Canon G7X blurry edges

Hello,

I purchased a Canon G7X a few days ago. After taking some shots, I noticed the edges of all of the pictures are blurred / less sharp than other parts of the picture.

I have attached a few sample pictures. All shots were taken in auto mode using the default settings.

I'm wondering if this is normal/expected behavior or if this is a faulty model.

Thanks in advance!

No EXIF, so, difficult to tell how you're shooting. Bottom line, its normal.

Try moving yourself back a step or two and zoom a bit, and/or shoot at f4. You should see the corners improve significantly.

What Damian said, but to explain a bit: The camera has a large sensor so at low F numbers (aperture) the depth of field is shallow. If you are close to the brick wall, the distance between the lens and the wall is smaller in the center than at the edges making the edges out of focus (if you focus lock on the center.)
Jan

Actually according to Imaging Resource, the image circle of the lens at wide open does not completely cover the sensor and is corrected in software and thus the soft corners.

Check out their review.

That doesn't explain the issue here, to this extent.

This is caused by parallax.

The edges of the subject are further away from the lens than the centre, as a tape measure would show.

A curved sensor would fix it, but would screw up all your other shots.

Also, the most out of focus books are clearly not in the same plane as the ones in the centre. Look at the bottom of the picture and their position on the shelf.

Cheezr said:

Actually according to Imaging Resource, the image circle of the lens at wide open does not completely cover the sensor and is corrected in software and thus the soft corners.

Check out their review.

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If the images are crap, it’s the camera
If the images are good, it’s the photographer, not the equipment

Click to expand...

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Some favourite pics:
http://garyp.zenfolio.com/p518883873/

Much easier for people to give you help with EXIF data.

Upload your ORIGINAL images to your gallery here WITH EXIF and people can diagnose better.

Right now we have NO idea of your settings.

There's a difference between macro at F2.8 and tele at F8.

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Some favourite pics:
http://garyp.zenfolio.com/p518883873/

Thank you for your replies.

I re-uploaded the pictures, now with EXIF data. I also uploaded 2 pictures with slight zoom, which indeed seems to increase the quality of the edges.

I was worried because my Canon SX710 does not have this trait: without using zoom and in auto mode, the edges are always as sharp as the other parts of the picture.

Natrium said:

I was worried because my Canon SX710 does not have this trait: without using zoom and in auto mode, the edges are always as sharp as the other parts of the picture.

Click to expand...

The SX710 has a slower lens and a smaller sensor, therefore a lot more depth-of-field.

Hi. Thanks for that.

As Mark says, the the problem is essentially that the maximum aperture of your SX710 is F3.2, while the G7X allows you to shoot at F1.8. If you stop down close to the minimum sensor of the SX710 to F2.8 or even F4.0, things improve somewhat.

Also, one of the reasons many of us want the G7X and these larger sensor cameras is that they inherently enable us to get shallower depth of field. The SX710 sensor is about a quarter the area of that of the G7X. The sensor size of the G7X is 13.2mm x 8.8mm. The SX710 is 6.17 x 4.55 mm.

The advantage of smaller sensor cameras is sharpness from your belly button to infinity. The disadvantage is sharpness from your belly button to infinity.

It's true that the G7X at widest aperture and widest angle is somewhat soft at the edges. Some of this is down to physics. Some is down to the cost/benefit ratio of making the prime glass that would not be.

The disadvantages of that need to be weighed against the ability to shoot in low light and get the shallow depth of field. For me it's an extra option. Even the full frame F1.4 primes (except the most expensive) have their compromises at the edges.

If you compare it with the optics of the RX100 Mk3, it is very similar in terms of edge softness on wide aperture and at widest angle. (Scroll down to "Corner Sharpness"). It's a physical and commercial compromise.

Sony RX100 III Review - Optics - Imaging Resource

The good news is that the Canon lens retains more of its brightness (you can stay wider open) through more of its zoom range, so - as you saw - shooting on slightly more telephoto is a good compromise.)

But your images do exacerbate the situation by the different distances from the lens. Particular the book shots, where the books at the edges are more recessed than those in the middle. To compensate for the different distances, the books at the edge should theoretically be jutting forward, not back.

Note that here the distance on the blue lines is greater than that on the red line. It's a common problem when shooting, say, flat art work.

View attachment 5675200

On the images I include here I actually focused on the frame edge, not the centre, which shows the difference the distance from lens can make.








Focus at bottom left corner



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Some favourite pics:
Favourites

(Apologies ... I have no idea why Lightroom stripped my EXIF data here on those images) Both were shot at F1.8 handheld. The kitchen counter top was 1/15 second so it could probably be sharper

Natrium said:

I purchased a Canon G7X a few days ago. After taking some shots, I noticed the edges of all of the pictures are blurred / less sharp than other parts of the picture.

Click to expand...

You might take a look at this rumor:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/56071215

We'll see but I am dubious about that rumour.

I don't see Canon giving up one of the main advantages and selling points of the G7X over the RX100 Mk3 or 4.

Henry Richardson said:

Natrium said:

I purchased a Canon G7X a few days ago. After taking some shots, I noticed the edges of all of the pictures are blurred / less sharp than other parts of the picture.

Click to expand...

You might take a look at this rumor:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/56071215

Click to expand...

I shot this wider shot today. F1.8. Wide open.

It seems to confirm the idea that the lack of sharpness at the edges in some tests IS caused by the differential focusing on close up.

This one looks pretty sharp at the edges to me.





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Some favourite pics:

I had a G7X for a couple months. For a while I was able to overlook the soft corners, but eventually it was enough for me to sell it and get something else.

What you're seeing is the camera (or Lightroom, if you shoot RAW), digitally stretching and straightening a semi-fisheye image. It happens primarily at wide-angle.

That will result in blurry edges because it's essentially interpolating pixels. One of the things that really annoyed me about the G7X was when I was taking wide-angle pictures and there was something round in a corner, the round thing ended up egg-shaped. Lights, car wheels, etc. It happens more often than you'd think.

It's one of the compromises in having a fast, relatively long zoom lens that's so tiny. By 35mm equivalent, the soft corners are pretty much gone and the lens is nice and sharp all over.

Normal behavior for this camera at close distances.

... as likely any camera trying to make compromises with this form factor and sensor size, including your beloved RX100.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/sony-rx100-iii/sony-rx100-iiiA4.HTM

You give up something to keep a camera in your pocket.

Tonkotsu Ramen said:

Normal behavior for this camera at close distances.

Click to expand...

The statement appears blurry in its content.









Hello,

I purchased a Canon G7X a few days ago. After taking some shots, I noticed the edges of all of the pictures are blurred / less sharp than other parts of the picture.

I have attached a few sample pictures. All shots were taken in auto mode using the default settings.

I'm wondering if this is normal/expected behavior or if this is a faulty model.

Thanks in advance!