Just not happy

W

Whiskeyman

Senior Member
I've had my D7100 for a bit over a year, now. I just got done attempting to get the autofocus fine tuned, and took it out this afternoon and evening for a photo shoot, with my 70-200 AF-S f2.8 VRII. Well, all I have to say upon getting the images loaded to my computer after my return home is that either the camera is messed up, or I just suck! I have never been able to get the image quality that I thought I would receive from this camera, and setting it up and testing it with the Reikan FoCal software, the best sharpness scores I can get with the same lens is about 10% worse than I get with my D700, or worse.

I'm going to try several techniques to narrow down my issues, and improve the images the camera produces. It's going on a tripod with a remote shutter release for some exposures, and it's going to have it's AF Fine Tune tested several different ways. If I don't see some improvement after a short while, the camera is going back to Nikon!

WM
 
Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Senior Member
Thats a shame I am unsure of what the issue could be. But I am sure after some trouble shooting you will fine tune it and find out where the issue lies.
 
B

Blacktop

Senior Member
Whiskeyman said:
I've had my D7100 for a bit over a year, now. I just got done attempting to get the autofocus fine tuned, and took it out this afternoon and evening for a photo shoot, with my 70-200 AF-S f2.8 VRII. Well, all I have to say upon getting the images loaded to my computer after my return home is that either the camera is messed up, or I just suck! I have never been able to get the image quality that I thought I would receive from this camera, and setting it up and testing it with the Reikan FoCal software, the best sharpness scores I can get with the same lens is about 10% worse than I get with my D700, or worse.

I'm going to try several techniques to narrow down my issues, and improve the images the camera produces. It's going on a tripod with a remote shutter release for some exposures, and it's going to have it's AF Fine Tune tested several different ways. If I don't see some improvement after a short while, the camera is going back to Nikon!

WM
Click to expand...

How long did you have the cam?
 
W

Whiskeyman

Senior Member
Don Kuykendall said:
What distances are you using for FoCal fine tune? How far away are you from the target?
Click to expand...

I ran the 200 mm test at about 9.8 meters, and it resulted in an AF Fine Tune setting of -10. I'm going to try it again to see how it does, and also use a yardstick incline next to a focus target, as well as try the dot tune method.

WM

WM
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
Whiskeyman said:
I ran the 200 mm test at about 9.8 meters, and it resulted in an AF Fine Tune setting of -10. I'm going to try it again to see how it does, and also use a yardstick incline next to a focus target, as well as try the dot tune method.

WM

WM
Click to expand...

That is right at the correct distance. 50 times the focal length. That is the way I did mine and got great results. What kind of lighting are you using. The first couple times I did it I had really bad lighting. I bought a strong work light to use and it is very bright. I got a lot better results when I changed to bright lighting.
 
L

Love Nikon

Banned
I have two of these ...first thing people never say is if they shoot JPEG or RAW I dont shoot raw but if you shoot JPEG it must be Sharpness +9 for a decent picture If you shoot RAW then you have control of the sharpness button.
Sorry to bang on about this but if its taken 12 months to get to the fine tune then the sharpness has probably not been touched either.
 
W

Whiskeyman

Senior Member
Love Nikon said:
Sorry to bang on about this but if its taken 12 months to get to the fine tune then the sharpness has probably not been touched either.
Click to expand...

Not a problem about either issue. My files are .NEF so sharpness set in camera isn't the issue. I'm going to have to do quite a bit of work with this camera to satisfy myself with this issue.

I haven't really used the camera that much since i got it, but going back over yesterday's shots, I just can't believe that I haven't seen this before. I've recently changed the AF Fine Tune, and I shot at ISO 800 yesterday, which shouldn't be an issue. So my thoughts are that it's got to be the fine tune, or at least I hope it is. I'm off to work, but hopefully will be home in time to explore some this evening.

WM
 
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