Can someone tell me if I am going blind?

[ConchyJoe]

I don't know if it is me, or my camera, but something does not seem right. I have linked an original jpg and orf from last year and this year for you to review and feedback on. The examples are Christmas tree worms.
Last year we went to Cayman. I worked with Cathy Church on tecnique and such, and felt I was getting better and taking some really good shots.
Sometime in between, it seemed that my E-420 started taking a long time to focus, especially in low light. I use the camera above water as well, but not from an everyday perspective, mainly Proms, Birthdays and such. in low light it would preflash 2-3 times before focusing, and in normal light it would focus all the way out and back in more often than I remember. Sometimes it would simply stop focusing, and take the picture out of focus.
Here is an example of a Christmas tree worm for comparison.
This was taken in October of 2008:
http://www.bobandlaurie.net/testpics/PA181804.JPG
http://www.bobandlaurie.net/testpics/PA181804.ORF
This was taken this October of 2009:
http://www.bobandlaurie.net/testpics/PA184435.JPG
http://www.bobandlaurie.net/testpics/PA184435.ORF

The 2009 version does not seem to be as sharp.
These are raw so all the EXIF info should be there. They are original so very large, hence the links.
I appreciate any and all feedback, and can even take a punch to the gut pretty well.
Bob

 

[oly5050user]

I don't know if it is me, or my camera, but something does not seem right. I have linked an original jpg and orf from last year and this year for you to review and feedback on. The examples are Christmas tree worms.
Last year we went to Cayman. I worked with Cathy Church on tecnique and such, and felt I was getting better and taking some really good shots.
Sometime in between, it seemed that my E-420 started taking a long time to focus, especially in low light. I use the camera above water as well, but not from an everyday perspective, mainly Proms, Birthdays and such. in low light it would preflash 2-3 times before focusing, and in normal light it would focus all the way out and back in more often than I remember. Sometimes it would simply stop focusing, and take the picture out of focus.
Here is an example of a Christmas tree worm for comparison.
This was taken in October of 2008:
http://www.bobandlaurie.net/testpics/PA181804.JPG
http://www.bobandlaurie.net/testpics/PA181804.ORF
This was taken this October of 2009:
http://www.bobandlaurie.net/testpics/PA184435.JPG
http://www.bobandlaurie.net/testpics/PA184435.ORF

The 2009 version does not seem to be as sharp.
These are raw so all the EXIF info should be there. They are original so very large, hence the links.
I appreciate any and all feedback, and can even take a punch to the gut pretty well.
Bob

what f stop are you using? is it the same as on the earlier images? you will get sharper image with smaller aperature(higher f stop) than a lower one due to greater depth of field on higher # f stop..

 

[CT Sean]

EXIF data shows the first was f22
2nd image was f5.6

At f5.6 you will have an extremely narrow depth of field (and a much deeper on e at f22).

To be honest, To my eyes - I'm not sure the 1st pic is actually sharper at all, its just that it has more area that is in better focus. The sharpest areas i can find between both images look about the same but because there's so little DoF in the 2nd there is substantially less in focus therefore giving a more out-of-focus "feel" to the picture.

 

[ConchyJoe]

Sean, thanks.

I think my mistake was not documenting what I had my Inon's set at when I was in Cayman. I knew I could look at the pictures to see that data, but not the setting of the strobes.

Maybe the bottom line is I was getting enough light out of them, and simply adjusted to F5.6 instead of trying to determine why the flash was weak. heck two Inon Z-240-3's and you would think everything would be hot.

Now that I look through everything, I feel like my strobes were not set right. I had them on STTL, but maybe the other setting was not correct or something.

 

[scottfiji]

hey Bob,

thanks for posting the 2 photos. CTSean gave some feedback, and I think there are couple other factors adding to the perceived sharpness difference.

the 1st photo is taken at a closer distance, is better exposed, and has the strobe light coming from a better direction. I think all 3 of these are contributing to sense of a difference of perceived sharpness, in addition to the DOF issue.

hope this helps,
Scott

 

[ConchyJoe]

Scott, Sean,

I fiddled with my rig a little last night. I am pretty sure I had everything set right. But it was very difficult to get the camera close to overexposing anything. With my 50mm at F22, I had to go all the way to (180th) strike that, 50th! and ISO800 to get any significant highlighting while shooting a subject at 24" I used the focus lights to confirm I was getting flash on the subject.

It is almost like the camera is telling the flash to shut off too early?

I am am using a Heinrich/Weikamp bulkhead and a dual Nikonis sync cable.

Scott I am going to go read your stuff again..

I guess one question is what speed can I shoot down to and still get good results?

 

[scottfiji]

hey bob,

I'm a little confused what you are trying to do. Try shooting in manual mode at F22, 1/180th, ISO 100. 24'' is quite far away for macro, esp. at F22, get in close, get your strobes close. You want to under-expose x-mas tree worms, not over-expose them, especially the white ones - you do that by adjusting your strobe power or your Heinrich/Weikamp exposure compensation, not by adjusting f-stop or shutter speed. There's no reason to go to ISO 800 or 1/50th shutter speed. Also, try your strobes at manual, full power to make sure there's not some problem with your H/W TTL. There's some more tips on the underwater macro photography page.

hope this helps,
Scott

 

[ConchyJoe]

Scott,

Not half as confused as I am. I don't dive enough anymore, don't document what I do, and felt something was wrong with my equipment, not me! Right!

I wish exif included distance to subject info. Does it?

I do remember Cathy Church pushing my face and camera closer to the subject than I had been getting, so I am sure I did not get close enough to everything.

I also remember talking about strobe placement, which I feel I was doing, but still not close enough.

It was a year ago and my story is I killed those brain cells partying all night!

I compensated for the almost severe underexposure but cranking open my aperture, and losing DOF in the process.

Before I went to Cayman last year I worked with my rig in the pool and on land with strobe placement, setting and such. I should have wrote down what I learned.

And I should have got a focus light and didn't. Inon focus lights seem somewhat useless as a focus light and somewhat better as an aiming light.

Live and learn.

Thanks for all the great feedback.

Bob