D5100 sharpness issue

[Mahi]

I am totally new to DSLR. I have a D5100... I've been using it for the past few months.. I have a serious issue...
I can't get SHARP IMAGES... As I get in a regular point and shoot camera... Whenever I zoom the picture I can see the pixels being blurred or mixed...
I have the 18-55 lens... Kindly guide...
How to get sharper images
How to clean the camera
Which lens to go for nikon/tamron/sigma 70-300... I am short on budget...

Sent from my LG-P920 using Tapatalk 2

 

[mikew_RIP]

Welcome to the forum,could you post a sample image to show your problem complete with exif data,if not give us details of your settings ie shutter speed, f stop, iso

 

[Moab Man]

This is the most common response from someone new to this level of camera. First, out of the box, the camera is NOT set at its best quality. For some dumb reason they have it set to "normal" instead of fine. Second, there is a huger learning curve and picture improve with practice. Like mikew said, post up a picture or two along with the settings (called exif data) and we can see what's going on.

Welcome to the forum. Hope you stick around there is a lot to learn and this is a great place to learn it.

 

[btraven]

I am totally new to DSLR. I have a D5100... I've been using it for the past few months.. I have a serious issue...
I can't get SHARP IMAGES... As I get in a regular point and shoot camera... Whenever I zoom the picture I can see the pixels being blurred or mixed...
I have the 18-55 lens... Kindly guide...

1. You can adjust image sharpness in the menu settings. Read about it in the manual or search online. Then experiment with the settings. You might also want to adjust some of the white balance settings as Nikon is known for producing images with a slight greenish tint.

2. All digital images need some some sharpening and usually some other minor adjustments. If you want to produce superior images, you will have to do some touch-up with postprocessing software. Nikon provides a program called ViewNX for this and there are dozens of other choices, some proprietary like Photoshop and Lightroom and others free or open source. This is no different from the stuff photographers used to do in dark rooms to produce great prints.

If you don't want to fool with this, you might as well be using a point-and-shoot or--gasp!--a camera phone. If you take the time to learn this stuff, you'll be able to produce 8x10 and larger prints that will shock and amaze your friends. Not to mention yourself.

 

[Mahi]

I've set it to fine. At the start I used it on auto mode, now been trying various manual modes.. Will be posting a few sharp images... And many of the blurred images... Rather where I couldn't get what I wanted...
Hope that the camera isn't broke..
Also m going out for some bird photography.. Suggest cheap and quality lens suitable for that... I have only one day left to make my purchase....

Sent from my LG-P920 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Vinnydude]

hey Mahi. Its very difficult for people to recommend lenses as they can only go off their own personal experiences, and getting a new lens is a very personal thing!!! It requires a lot of research into what will be best for your money, as even the 'cheap' lenses aren't cheap

When I got my first new lens, I wanted something with a higher f-stop, I didn't need a lot of zoom, and generally just something with some better glass than the kit lens. I went for the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 and It's been cracking.

One thing you do need to look out for is focus motors. The d5100 doesn't have a built in focus motor, so the lens needs to come equipped with it, or no auto focus. On nikon lenses they need to be AF-S, and on Sigma they need to be HSM.

I know I've not really given you much of an answer, but I hope its something you can work with

 

[skene]

Definitely post pictures with exif data.
If you are getting frustrated and are not getting the information that you want from your post. Start with reading the manual.
I do not suggest you going into any of the manual modes without knowing what you are doing and what those modes are and what they are used for.

-Maybe it may also help to know if you have VR on the lens you are currently using, and if you have it switched on.
-The autofocus mode you currently have the camera on. (AF-A, AF-S, AF-C)
-Shutter speed settings. If you have been playing around in different modes, and you have the wrong speed for what you are taking a picture of... No mode of AF is going to help you if you do not know how to steady the camera.

 

[Moab Man]

You mentioned a time crunch on a lens. Assuming its to reach birds. 55-300 mm af-s or 70-300 mm af-s. Again, answering in the blind but both are good lens, the second is better, but lenses aren't cheap.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

Go into your menus and click on the camera icon.
Select "Picture Control"
Drop down into whatever mode you use here, Normal for instance.
From here, right click over into the sub menus and drop down to the Sharpness setting.
Adjust this setting from the abnormally low -2 setting it's at from the factory and put it at +6 or +7.
Press OK as often as needed to save the setting.

This one setting will make a huge difference in the sharpness of your JPG pictures. If you shoot RAW, it's expected you'll be doing your sharpening in post processing.

......

 

[Vinnydude]

Horoscope Fish, I didn't know you could do that! Really handy

Although I did notice that it doesn't effect RAW files when you go to process them. Not a bad thing though! It would be nice to adjust the contrast up a notch on the d5100 though as the shots do tend to be a touch grey.

 

[Marcel]

There is one thing that I haven't seen mentioned here and it is Camera holding and shooting technique.

If you think that you can just hold that camera and take pictures with any shutter speed and they will turn out sharp, you are in for a nasty surprise. There are some common sense shutter speeds that you have to respect in order to have a sharp image. Even with the best lens, if the shutter speed is too low and/or the camera is not supported steadily, the shot will be blurred.

The shutter speed should be faster than 1/focal length * 1.5 sec for a cropped (APS) body or 1/focal length sec. for a full frame FX. Below that, a tripod is recommended. Now that holds true for static subjects. For sports of people moving (they don't have to be running), a minimum of 1/125sec would be in order.

So, before you begin the hunt for the better lens, just make sure the blur is not user induced.

​Enjoy your Nikon.

 

[Mahi]

here are a few pics...

 

[Mahi]

 

[Jason Scott]

Ok, I guess this post should come with a disclaimer. I am not a professional. As well, as there are times I can come across as slightly abrasive.
First off let me apologise for coming across like a douch, but the chances are that is what is going to happen.
I use a d5100 with a tameron 18-270.

First off, A

"ll digital images need some some sharpening and usually some other minor adjustments"
This ia UBSURD. if a user wants to do post production on every single image that is just fine. BUT the reality is this if the image is crap, the image is crap, and in the end even the post production will be inferior.

I had this problem as well, and eventually sent my camera in. They cleaned up burnt pixels, did a firmware update, cleaned things up, and the problem was only slightly improved.

People here might not agree with me, but it is not hard to find forum posts online or in here regarding SOFT images with a d5100.

I still strongly believe that the camera MISSES the focal point. and this is what is screwing everything up.
Here is my suggestion to see if you can get a different result.

Set the Iso to 125
Apature to F22
Make sure the flash is on.
and take a photo, zoomed in slightly.
Shutter speed of 1/125thof a highly textured item.


If the image is too bright,
Use flash compensation to dial it back.

I suspect the results might be more of your liking.

The reason this works to my understanding is that the Higher the f value the larger the focal range.

Now.
Same shot
We will keep the iso at 125 (as we do not want to be accusing digital noise.)
We will crank the aperture to F3.5
use the flash compensation to something around -1.0 to accommodate for the open aperture.

And this is what you see normaly.

Try one more time in auto.
even worse

with auto, my friends d3100 will always take better pictures than my 5100, with my lens

Any shot Taken on my camera that is with an aperture over F7.0 Begins to degrade severely.

Any decent photo must be taken with an extremely small aperture, really good light, and a decently fast shutter. Or the picture is botched.

Any attempt to open the apature to accommodate less light and your photo fails.
In short.
If you decrease shutter speed, you get blur from shake,
if you increase aperture, the fail focus misses the shot.
if you increase ISO, you get noise.

I have a friend with a 3100, and the shots are 100x better when I use his camera with my lens.
Lastly , as others have said here.
You can not use auto. as the camera is unable to take even an acceptable photo in auto. go figure $1600 kit, and auto, is auto fail.

2 shots both on auto with 2 different cameras I will take the 3100 results EVERY time.

I understand the camera is higher grade, and not intended to be used in auto. but if auto fails that badly, why have it at all


I made the same post, roughly a year ago.

 

[dramtastic]

Now it looks to me that the D5100 has the wheel sitting up against the viewfinder, right side top corner, that is used dial in the focus to the users eyesight. On my D7000 it's in a similar position but further away from the viewfinder. This is the first function I used for focus adjustment straight out of the box. Basically focus on any object close by and turn the wheel plus or minus until that object comes into the best focus. Check your user manual to confirm that this is the function of that dial on a D5100.

 

[btraven]

Now it looks to me that the D5100 has the wheel sitting up against the viewfinder, right side top corner, that is used dial in the focus to the users eyesight. On my D7000 it's in a similar position but further away from the viewfinder. This is the first function I used for focus adjustment straight out of the box. Basically focus on any object close by and turn the wheel plus or minus until that object comes into the best focus. Check your user manual to confirm that this is the function of that dial on a D5100.

That's cruel... made me laugh though. Out loud. Real loud.

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

That's cruel... made me laugh though. Out loud. Real loud.

There is nothing cruel in this post. He was being helpful. Many people that have never shot with a SLR do not know about the viewfinder focusing ability.

dramtastic, That is on every SLR and DSLR that I have ever seen.

 

[dramtastic]

That's cruel... made me laugh though. Out loud. Real loud.

There was absolutely nothing that was meant to be cruel or intimate stupidity in my reply. My D7000 is my first DSLR and the focus dial was one of the first things my Semi-Pro Nikon mate showed me and I was glad that he did.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

This dial we're all referring to is the diopter adjustment and it adjusts the viewfinder to suit peculiarities of a persons vision, kind of like corrective lenses or reading glassed. And yes, it really *is* a critical adjustment to any cameras viewfinder.

The way I make this adjustment is by taping some printed material on a wall, typically a page out of a magazine but anything printed that uses a very fine, sharply printed font will work as long as you have good, strong lighting. Standing back about five feet or so, and using a normal lens, focus on the printed material and adjust the diopter for the clearest view possible.

.....

 

[john*thomas]

In my experience so far the soft focus has only been a problem in low light. In good light I have no problems getting sharp pics. When researching what to buy it was noted in many reviews that the D5100 was weak in low light situations.