Blurry Parts in Photos

[D_O_H]

I'm just getting started with underwater photography and am a little puzzled by a problem I've been having. Some (maybe 5%) of my images will be distorted in one or more of the corners or sides of the image. I don't think it's a depth of field/focus related, as the blurry part of the image is often the same distance from the lens as other things that come out clear and sharp.

Any idea what might be causing this? I'm hoping it's something I'm doing, rather than a defect with my setup, though I've never had this happen using the same camera on land. I'm shooting an Oly 8080 with a DS-125 strobe.

I've attached a few examples from my dive yesterday

Thanks in advance for any help!

--Scott

P.S. As I look at these, I notice the blurring seems to be occur when I'm shooting things fairly close up but I'm not in macro mode. This is the case with all but the last photo. Could this be causing my problem?

 

[RonFrank]

I'm just getting started with underwater photography and am a little puzzled by a problem I've been having. Some (maybe 5%) of my images will be distorted in one or more of the corners or sides of the image. I don't think it's a depth of field/focus related, as the blurry part of the image is often the same distance from the lens as other things that come out clear and sharp.

Any idea what might be causing this? I'm hoping it's something I'm doing, rather than a defect with my setup, though I've never had this happen using the same camera on land. I'm shooting an Oly 8080 with a DS-125 strobe.

I've attached a few examples from my dive yesterday

Thanks in advance for any help!

--Scott

P.S. As I look at these, I notice the blurring seems to be occur when I'm shooting things fairly close up but I'm not in macro mode. This is the case with all but the last photo. Could this be causing my problem?

More info please. I could guess, but please post the EXIF info for these shots so we can tell what is going on. Right off the bat, if you shoot wide open, aperture, then you have ONE, and only ONE sharp focal plane..... DOF is also based on focal length.. so again, EXIF info

 

[alcina]

OK, the first thing I would suggest is this:

Check your minimum focus distance when you are not set on macro...you may find that you are actually closer to your subject than this minimum distance and nothing will be sharp. The first two and the last image do not appear to have any sharp focus point. This is a very common problem and happily easily fixed by either staying just a tad further away or changing to macro mode, which will allow you to get closer.

 

[D_O_H]

More info please. I could guess, but please post the EXIF info for these shots so we can tell what is going on. Right off the bat, if you shoot wide open, aperture, then you have ONE, and only ONE sharp focal plane..... DOF is also based on focal length.. so again, EXIF info

Hmm... not sure how to cut and paste this info, so I'll type it in.

Interesting - it looks like pictures 1-4 all have the exact same info:

Mode: Program
Aperture: F2.4
Shutter: 1/30.0 sec
Exposure compensation: 0.0
ISO: 50
Focal length: 34mm
Macro: Off
There's a bunch of other info, but I think this is the key stuff?

Picture 5 is a little different and as I look at it, it looks like it may just be plain out of focus instead of distorted like the first 4:

F 2.5
1/80 sec
ISO 50
Focal 35mm

I should add that I'd love any other tips anyone has to offer as well.

 

[D_O_H]

OK, the first thing I would suggest is this:

Check your minimum focus distance when you are not set on macro...you may find that you are actually closer to your subject than this minimum distance and nothing will be sharp. The first two and the last image do not appear to have any sharp focus point. This is a very common problem and happily easily fixed by either staying just a tad further away or changing to macro mode, which will allow you to get closer.

This makes a lot of sense. It looks like the minimum non-macro focus distance for my camera is .8 meters, which is a lot longer than I would have thought it would be. It sounds like I need to flip to macro mode or back away from the fishes.

Please fire away if you have any other tips!

 

[jghflash]

Hmmmm......I would have been less surprised if your EXIF data had said you were at 28mm focal length. I have similar problems sometimes if I am wide open at 28mm behind the flat port. At 35mm the 5060 seems to do OK all the way across the picture so that is interesting. That said......I am no help at all!

 

[MarkH]

If you have a dome port, this is a common problem with smaller aperatures. The dome creates a curved "virtual image" (instead of the "flat" image we normally see) of the subject. If you're using auto focus, the camera might be trying to focus on the center of this virtual image (which is closest), leaving the corners (which are farthest) out of focus.

 

[MarkH]

I just noticed your shooting a 8080, which I think has a flat port on it's housings. If so, my above post is irrelevant.

 

[HowardE]

It is possible to have motion blur with 1/30 for a shutter speed, and F2.4 is a very shallow DOF. So only a short plane will be in focus. Like in picture 3... the anemone is mostly in focus, but the background is not. this looks like a DOF issue to me.

You may also need to be using the macro mode, and you originally suggested. I don't shoot with OLY's so I don't know what the minimum focus distance is (as Alcina suggested)

 

[D_O_H]

My housing has a flat port.

Most of those images were probably closer than my camera's minimum focus distance (.8 meters, according to the net). So I'm going to shoot in macro mode when I get that close. I wish it were easier to switch to macro - I hate having to hold down a button and turn a knob while simultaneously trying to hold my position in the current and avoid crashing into something or scaring my subject away.

I'm also going to try some shots in aperture priority mode with the aperture closed up a little bit to see if this is a depth of field issue. I'm thinking the macro setting is going to do the trick for me though.

I'm heading to Bonaire on Friday and should have a lot easier time sorting all this out in those very hospitable conditions. Thanks for the feedback!