the f-stop number) often helps, but does not always completely solve the problem with some lenses, particularly the least expensive (lowest quality) lenses.

You may find that, even after stopping down, sharpness is lacking along the edges, and you'll have to get a better lens or shoot group shots with some room around them so you can crop out the soft edges.

Please tell me exactly which lens it is. Brand name, 35mm, widest aperture capability (f2.8, f4, etc) and any other letters on the lens name. Example: Canon 35mm f1.4L USM.

Also, can you post a sample image here showing the problem? If not, just e-mail me the original jpeg and I'll look at it. My e-mail is always in my sig below.