Jim is correct in that some minor focus problems can be cured in post. In fact, because of the low-pass filter (necessary for proper color interpretation) between the microlenses and the photoreceptors, sharpening of some kind MUST be done for all images acquired from a digital camera. The 10D can be set to essentially compensate for this at time of acquisition, unless you shoot RAW. But the camera has to be set properly, otherwise you wind up doing it in Photoshop, which is the technique many like to use anyway as it gives more control. This initial FIP (Fix It in Photoshop), which is only a small nudge of in the USM (UnSharp Mask), should give you a fairly sharp image on the screen is done before any other image processing. You will probably have to do a second, usually more obvious, output sharpening as the last step prior to printing. Read more about this at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/digitalphotography/learnmore/fixit/sharpening.asp But from Steve's note, I suspect there is more going on with his camera. The 10D is a strange beast, in that a fair percentage were sent from the factory with a suboptimal focus alignment. Canon considers this a consumer camera and not a pro camera, and the quality control, or at least the allowed tolerances, are slightly different. While most of the cameras come from the factory with great focus, there are many owners who are finding that they have to be sent back for recalibration. This may or may not be necessary in Steve's case, but I suspect Steve's problem is not one that can simply be fixed in post. Still, I hope I am wrong and a simple FIP is all that is necessary. pax, rand
