Soft Photo Issue

jrs146

Senior Member
Hi all,
I posted earlier today on another category and it was suggested to post in the D7100 forum also. Since moving from my D5100 to a D7100 I've consistently taken pictures that appear slightly out of focus or soft. I've always just thought that I didn't have a good grasp on the more advanced 7100. I've recently been trying to learn more, work in manual mode and pay attention to more settings. I seem to still be coming up short. My 18-200 seems to produce the most softness but even my 35mm 1.8 seems to come out pretty soft also. Here are a few pics. I'd appreciate any advice!
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Two things to deal with here.
!. You have to fine tune the lenses in the D7100. Each lens has to be tuned.


2, If you are shooting in JPG follow the directions below. If you are shooing RAW skip the diversions below since it won't make any difference. In RAW you must sharpen in post.

If you are shooting JPG I would suggest that you use the Fine>>Large setting and also set your camera for better sharpness.



Go into your Menus and highlight the "Shooting" menu (the camera icon)

Drop down to "Picture Controls" and click right one time.

From here, highlight "Standard" and then click right one time.

From this settings menu, increase the "Sharpness" setting to "7".

Drop down and increase the "Saturation" setting +1 notch on the slider.

Press "OK" to exit the menus and you're done.



 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
If you are shooting jpeg but would like to move to raw,make the changes don suggests then down load view nxi from Nikon,shoot raw and use view to download.

The images it shows you will be jpegs with the camera settings you have set,these can be saved out as is or if you open it in photoshop it will open the raw file,so you have both.
 

jrs146

Senior Member
Two things to deal with here.
!. You have to fine tune the lenses in the D7100. Each lens has to be tuned.


2, If you are shooting in JPG follow the directions below. If you are shooing RAW skip the diversions below since it won't make any difference. In RAW you must sharpen in post.

If you are shooting JPG I would suggest that you use the Fine>>Large setting and also set your camera for better sharpness.



Go into your Menus and highlight the "Shooting" menu (the camera icon)

Drop down to "Picture Controls" and click right one time.

From here, highlight "Standard" and then click right one time.

From this settings menu, increase the "Sharpness" setting to "7".

Drop down and increase the "Saturation" setting +1 notch on the slider.

Press "OK" to exit the menus and you're done.




Maybe this could explain something. It was set to normal and small images. I always thought it was set to normal large. I set it to fine large and I'll see if that makes any difference. I've always had the sharpening set at 7.

The last handful of pictures I've taken I've also shot a RAW file. I had looked at a handful and they didn't sharpen well in photoshop. They got really grainy fast. I admit I'm not great when it comes to photoshop or RAW files. But I used the sharpening tool under filters.




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jrs146

Senior Member
If you are shooting jpeg but would like to move to raw,make the changes don suggests then down load view nxi from Nikon,shoot raw and use view to download.

The images it shows you will be jpegs with the camera settings you have set,these can be saved out as is or if you open it in photoshop it will open the raw file,so you have both.

I have photoshop CS5 so I guess I first have to convert my NEF file to another file type. I downloaded the adobe converter tool and it seems to work just fine. Is this still as good of a file? It's a DNG file.


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nickt

Senior Member
Also be aware of your focus servo mode. If you happen to be in release priority, you can snap a picture before the camera is fully focused. I suggest af-s servo mode and along with that make sure menu A2 is set to focus priority. To set af-s servo mode, press/hold the autofocus button on the lower left of the body and turn the rear command wheel. af-c, af-s, and af-a are the choices.
I don't know your lens, but try adjusting your settings to give a good exposure at a higher aperture, say f8 or f9. Some lenses are soft at their wider apertures.
 

Texas

Senior Member
On my D7100 as to sharpness settings, I have to be sure to go back in the menu tree and double check it. Sometimes it does not "take".

I've tried various methods of exiting the menu after setting the sharpness but have not found a way that works all the time. "OK" should do it don't you think ?
 
I did notice that your shutter speed tends to be a little higher than it needs to be which on occasions makes your ISO high which will lead to graininess. What mode are you shooting in? And are you using Auto ISO?
 

SteveH

Senior Member
Also to confirm if it is technique, or the settings I'd pop the camera on a tripod, and take some shots of something static - On a tripod switch off VR on the lens and use the self timer to allow the tripod to stop vibrating from you touching it (If you don't have a cabled release)
 
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