Blurry photos after drop

Hi,

I have accidentally dropped by D5200 from 1.5m height and since then my photographs are a mess. Its like the focus is messed up, the corners of the images are blurry-"scratchy", especially the left side. The lens is the standard 18-55mm.

Is there something i can check myself before taking it to NIKON?

Thanks

Welcome,it sounds like a Nikon job but could you post a picture from it

Thanks!

Here are 2 pics. You can see the blurry part on the edges



f/6.3
1/150
ISO-1000
55mm focal length
No flash
Max aperture 5


f/5.6
1/60
ISo-3200
55mm focal length
max aperture 5
flash auto strobe return

Try to get another lens from a friend, preferably a prime lens and do a few shots just to make sure that your camera's lens mount hasn't been affected. It could have mis-aligned the lens and could be a major fix... I would test the lens first to see if it's only the lens or the camera and lens.

Marcel said:

Try to get another lens from a friend, preferably a prime lens and do a few shots just to make sure that your camera's lens mount hasn't been affected. It could have mis-aligned the lens and could be a major fix... I would test the lens first to see if it's only the lens or the camera and lens.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. That what i was thinking too. If i swap the lenses and its ok, does it worth it to get the lens fixed or shall i get a new one? Anyone had any experience with similar fix, cost wise?

Thanks in advance

Welcome to Nikonites! No experience as far as costs involved. Wishing you the best!

flipperzoom said:

Thanks for your reply. That what i was thinking too. If i swap the lenses and its ok, does it worth it to get the lens fixed or shall i get a new one? Anyone had any experience with similar fix, cost wise?

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

I think it would probably be cheaper just to get another lens. You can get these under 100.00$ used. The estimate fee alone with Nikon is usually around $60 plus shipping and I seriously doubt that they could fix it for less than another one. Then if it's the lens and the lens mount of the camera that have suffered, you should have a look at your homeowner's insurance policy just to make sure you wouldn't be covered by chance.

Which lens? If it's the 18-55 ($100 factory refurbs available), or some other equally cheap lens(55-200, 18-105, 55-300, or even one of the 35mm or 50mm primes), it's probably not worth it to get it fixed.

I went through this with the 18-105. The plastic mount broke off of it and Nikon wanted over $100 to fix it (half the price of a factory refurb of the same lens). I ended up just buying the 50mm f1.8G and couldn't be happier. I kept the broken 18-105 and eventually found a cheap part from a camera parts shop that I bought for $10 and fixed the 18-105 at home. Now I have an excellent prime lens and the working kit lens for only about $100 more than Nikon wanted to just fix the original lens. I could have even came close to breaking even if I had bought a 50mm f1.8D instead of the f1.8G.

Thanks for your replies guys. Its the 18-55mm kit lens i have. Lets hope its the lens itself the problem and not the camera because in that case it would cost me much to get it fixed, and i only got the camera in January

(Its still under quarantee but they wont believe that this broke by itself )

By the way in my effort to clean the inside of the camera it ended up with a foggy view! Whats the proper way of cleaning it?

flipperzoom said:

By the way in my effort to clean the inside of the camera it ended up with a foggy view! Whats the proper way of cleaning it?

Click to expand...

The proper way to clean it is to learn what to do and how to do it "before" making it worse.
I don't know what you did, but you should only use a blower to blow out dust from the mirror and inside the camera. For the sensor itself, the blower comes first and then there is the wet cleaning. Plenty of tutorials on the net on how to do it to prevent the fogging.

Hello guys,

I took it to the shop, they told me its the lens so i should buy another once since they dont have the tool here to align the lens (it got misaligned). Which lens do you think should i go after? My current one is the basic 18-55mm one. Keep in mind that i have a (very) limited budget!

flipperzoom said:

Hello guys,

I took it to the shop, they told me its the lens so i should buy another once since they dont have the tool here to align the lens (it got misaligned). Which lens do you think should i go after? My current one is the basic 18-55mm one. Keep in mind that i have a (very) limited budget!

Click to expand...

Thanks for coming back with your results so many dont bother,if you where happy with your lens before the incident why not get the same again.

Np, i thank you for your help

Well, i dont know if im happy. I dont have much experience with DSLRs. My friends have similar cameras (most of them canon) and they tell me that the difference between the lenses is huge regarding image quality and sharpness , ex between 18-55 and 55-200. Of course i understand that its all relative and that many factors have their role in the result.

I think i want to be able to zoom a bit more as well as have more focus point , i want that wow effect where the subject is super clear and background all blurry. Im not very impressed by 18-55m on this one. Im not talking about macro, im talking about portrait pictures etc. I get this effect now of course by lowering the /f but its not that wow.

Im sorry if what i say dont make much sense, as i said im new to this!

Thanks in advance, i appreciate your time

flipperzoom said:

Np, i thank you for your help

Well, i dont know if im happy. I dont have much experience with DSLRs. My friends have similar cameras (most of them canon) and they tell me that the difference between the lenses is huge regarding image quality and sharpness , ex between 18-55 and 55-200. Of course i understand that its all relative and that many factors have their role in the result.

I think i want to be able to zoom a bit more as well as have more focus point , i want that wow effect where the subject is super clear and background all blurry. Im not very impressed by 18-55m on this one. Im not talking about macro, im talking about portrait pictures etc. I get this effect now of course by lowering the /f but its not that wow.

Im sorry if what i say dont make much sense, as i said im new to this!

Thanks in advance, i appreciate your time

Click to expand...

Well if I were you I'd be looking at either the newest version of the 18-55mm or, for about $50 less, the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G.

The first lens will be more flexible, going from wide angle to slight zoom, but it's slower meaning you'll have a harder time getting that bokeh effect you want (the blurry background). The second lens, the 35mm, will be better equipped to give you the bokeh you want because it has a much larger maximum aperture, but...It's a prime which means if you want to zoom or go wide you have to use your feet to do so. Still, it's a very fast, very sharp lens. One of those lenses the most hard-core among us swear by.

Also, the other key element in getting the bokeh effect you mention is getting as much distance between your in-focus subject and the background. The greater the distance between those two things, the better the overall effect will be. Using a wide aperture (smaller number) will help as well but mainly, it's the distance between subject and background that makes the difference.

...

...

Thanks for your reply and your tips!

If you know, does the newest version of the 18-55mm and the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G have the same image quality? From my understanding the second one takes more sharp images?

Also if i got it right :

More distance from subject + zoom = better bokeh effect
Less distance from subject - zoom = not so great

?

Thanks again

another prime lens to consider is the 50 mm 1.8. It is fairly inexpensive and produces some very sharp pictures with nice bokeh.

flipperzoom said:

Thanks for your reply and your tips!

If you know, does the newest version of the 18-55mm and the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G have the same image quality? From my understanding the second one takes more sharp images?

Also if i got it right :

More distance from subject + zoom = better bokeh effect
Less distance from subject - zoom = not so great

?

Thanks again

Click to expand...

I have both. Got the newer 18-55 with the D3300 and bought a new 35mm F1.8 DX. The image quality of the prime is better, but not by all that much. You have to know how to get the sharpness and contrast before you can see the difference. Where the prime will shine is in its F1.8 aperture. You can shhot in lower light or shoot faster in the same light. Wide open the back ground melts away.

Here are two comparable shots


Kit lense 18-55


35mm F1.8 prime

flipperzoom said:

Thanks for your reply and your tips!

If you know, does the newest version of the 18-55mm and the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G have the same image quality? From my understanding the second one takes more sharp images?

Click to expand...

The 35mm will take better images overall. While the 18-55 is very capable of getting very good images under the right circumstances, the 35mm will do it far more often and far more easily. This is due, mainly, to the fact that prime lenses have fewer moving parts which works to their advantage. You'll get a little more sharpness with less distortion and less chromatic aberration from the 35mm. I say all that without taking anything away from the 18-55mm, which is a pretty capable little lens; the new version especially so. I think you'd happy with either lens, you just need to decide which one you want.

flipperzoom said:

Also if i got it right :
More distance from subject + zoom = better bokeh effect
Less distance from subject - zoom = not so great

Click to expand...

This is correct. Using a wider aperture (e.g. f/2 is wider, or faster, than f/11 for instance) will get you a more shallow depth of field which is how "deep" your focus is. A "deep" depth of field means a LOT is in focus both in front of and behind what you've actually focused ON. So again: Small apertures (bigger numbers) put a LOT into focus, wide apertures (smaller numbers) put LESS into focus. Combine this with separation, meaning the distance between your subject and the background, and I think you'll see how it all starts to come together. The lens itself plays a certain role in how smooth the bokeh itself looks, but getting the effect you want is a combination of aperture and separation working together.

Hope that helps!

...