Focusing/softness issue, need your help please.

Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Caymia said:
Well, I've been playing and experimenting and even though the in camera sharpening made a big difference I'm still not happy.
I am pretty sure it's not me. Either the lens is faulty or I'm expecting to much from it.
I'm shooting in raw now, nudged on by you guys :)
Thanks again.
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Well we need to be clear here... If you're shooting RAW you need to manually sharpen your photo's using post processing software.

The Sharpness setting you made in the menus does nothing for RAW files, it affects JPG images only.
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C

Caymia

Senior Member
Thanks Paul, I did all I could using J-peg, then moved to raw. I'm now happier with raw.
I know a lot is my inexperience and lack of knowledge, but no matter what I do I can't achieve the clarity I expect.
I am starting to discover how the lens performs. Focal length seems to effect how soft/sharp it is. I'll keep going. But may be I'd be happier with a better quality lens?! May be I'm just to fussy?!
 
L

Love Nikon

Banned
Perhaps your problem is you are using a D3200 not a D7100 or D7200.
If you send me an e mail address I will send you the same photo with a D3200 and 7100 to compare.
 
L

Love Nikon

Banned
Images sent ..not much in it ...these are using the same lens a 18-140 which is a very good buy grey market both at F8 sharp +9 Large basic nothing else done to them ..
I usually open in Microsoft picture viewer ..not all "viewers" are equal . Nero photo viewer is another good one...
All the exif data is there ...use Jeffrey Friedl's Exif (Image Metadata) Viewer

Let me know what you think.
 
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Caymia

Senior Member
Yes, I can see a difference. Overall there doesn't seem much in it, but looking at full res at the rose leaves and stems I can see what is irritating me with my camera. On the second one, many look soft. On the first one the clarity is much better, they look sharper.
This has been really helpful, thank you so much. At least I can just aim for the best with what I have. It's all good learning!
Wondering if I could still make improvements in clarity with a better lens on the D3200?
 
L

Love Nikon

Banned
The advantage with the 7100 is that it has no AA filter and you can set the AF fine tune .
I just checked the focus on the D3200 and it could do with about +15 from where it is but of couse its non adjustable. so with the AA filter present and limited adjustments you are probably getting the best you can ..you need to look at DXO lens reviews under sharpness to check you 18-50 against others
 
C

Caymia

Senior Member
Love Nikon said:
The advantage with the 7100 is that it has no AA filter and you can set the AF fine tune .
I just checked the focus on the D3200 and it could do with about +15 from where it is but of couse its non adjustable. so with the AA filter present and limited adjustments you are probably getting the best you can ..you need to look at DXO lens reviews under sharpness to check you 18-50 against others
Click to expand...
Thanks again. Lots to chew over, but it's all sending me in the right direction :)
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Some very good issues regarding getting sharper phots have been mentioned. In my opinion, here are the Big Three Factors that affect sharpness (all other things being equal (and by this I mean things like shooting technique, shutter speed, ISO etc.)):

1. The Quality of the Lens - There's a reason pro-level glass is painfully expensive. There is no better investment that can be made, IMO, in your photography than top notch glass. Unless it's bettering your photographic education.

2. The presence or absence of an AA filter - I've shot with and without and my D750 has had the AA filter removed. I think it's *that* important. Many people debate the importance of the AA filter and I'm not saying they're wrong. I'm saying, based on my experience, it makes a difference. A big difference.

3. Fine tuning (lens calibration) of a particular lens - If you camera supports it, you're a fool to ignore this capability.

Further, I would say the last two factors are probably about equal in importance. These are just my opinions, however, but they are based on some pretty concrete experience.
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L

Love Nikon

Banned
4.If you are a JPEG shooter
turn up the sharpness to at least +7...In the end someone or something has to turn it to jpeg either the programme in the camera or the one in your computer ..I go with the camera and +9
 
J

J-see

Senior Member
I don't know if anyone already asked but what aperture did you use to shoot the flower?

I might be wrong but it looks like you shot wide open.
 
F

Figure

Senior Member
For JPEG's, make sure to turn off "Noise reduction" from the menu. According to this post from Nikon: https://support.nikonusa.com/app/an...-reduction-feature-of-my-digital-camera-work?

"The NR feature should only be used when long exposures (longer than 1/15 of a second) are used and is excellent at removing noise from scenic photos taken at night."

The NR feature softens the photo and should only be set to ON when necessary.
 
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L

Love Nikon

Banned
Figure ...you miss read that ..where does it say it softens all pictures taken at any speed which is what you are implying.

All my cameras have noise reduction set at max but this feature does not come into operation unless the shutter speed drops below 1/15 so for normal daylight photography does not affect the picture.
If you have set your auto iso to say 100-6400 and min speed to 1/30 (say) the speed will only drop below 1/30 if more exposure than iso 6400 and 1/30 can provide.

The NR is automatically engaged " When Neccessary"
 
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F

Figure

Senior Member
That's not how the D3200 works; irregardless of shutter speed, if NR is set to ON it will process the photo accordingly when noise is detected.
 
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Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
There appears to be some confusion about how the Noise Reduction feature works.

If the "Noise Reduction" feature is enabled, noise reduction processing happens with ALL shots -- regardless of shutter speed -- until the feature is turned "OFF" in the menu.

The manual states the NR featureit should be used for shots with 1/15s, or longer shutter speed; not that the NR function automatically engages at that shutter speed.

Noise Reduction works by taking a completely black "reference shot" which it then compares with the photo taken to determine where digital noise exists. It does this with every shot that is taken when the NR feature is enabled in the menu.

The Noise Reduction feature doubles the length of processing time so, for instance, a 30 second exposure with NR will take one full minute to process in the camera. A 15-second exposure will required 30 seconds of in-camera processing time.

NR does soften every shot it is applied to; this is a necessary drawback to the noise reduction process.
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V

vmx12n

Senior Member
Taken from the D5200 manual-

Screenshot (2).jpg
 
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