my photos are not as crisp and clear as they should be. plz help.

David 14

New member
I recently purchased a nikon D5200 of ebay. all brand new usa. i checked the shutter count and it was correct for how many shots i had taken. in the last week iv been out 3 or 4 times and taken around 1500 shots. i went down to the lake and took a few shots of the same big black bird on the same log, same time of day, and the same light as i did last week with my point and shoot canon SX160 IS. the shot with my nikon are not even close to being as crisp and clear as my canon. the lens im using on my nikon is Nikon Nikkor AF-S 28-300 MM F/3.5-5.6 VR IF SIC ED. i love photography. its all i do with my spare time. unfortunately i have my advisability. ADD. depression. ect. which makes it hard for me to understand this camera. but im stuburn. so my disappointment really got me down. im posting a couple photos. these are at full zoom with lens 28-300mm. any where from 30 to 60 feet from subject. any help is much appreciated

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. thanks David
 
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Your shutter speed is fast enough for the length lens you are using. You were shooting at 1/500 which is good. the problem is probably in the focusing mode. You were in pattern mode. You might want to try spot focusing which should help. Just make sure your spot is on the subject.
 

nickt

Senior Member
The first one looked like there might have been a breeze, so a higher shutter speed might be needed. Single point focus mode like Don said. Turn VR off when using tripod. I don't know that lens, but it may sharpen up at a higher f stop, to keep your shutter speed up along with a higher f stop, you might need higher iso. Third one is over exposed, not sure why, I would expect underexposed with matrix metering.
 

David 14

New member
i normally shoot birds in sports mode. but even in auto focus its not as good as my canon. witch cost about a tenth of what my nikon w/lens cost. could there be something wrong with camera or lens or is it most likely me?
 

Moab Man

Senior Member
Sports mode could certainly cause a lack of sharpness. The camera is best guessing where to focus as oppose to you telling it where to focus.

As was mentioned earlier, when tripod mounted the VR needs to be off. The VR is trying to correct for your movement. If the camera is stationary it can confuse movement in the scene as your movement and try to correct. This will cause a blurring or lack of sharpness.

I would not be ready to say the camera has an issue yet. What you're dealing with is very common with someone starting out with a higher end tool. Keep practicing, showing what you have done, getting feedback, and an eye on how long you have to return it. Let's see if we can't get your pictures improved and iron out if it is you or the camera.

One theory of mine is that each new camera comes preloaded with so many bad photos that you have to work through before you get to the good ones :)
 

Deezey

Senior Member
With a dSLR you are going to need to focus on technique! Point and shoots are a forgiving camera to use. They are designed to be. Even with a beginner dSLR you must use proper technique.

The little point and shoots have huge depth of fields. So even if your focus is off a bit, you have a greater chance of still getting your target in focus. That is why I say it is more forgiving.

It's pretty easy to blame the camera. But 9/10 times it will be human error. Practice and you will get there.
 

Whiskeyman

Senior Member
One theory of mine is that each new camera comes preloaded with so many bad photos that you have to work through before you get to the good ones :)

Never heard it put that way before but I agree with you 100% :applause:

I have the same theory about golf clubs... Only problem is that I seem to keep buying clubs that have all of the good shots are already used up.

Anyway, back to the original point of this thread. Why don't you try something a bit less challenging than what you're showing us here. Those shots can be challenging for experienced users with properly tuned equipment. The eagles also look like they may be over exposed, dial your exposure down and you could see an improvement in shots like that.

If reading the manuals is problematic for you, try some of the helpful videos on posted on the internet for your D5200. If you can't take these videos all at once, watch bit and pause it. I earlier recommended Nikons Digitutor to another D5200 user. Here's the link: http://www.nikonusa.com/fileuploads/Digitutor/D5200/index.html

WM
 
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BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Having been a former owner of the 28-300mm lens, don't shoot wide open especially at the long end if you want sharp. It doesn't lose a lot of detail, but enough that you'll notice it on birds and things with lots of details that aren't taking up the majority of the frame. Nice travel lens, but not a great wildlife lens. So, on top of the recommendations above, stop down to about f/8 on the long end.
 

nikonpup

Senior Member
david, you have a big learning curve to go thru. I suggest that for a time you put the camera in "auto" mode, it will work just like your point and shoot. Then you need to do your homework. Go to "nikon usa" and find the tutorial on your d5200, look for other tutorials online, read your manual til you know what the dials, buttons and settings do. Take pictures around home, change the settings, look at the pictures and see what changed. the photos you took where in "sports" mode, settings are more suited for sports action. "landscape" mode would have been better suited for the photos you took.
 

egosbar

Senior Member
wouldnt a quick back/front focus test ease your doubts , learning myself but getting good shots although i have spent a lot of time on tutorials and was a reasonable photographer before i go my 7100
 

everprentice

Senior Member
Zoom lenses have more optical elements in them than primes. The wider the zoom range the more elements they have to use in order to pack it in a small package. To make the lens cheap, they have to sacrifice optical quality. That said, generally lenses with these zoom ranges are optically inferior so subjects in far distances are not sharp even if it is in focus.

======================
Typed with two fingers on a bright shiny doodad.
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
The first and third ones looks like focus is off. The middle one appears to be camera movement.

I disagree as for the second shot. It looks to me that the camera focused on the waves behind the bird. That's where there was the most contrast. There is a section in the user manual that explains that some situations can actually fool the autofocusing mechanism. The manual clearly states that autofocusing is not perfect and some situations fool it more than others.
 

janfe

Senior Member
I bought a D5200 recently and also felt initially that my photos were not as sharp as they should have been.However I changed to sports-mode for photographing most wildlife,especially birds and that improved things. When in sports-mode you also need to check that it is set on spot focus. Once you get the hang of it, it's actually very useful and I have even photographed insects in flight that are in sharp focus. My only concern at present is: just how accurate is spot focus when shooting through trees. A bird maybe exactly in the centre of the focus screen but often the camera has focused on the surrounding leaves, leaving the bird out of focus. Does anyone know how accurate spot focus is over long distance?
 
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AristillusUK

New member
Hi David,

Looking at your 3 images, I would say 1 and 2 are focussing issues through human error, everybody does it, even the pros. Image 3 is definitely over-exposed, but it may be possible to dial that back post-software. I like the 1st image, but I believe it is crying out to be cropped? Go in close on the bird and the tree it is perched on, in my opinion, it makes a much better image.

Wildlife photography is akin to portrait photography, so ensure that the eyes are pin sharp, get in close (except where the animal is hungry and smiling because it views you as being on the menu) and make the image intimate. Best wishes.
 

egosbar

Senior Member
defintely single spot focus on the birds unless in flight or anything really unless moving , i use continuous with 21 focus points for birds in flight , i have user 1 and 2 set up for these , they are set aperture priority , easy iso , iso 100 , f8 , so that anytime im nearly ready for a shot and only have to turn the user 1 or 2 dial for action or still OOPS SORRY JUST REREAD , NOT SURE IF THE 5200 HAS USER 1 AND 2

looks like your eagles are blown out so your exposure is off , turn on your preview blinkies , when you review on your lcd then especially in high contrast shots you can then use exposure compensation up or down to get the shot correctly exposed or at least the part of the shot that is the most important , its not alwasy possible to expose the entire scene
, the camera is only guessing , its pretty good at it but not an expert

i use matrix metering normally , and have my front preview button set for spot exposure metering , so you can then meter on say the eagle recompose and shoot and it will be perfectly exposed

they are not easy cameras to understand but you first must understand basic photography , im not saying you dont but if you dont then that is where to start , the link between aperture shutterspeed and iso is a must to know , focus and metering modes is essential

if your finding it too much to learn through books and manuals , go to utube and search any photography tutorials you want , there are some good ones on the d7100 im sure there are on the 5200
, ive watched a lot of video and find it much easier to learn from

go shoot some shots of still subjects with single spot focus , put the single focus point on the eye of a subject and hold your shutter half way then recompose , this will lock focus where you wanted

good luck
 
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