I need your help please

L

Lillygirl7

New member
I am just a beginner. I got my d5100 about a month ago. I am having a really hard time getting my photos to be crisp and clear. Here is an example of what I am talking about. It looks grainy and the colors are washed out.
I bought some books, I've read tips until I'm blue in the face, but my pics look terrible. I am using a tripod I've reset my camera a couple times to factory settings I've tried all types of lighting and settings. Any recs and help would be GREATLY appreciated. I know that there is a lot to learn, but I should be able to get better pictures by now than my junk point and shoot. Thanks
crafts pics 062.jpg
On a side note I've noticed that blues/aquas especially always look off. I mainly do craft photos for my blog. (I'm using the lens that came in the kit and I cannot afford a different lens)
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
We really need to know what settings your were using.
ISO
Shutter Speed
Apperture
How is your white balance set
What kind of light are you using (room light, florescent, incandescent, sun light)

If I had to guess I would say you had low light and set the camera on Auto and the ISO went to a very high number.

Try setting it on P instead of A
Set the ISO on 400

See what the pictures look like then.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I found this forum researching a similar issue with my D5100. What helped was going into the "Quick Adjust" menus and making a couple changes to the default settings. Maybe you've already tries this, but if not go to...
.
Menu/Camera Icon/Set Picture Control
Now click-right on the four-way switch to move into the "Set Picture Control" menu.
I use "Standard" here, but select whatever profile it is you use and then right-click the four-way button again to enter the "Quick Adjust" menus.​
Using the four-way switch I adjusted "Sharpening" to +6 and "Saturation" to +1
​
.
This made a very noticeable difference in the sharpness and overall quality of my pictures. The default setting in this menus is, as I recall, is quite soft. Hope this helps.
 
L

Lillygirl7

New member
Wogus said:
I found this forum researching a similar issue with my D5100. What helped was going into the "Quick Adjust" menus and making a couple changes to the default settings. Maybe you've already tries this, but if not go to...
.
Menu/Camera Icon/Set Picture Control
Now click-right on the four-way switch to move into the "Set Picture Control" menu.
I use "Standard" here, but select whatever profile it is you use and then right-click the four-way button again to enter the "Quick Adjust" menus.​
Using the four-way switch I adjusted "Sharpening" to +6 and "Saturation" to +1
​
.
This made a very noticeable difference in the sharpness and overall quality of my pictures. The default setting in this menus is, as I recall, is quite soft. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for everyones help! This is exactly one of the settings Don helped me with.


Here is a pic this moring after settings changed. I think it is MUCH better. Still not as good as I want, but I think I can live with this.

Thank you again for everyones help. I am always open to any suggestions.!!!Craft test 004a.jpg
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
Lillygirl7 said:
Thank you so much for everyones help! This is exactly one of the settings Don helped me with.


Here is a pic this moring after settings changed. I think it is MUCH better. Still not as good as I want, but I think I can live with this.

Thank you again for everyones help. I am always open to any suggestions.!!!View attachment 28363
Click to expand...

it is much improved over the first post. I would be interested to know what shutter speed and aperture were used for this picture.
 
§

§am

Senior Member
Welcome to the forums.
Glad you've found some answers here.

Make sure you stick around and keep up with everything here.. you never know when you might read something which suddenly becomes a very useful tip :)
 
L

Lillygirl7

New member
Here are the deets
And a pic before I edited.
BTW is it more proper to share the pic before I edit? Probably huh?
f-stop 7.1
exposure 1/60
(Max Aperature 4.2)
I got these setting straight off the photo. Craft test 004.jpg
 
§

§am

Senior Member
I think sometimes it's nice to show the pre & post photos.... lets people see what the differences are.
But that might be better suited to places where you're learning or teaching as opposed to just showing (if that makes sense)
 
L

Lillygirl7

New member
Ok this photo is with AF auto mode.
Here are the deets
F/5.6
Exp- 1/125sec
ISO 400
Max aperature 4.2
Craft test 016.jpg
Looks grey blue
Here I edited-Sharpened, reduced noise and adjusted the color a little
Craft test 016a.jpg

What would you do? Still has a blueish tint to me.
 
R

Rexer John

Senior Member
The photo on post 11 looks soft focused. Is your lens clean, no marks from greasy fingers etc.

Also try taking a few pics with live view, and then a few through the viewfinder with spot focusing, be sure to select the central focus point for this test. Then compare the two sets of images for focus sharpness.
The two focusing methods (viewfinder and live view) use different focus systems.
Live view will be right but viewfinder focus can be out, I spent about an hour fine setting mine yesterday. Not easy because each lens is slightly different and the D5100 only has a mechanical adjuster instead of a software adjuster.
Don't try to adjust it, just do the test to see if it is out.
 
Last edited:
L

Lillygirl7

New member
I will go dothis now, but how do I change "Spot Focusing"? Which setting is that I don't see that specific one? Thanks
Rexer John said:
The photo on post 11 looks soft focused. Is your lens clean, no marks from greasy fingers etc.

Also try taking a few pics with live view, and then a few through the viewfinder with spot focusing, be sure to select the central focus point for this test. Then compare the two sets of images for focus sharpness.
The two focusing methods (viewfinder and live view) use different focus systems.
Live view will be right but viewfinder focus can be out, I spent about an hour fine setting mine yesterday. Not easy because each lens is slightly different and the D5100 only has a mechanical adjuster instead of a software adjuster.
Don't try to adjust it, just do the test to see if it is out.
Click to expand...
 
R

Rexer John

Senior Member
Sorry, it's called single point focusing. press the <i> button (to the right of the viewfinder) and scroll down on the right side, it's just above metering.
 
L

Lillygirl7

New member
I did "Single Point"

This is View Finder only adjustments I did was Crop f-5.6, Exp 1/125sec Iso 400 (Same on both pics)

Craft test 018.jpg

This is Live View only Cropped this one too.
Craft test 022.jpg
 
L

Lillygirl7

New member
Ok this Picture I just snapped with my Galaxy Note 2 Cell Phone camera. To me this is about the same as all the pics I've taken so far with my Nikon. No editing with this pic except crop.
20130224_111553galaxy note.jpg
 
Top