Question about the XC 50-230mm

Hi.

Just picked up the XC 50-230mm and am very impressed with the sharpness (w/XT 4). I am having a issue with very shallow depth of field at 230mm at long distances. Subject is about 150 m away, and the surrounding objects farther away are still out of focus. I've closed down the aperture, it helps a little. I've also used a wider focus array, but the main object loses sharpness. Will I be stuck using focus bracketing to get the sharpest images? Or is it the limitation of the lens?

Thanks

Marcus T wrote:

Hi.

Just picked up the XC 50-230mm and am very impressed with the sharpness (w/XT 4). I am having a issue with very shallow depth of field at 230mm at long distances. Subject is about 150 m away, and the surrounding objects farther away are still out of focus. I've closed down the aperture, it helps a little. I've also used a wider focus array, but the main object loses sharpness.

How much distance is there between your main subject and what you describe as 'farther away'?

If shooting at 230mm and f8.0, you haven't reached the hyperfocal distance if your subject is 150m away, so you will still have to manage in-focus and out-of-focus areas as you normally would. The hyperfocal distance for those parameters would be around 330m, with objects in focus from 165m or thereabouts.

Will I be stuck using focus bracketing to get the sharpest images? Or is it the limitation of the lens?

DOF isn't lens specific. It's always a function of sensor/film area, aperture, focal length and subject/focus distance.

Marcus T wrote:

Hi.

Just picked up the XC 50-230mm and am very impressed with the sharpness (w/XT 4). I am having a issue with very shallow depth of field at 230mm at long distances. Subject is about 150 m away, and the surrounding objects farther away are still out of focus. I've closed down the aperture, it helps a little. I've also used a wider focus array, but the main object loses sharpness. Will I be stuck using focus bracketing to get the sharpest images? Or is it the limitation of the lens?

Thanks

In my experience, slightly inconsistent focus at the long end was a limitation of this lens.

What I did to ensure sharpness was a two-stage process: 1. autofocus 2. fine tune using manual focus override with automatic focus confirm zoom and peaking highlights activated.

For relatively still subjects, this gives good results. For birds in flight, you just have to spray and pray.

The depth of field will be the same for any lens at the same focal length (and the same sensor size). This is more about getting used to shooting at telephoto focal lengths, if you have not used them much previously.

With practice, experimenting with different apertures and developing good handholding technique (which becomes more critical the longer the focal length, even if you do have stabilisation) you will get very pleasing results from the lens.

Marcus T wrote:

Hi.

Just picked up the XC 50-230mm and am very impressed with the sharpness (w/XT 4). I am having a issue with very shallow depth of field at 230mm at long distances. Subject is about 150 m away, and the surrounding objects farther away are still out of focus. I've closed down the aperture, it helps a little. I've also used a wider focus array, but the main object loses sharpness. Will I be stuck using focus bracketing to get the sharpest images? Or is it the limitation of the lens?

Thanks

Would be good is you could perhaps share a sample image with EXIF data so people can see, for example, your shutter speed and aperture?

At 230mm focussed on a subject 150m away, at f/8, DoF will range from a little over 100m to almost 270m. Hyperfocal distance at that aperture will be 337m (source: Photopills).

Thanks for the replies. I did some more experimentation and I've concluded that at 230mm, the lens is soft on the edges.

One more question, if I may. How do you know/see if the OIS is working? Both body and lens have it, but is there an icon to verify? I ask, just to ensure, that it is working fine on a new lens

Marcus T wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I did some more experimentation and I've concluded that at 230mm, the lens is soft on the edges.

One more question, if I may. How do you know/see if the OIS is working? Both body and lens have it, but is there an icon to verify? I ask, just to ensure, that it is working fine on a new lens

The icon just tells you it's switched on, and can be customised if screen settings. If it's not showing, may be that the icon is just not selected to be displayed.

To tell if it's actually achieving anything, I would suggest take a shot with OIS on, then switch if off, rest the camera on something solid and then take another image of the same subject from same distance, same lighting. Use the self timer to avoid shake.

Thank you Snap.

I tried it with continuous IS on and yes, you can see it is working

Marcus T wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I did some more experimentation and I've concluded that at 230mm, the lens is soft on the edges.

Yeah, that was the conclusion from this test from TB Photography as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1c2oeiQeh0

Tim van der Leeuw wrote:

Marcus T wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I did some more experimentation and I've concluded that at 230mm, the lens is soft on the edges.

Yeah, that was the conclusion from this test from TB Photography as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1c2oeiQeh0

Few medium to long tele lenses maintain edge to edge sharpness at the same level, even stopped down - this XC lens performs well above its price point but it is what it is, a "plastic fantastic" high bang for buck lens that is far sharper than it should be for the money. It's not the 100-400 though.

Marco Cinnirella wrote:

Tim van der Leeuw wrote:

Marcus T wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I did some more experimentation and I've concluded that at 230mm, the lens is soft on the edges.

Yeah, that was the conclusion from this test from TB Photography as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1c2oeiQeh0

Few medium to long tele lenses maintain edge to edge sharpness at the same level, even stopped down - this XC lens performs well above its price point but it is what it is, a "plastic fantastic" high bang for buck lens that is far sharper than it should be for the money. It's not the 100-400 though.

I probably should have stressed in my post that the lens has excellent centre-sharpness according to same test and is indeed considered great value for money!

I guess with the XT 4 having such great IQ, it is much more noticeable. I know I can look this up, but does the XT 4 have in-camera lens correction? Or Capture one?

Marcus T wrote:

I guess with the XT 4 having such great IQ, it is much more noticeable. I know I can look this up, but does the XT 4 have in-camera lens correction? Or Capture one?

In-camera correction of what? Lens profiles for distortion, vignetting etc? Yes, the X-T4 applies that automatically (to JPGs).

Capture One also applies lens profiles. The 50-230 isn't a new lens, but you might still want to check if Capture One detects the correct lens profile and applies it in the particular version you are using. You'll find this in the Lens Correction module.

Thanks