GH5 GH5S with the Panasonic 100-400mm, soft images

B

blando3

Well-known member
I was lucky enough to have a pair of coyotes hunting for gophers in the park across the street from me and grabbed my GH5S and Leica 100-400 for the occasion.
I was shooting through a clear UV filter and an ND filter (ND 4).

The images weren't super sharp. I was often zoomed all the way in to 400mm, around f/6 to f/8, shooting 28fps in 24p.

Is it that I was shooting through two extra pieces of glass? If I were to lose one of them which should it be?

Could it be that I was zoomed all the way in? I've heard that some telephoto lenses don't get their best images at their longest focal length.

Any other ideas?

Thanks!
Andrew
 
You had to be in variable frame rate mode to get 28 fps in 24p output. That would most likely be the issue there. Shoot proper 4K 24p or 30p and you should see a significant increase in image sharpness.

I almost always shoot 4K 60p at 1/60th shutter for wildlife type work, but I'm generally filming elk and deer that don't move so fast. Allows me to slow to 40% in 24p output and extend the length of clips I get in the heat of the moment. It's hard to get it setup in time before they move off and 60p to half or 40% speed gives me a clip long enough to show and it way higher quality than VFR mode IMHO.

Cheers, Pete
 
The lens is plenty sharp, unless you have a bad copy, it's not the culprit.
lion.jpg


- The off-speed shooting would definitely soften the image. I agree that shooting either 24P or 60P is the way to go.
- You didn't mention your shutter angle. If 180º and you subject was moving, it will never be tack sharp.
- Could you have simply missed focus? Happens to the best of us. :-)
 
Thanks for all the tips. I've been shooting more lately at different settings and the lens is certainly sharp when locked on a static subject. The trick now is to find the focus on moving targets. It's possible I missed focus, but I kinda don't think so. I was using an ND4 that, upon closer inspection, has a scratch! Also, shooting in VFR mode.

So if I shoot in 60p, I would then bring it into a 24p timeline and slow it down?
Thanks again,
Andrew
 
I shot surfing with the 100-300 pana lens 90% of the time, and even drop in the ETC quite a bit. After 2 years I finally discovered that F8 was the sweet spot with this lens. Surfing is one of the most difficult things to expose for, so I use a SLR vari nd MK2 and ride it. There's an old saying..."F8 and be there" so true.
 
Ned Kelly said:
I shot surfing with the 100-300 pana lens 90% of the time, and even drop in the ETC quite a bit. After 2 years I finally discovered that F8 was the sweet spot with this lens. Surfing is one of the most difficult things to expose for, so I use a SLR vari nd MK2 and ride it. There's an old saying..."F8 and be there" so true.
Click to expand...
Try exposing throughout the day on safari! At dawn you're struggling to somehow get enough light in the lens, cursing the aperture that won't open any more, and by midday you're at ND8. ;-)
 
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