Hello, I recently purchased an 800mm RF lens with a 2x extender on an EOS-R body. I took a few blue hour photos of a city about 15 miles away and the buildings were not sharp. I used a tripod with timer, to minimize shake and cranked up ISO to keep shutter speed reasonable- around 1/200s. With this setup, how much closer to the city should I be, in order to get a sharp image of the buildings? Many thanks in advance.
Normally that would not be an issue but the EOS R body only came with a USB-C cable, which my computer doesn't have an input for. Will post the photo as soon as possible, but in the meantime, wasn't sure if there was a formula for this kind of thing; for example, if standing 0.25 miles away from a building with a 400mm telephoto lens, you're likely to capture a lot of building detail. If trying to capture the same building from 5 or 10 miles away (assuming clear daytime conditions), that same 400mm lens will not be able to capture as much building detail. My question is, at what distance do you start to lose enough building detail for the image to lose its crispness? Normally that would not be an issue but the EOS R body only came with a USB-C cable, which my computer doesn't have an input for. Will post the photo as soon as possible, but in the meantime, wasn't sure if there was a formula for this kind of thing; for example, if standing 0.25 miles away from a building with a 400mm telephoto lens, you're likely to capture a lot of building detail. If trying to capture the same building from 20 miles away (assuming clear daytime conditions), that same 400mm lens will not be able to capture as much building detail. My question is, at what distance (between 0.25 and 20 miles) do you start to lose enough building detail for the image to lose its crispness?
Can I assume that image stabilization was turned off? While I do not have a easy way to calculate the distance you you, adding an extender is only going to exaggerate any issues or flaws with a shot or lens. Adding an extender and doubling the 800 to 1600 also complicates the situation, you will also be battling haze which will soften the image, long lenses are ideal for shooting distant objects like a bird close up. If your looking for a nature or cityscape I would suggest wide lenses and closer to the subject if your looking to get detail from the buildings. This is a more ideal setup for shooting wide shots and small apertures. It is not so much the distance of the subject for your lens, you can shoot a nice sharp image of the moon with your lens but if there are tiny buildings on the moon where the windows are only a few pixels in size you will have issues. https://photographylife.com/cityscape-photography-tips-for-beginners
Thank you for your reply! Rookie mistake, as image stabilization was ON! But still curious how much closer I would need to be to get a crisp image (in this case, I would rather be further away)
I read about lighting and timing the shot. The blue hour, time between sunset and darkness, gives crispier shots. Do not know if this would help but worth a try.
Thank you for that suggestion. After some experimentation, can say with some certainty that the lack of crispness was due to atmospheric conditions. When digitally zooming in prior to taking the shot, could see the “blurry pavement on a hot day” effect. Wondering if there are filters to help correct this type of effect?
How high did you bump the ISO? That could be your problem. The photo looks really grainy which is usually caused by a high ISO.
3200 ISO for this shot- I would think the R series camera could handle that without a problem. Maybe not?
There shouldn't have been much effect on the photo at 3200. I've shot 6500 to 12000 using a Sigma 150-600 with my 5d mkii. I could be the heat causing the distortion in the photo.
Shot in Dec/Jan- fingers were frozen for this one. But did notice an ‘atmospheric’ distortion (very similar to the optics of a hot pavement), just by looking at the live view with digital zoom.
Hello, Mark, my suggestions may or may not be of benefit. Take the image in the early morning. heat haze was mentioned as a issue, my reasoning is during the day the city heats up with all that steel and concrete causing the haze into blue hour, this should dissipate over night so in doing so will remove one possible issue. next suggestion is what sort of surface was your tripod on. If on concrete or similar hard surface, as trucks or cars driving or movement by other people cause vibrations and your 2X extender and a 800mm lens (1600mm) will enhance that vibration and in-turn create movement as you take the image, possible solutions one weigh down our tripod or hang your camera bag on it, two put the tripod on a grass area. Three, how did your take the shot. Was the shutter depressed by hand, the camera's 3 second timer or by a wireless device, by hand causes movement.I hope you sort it out.
