My first image with my new lens

[theantiquetiger]

If you didn't seemy other post in equipment board, I bought a Tamron DiII SP AF17-50mm F/2.8XR

[belliveau]

looks like it was a good buy.

[kat]

Have to agree. A lens I would be interested in!

[Iguanasan]

Looks like some great results with that lens... I'm guessing you are at f2.8 here... just remember, just because you can go to f2.8 doesn't mean you have to

[Marko]

Congrats on this purchase but I have to ask....why are the eyes not sharper here? They should be the sharpest part of this image.
How was this image focused and what was the shutterspeed. I see no exif data.

[theantiquetiger]

Congrats on this purchase but I have to ask....why are the eyes not sharper here? They should be the sharpest part of this image.
How was this image focused and what was the shutterspeed. I see no exif data.

I had such a low DOF, I missed it by that much. It was very low light. 1/20 sec - f/3.2

[Marko]

Ahhh makes sense then. You will never get the full benefit of a lens if your shutterspeed is borderline.
1/60 minimum is what I would recommend. Up the ISO till about 800 and that may help you reach the 1/60. And if the light is still too low, change the location or add flash. In this case I'd say change location.

In general, Shooting portraits at anything less than 1/60 is a good recipe for soft eyes regardless of the lens you use. This is primarily because people nave a natural "movement" especially kids and pets

The type of lens is a SEPARATE issue. If you were shooting with a long lens, say 300mm, the "rule" is 1/the focal point of the lens. In that case the shutterspeed would need to be around 1/300 if the shot were handheld.

You use a 17-50 lens...so in theory some people say that if you were shooting a rock (that has zero movement) you could shoot at 1/17 if you were at the widest part of that lens. BUT....sorry....because you are a human, you will introduce your OWN movement into the exposure at this speed UNLESS the camera is on a tripod....so again in this case I'd say 1/60 minimum handheld.

Hope that makes sense. Please prompt me if it does not, as we are discussing one of the keys to good photography here.

[theantiquetiger]

Here is one I took just seconds later. I nailed the eyes, but the lens distorted (bubbled) her face.

[Gremlich]

look how sharp her hair is around her face. That's where the focus seems to be - about 1cm higher than her eyes are relative to the plane.