Soft photos

[Kim Howells]

Hi Brian! I hate my R5. It's crazy noisy. So was the one I borrowed, so it's clearly my expectations vs camera capability. 😬

However, I'm also having issues with soft images. I did have some sharp images on primes - it appears only to be with my variable focal length lenses, namely the 70-200. 

Could this be a lens calibration issue, and if so, it's been many, many years since I've had to do that.  Any advice, or just Google the process?

Thanks

Kim

[Brian]

The Canon R5, like the Nikon D850 is around 45MP. Those two cameras need to have the current versions of the lenses you are using, especially zooms. So if you are using an older EF 70-200 with some sort of adapter, and not Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Z Lens (Black), that could be the source of your issue. Yes, the camera adapter makes lenses technically "work," but if you want the best possible quality, you are forking out more money.  

This is one of the things that I hate with buying my D850...I had to buy a new 24-70 f/2.8 AND a new 70-200! Even though my older versions of the lenses work perfectly fine with my D4. That stupid camera body costed me so much money. 

Oh, the reason you are getting better results is the classic Prime vs Zoom thing that's been around forever. Primes will always be sharper and in this case, more-so. Mirrorless Bodies really require Mirrorless Lenses. Noise, just like my D850, the more megapixels, the more noise you are gonna get. My D4 with it's 16MP is light-years ahead of my fancy D850. I hate going above ISO 3200 with my D850, it's worthless. 

It's only money, right?  

What I'd do next is rent a RF 70-200 and see how that goes. Right now that lens is $3300, probably due to Tariffs, and I'd hate to see what you'd pay.

[Brian]

Another thing you could try, is lowering the resolution of your camera; lower it from 45MP to 25MP (or even lower) at the higher ISOs. That might help with the noise. In reality, most people only “need” between 16-20MP.