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Nikon DSLR Cameras
D7000
Nikon D7000 taking blurry/soft images
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<blockquote data-quote="spb_stan" data-source="post: 652740" data-attributes="member: 43545"><p>I suggest finding whether there is a camera defect, I really doubt it because these are close and most defects are more debilitating to focusing. The first step it put the camera on a tripod</p><p>Turn off VR</p><p>Find a high edge contrast target such as a bold line grid or one of the many downloadable AF focusing targets you can print. Tape it flat against the wall at about 50 times the focal length used, so a 50mm lens would be around 250Cm or around 100 inches between camera and target</p><p>Make sure the target is well illuminated. </p><p>Open the aperture fully....if a f/1.8 lens set it there, if a variable aperture lens like slower zooms, set it to the widest aperture available at the Focal length being tested.</p><p>Set the shutter speed faster than 1/120 second(there were reports of mirror slap vibration on the D7000 in the 1/120-1/180 range but never noticed any)</p><p>Use a low ISO, 100-200</p><p>Exposure control to Manual</p><p>If there is not enough light use the popup flash</p><p>If it is a zoom, zoom out to the longest focal length( do this before every AF test shot)</p><p>Set the camera into Live View mode and set the focus point in the center which is a cross polarized focus point and make sure the focus point box on the rear screen is bisecting a hard edge of the pattern on the target. </p><p>AF using either back button or 1/2press the shutter release depending on how you have those butttons assigned.</p><p>Take the shot and write down the number of that shot. </p><p>Take 4 or 5 shots the same way, zooming out before each one.</p><p>Look at the photos at normal viewing distance, and at 100% (note that 100% is more magnification on a 16mpx sensor than on the D90 12mpx ) and if they all look about the same in sharpness, and close to the sharpness of the D90 images, the camera sensor and electronics are fine.</p><p>Then it comes down to lenses and AF-S mode settings. You can't get perfect AF fine tuning with aperture settings that allow more depth of field so you have to use the widest aperture for this to not cause more harm than good)</p><p>Do the same set up but switch off Live view and set AF-S. Take 2-3 shots and compare to the shots you numbered in live view. If there is a visible difference in focus, set the focus fine tuning to "0" and take a shot, write down the frame number and make an adjustment to +5 or -5. Better or worse? if worse move the setting to the opposite direction and make "5" step increments until at "20" until you see the focus getting worse. Move back 2-3 until no improvement is seen. Then fine tune in "1" digit steps.</p><p></p><p>Zooms should be tested at the most important often used FL because a change is not usually going to benefit all focal lengths equally </p><p>Conditions that throw off AF accuracy:</p><p>Color cast to light</p><p>Contrast level and polarization</p><p>Light level</p><p> Focus box is smaller than the AF sensor focus points so it is possible to have a better focusing target in front of or back from the desired focal plane that is detected slightly outside the VF FP box</p><p>Strong colors dominating the focus point impact AF performance, just as lenses transmit red light slightly different in time compared to the blue end of the spectrum, and lenses are designed to help compensate for that difference in the diffraction based on light frequency. Focusing on a deep red or blue focus target will often have other objects in the same focal place less in focus. Lenses with poor chromatic dispersion characteristics will show this more. Stopping down more can help. Chromatic aberration, "purple fringing" plays havoc with edge detection AF for these same cause, light path timing differences over the spectrum.</p><p></p><p>If the first test with Live View resulted in poor focus, and the sensor is clean, it should be checked by a Nikon authorized repair station. It is pretty rare. If on the other hand Live view is fine, and all lenses are out of adjustment range, time to send the body in for AF alignment. If only one lens is out of adjustment range, send in that one lens. It is usually better to set no AF fine tuning on slow zoom lenses because once adjusted for one end of the zoom range, it will usually be further off than it was before adjustments. </p><p>Another thing to consider is post-processing or Picture Controls in the camera. If you are shooting JPG you can set the Picture Controls to have more sharpening than the presets. If you are using Portrait mode, everything is unsharpened so reduce skin texture detail in faces. The D7000 usually could use a bit of increase in the sharpening setting in Picture Control for any mode other than portrait.</p><p>Good luck and please report back.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="spb_stan, post: 652740, member: 43545"] I suggest finding whether there is a camera defect, I really doubt it because these are close and most defects are more debilitating to focusing. The first step it put the camera on a tripod Turn off VR Find a high edge contrast target such as a bold line grid or one of the many downloadable AF focusing targets you can print. Tape it flat against the wall at about 50 times the focal length used, so a 50mm lens would be around 250Cm or around 100 inches between camera and target Make sure the target is well illuminated. Open the aperture fully....if a f/1.8 lens set it there, if a variable aperture lens like slower zooms, set it to the widest aperture available at the Focal length being tested. Set the shutter speed faster than 1/120 second(there were reports of mirror slap vibration on the D7000 in the 1/120-1/180 range but never noticed any) Use a low ISO, 100-200 Exposure control to Manual If there is not enough light use the popup flash If it is a zoom, zoom out to the longest focal length( do this before every AF test shot) Set the camera into Live View mode and set the focus point in the center which is a cross polarized focus point and make sure the focus point box on the rear screen is bisecting a hard edge of the pattern on the target. AF using either back button or 1/2press the shutter release depending on how you have those butttons assigned. Take the shot and write down the number of that shot. Take 4 or 5 shots the same way, zooming out before each one. Look at the photos at normal viewing distance, and at 100% (note that 100% is more magnification on a 16mpx sensor than on the D90 12mpx ) and if they all look about the same in sharpness, and close to the sharpness of the D90 images, the camera sensor and electronics are fine. Then it comes down to lenses and AF-S mode settings. You can't get perfect AF fine tuning with aperture settings that allow more depth of field so you have to use the widest aperture for this to not cause more harm than good) Do the same set up but switch off Live view and set AF-S. Take 2-3 shots and compare to the shots you numbered in live view. If there is a visible difference in focus, set the focus fine tuning to "0" and take a shot, write down the frame number and make an adjustment to +5 or -5. Better or worse? if worse move the setting to the opposite direction and make "5" step increments until at "20" until you see the focus getting worse. Move back 2-3 until no improvement is seen. Then fine tune in "1" digit steps. Zooms should be tested at the most important often used FL because a change is not usually going to benefit all focal lengths equally Conditions that throw off AF accuracy: Color cast to light Contrast level and polarization Light level Focus box is smaller than the AF sensor focus points so it is possible to have a better focusing target in front of or back from the desired focal plane that is detected slightly outside the VF FP box Strong colors dominating the focus point impact AF performance, just as lenses transmit red light slightly different in time compared to the blue end of the spectrum, and lenses are designed to help compensate for that difference in the diffraction based on light frequency. Focusing on a deep red or blue focus target will often have other objects in the same focal place less in focus. Lenses with poor chromatic dispersion characteristics will show this more. Stopping down more can help. Chromatic aberration, "purple fringing" plays havoc with edge detection AF for these same cause, light path timing differences over the spectrum. If the first test with Live View resulted in poor focus, and the sensor is clean, it should be checked by a Nikon authorized repair station. It is pretty rare. If on the other hand Live view is fine, and all lenses are out of adjustment range, time to send the body in for AF alignment. If only one lens is out of adjustment range, send in that one lens. It is usually better to set no AF fine tuning on slow zoom lenses because once adjusted for one end of the zoom range, it will usually be further off than it was before adjustments. Another thing to consider is post-processing or Picture Controls in the camera. If you are shooting JPG you can set the Picture Controls to have more sharpening than the presets. If you are using Portrait mode, everything is unsharpened so reduce skin texture detail in faces. The D7000 usually could use a bit of increase in the sharpening setting in Picture Control for any mode other than portrait. Good luck and please report back. [/QUOTE]
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Nikon D7000 taking blurry/soft images
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