Part of the picture blurry or soft

[Arso Gouno]

Hi all,

Right now I'm in the island of skiathos for the holidays mainly to experience the thrill of low passing aircraft and have a chance to take some pictures. I was able to get some decent shots, until I saw that the front of ALL aircraft I have taken were all blurry while the rest was sharp. It was also happening when I was taking shots of aircraft on ground preparing for takeoff except the only difference was that part of the picture was soft.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to show as I'm still on the island and I don't have any way to transfer my shots into any of my smart devices but to give some perspective, I was shooting in the famous spot when aircraft mostly land and while on the ground I was shooting diagonally from the back when aircraft made the u-turn and preparing for takeoff.

Note, I am using a nikon d3500 with a 18-55mm lens with the following settings:
Aperture: f/8
Shutter speed: 1/800
Iso: lowest as possible (about 100-200)
Also I'm going In the morning to shoot (10am-12pm)

[TomEPKK]

Hi, it sounds like a lens issue. Maybe the lens axis is not aligned (did you drop your lens or hit it somehow?) If the "softness" is always in the same spot no matter what kind of shot you take - maybe try other lens with the same frame.

[Felipe Garcia]

Turn the camera upside down to take a photo of a still plane. If the softness changes sides, then it's a lens alignment issue, if it remains, it's environmental.

For landing planes, it's either an issue with the lens, or parallax. I'd say bump the ISO to 800-1600 and see if the issue persists, if it does, it's a lens issue, if it doesn't, then it's a parallax issue and you might need to increase your speed. If the lens has VR, then shut it off and test that was well.

[Guest]

Hi, I believe I recognize your problem. See attach for an example of a picture that is pretty sharp, except for the nose and the upper line of the front of the fuselage.
f/9, 1/640, 100ISO, 280mm
Canon 70D, Canon 75-300mm

[DadatLBA]

I have the same issue on the very occasional photos. I am beginning to suspect it is a lens image stabilisation (VR) issue when panning. Shutter speed in 1/500 to 1/800 region with stabilisation on.

Camera:- Canon 7d2 with 70-300L or 100-400L

It is difficult to be sure as the problem is intermittent and difficult to replicate.

Probable solution ............ my panning technique needs more practice.