What am I doing wrong?

chas310 · 07-03-2011, 12:15 PM

New to the digital world and have had a Pentax K1000 for years. My wife is Nikon fan but we had all the great Pentax equipment so I bought a Kx. I love the camera and its ease of changing settings, changing the shutter speed, aperature and ISO and our old lenses work great. It takes great photos and the color is awesome. My only problem is that I simply cannot get a clear photo. They are always soft focused or simply blurry. What am I doing wrong? I tried tripods, monopods and leaning agains solid objects.

The lenses I am using are the kit lens 18-55 Pentax, 50 mm Pentax, 70-300 Tamron and a 70-210 Qauntray.

Thanks and don't be to hard on me.

Chas

Bramela · 07-03-2011, 01:10 PM

Can you show us a couple of your photos, as that would help analysis?

**Ash** · 07-03-2011, 01:17 PM

Do the soft results also include those from the 18-55 when focusing accurately and shooting at f/8?
If not, then manual focusing technique may be one of the causes. Others include slow shutter speed, too thin depth of field, unstable tripod, etc.

A few photos of this problem may shed some light, but please keep EXIF intact or give all exposure details.

chas310 · 07-03-2011, 01:34 PM

a couple of pics

chas310 · 07-03-2011, 01:36 PM

chas310 · 07-03-2011, 01:46 PM

one more.

hcc · 07-03-2011, 03:19 PM

I may have a couple of suggestions.

(a) Do you use shake reduction (SR)? In the affirmative do make sure to wait for SR confirmation (the hand symbol) before shooting.

Simply the SR may take 1-2 s to stabilise and if you shoot before SR confirmation, the shot may look blurry.

(b) I recommend to select centre focus point rather than multple focus points. This will help to focus on the center of the picture.

Hope that the comments will help...

twitch · 07-03-2011, 03:21 PM

Your 2 bird shots were shot with too slow of a shutter speed. 1/50 is far too slow for hand holding, especially out at 110mm+. I noticed you shot both those at ISO200. I'd suggest changing your camera to auto ISO with a range up to ISO3200, that way you will allow the camera to use a higher ISO so it can use a higher shutter speed. THose shots should both have been ~ISO800 & 1/200.

The last shot doesn't look that soft to me, I noticed you were out at 300mm which is the extreme end of a cheap consumer zoom. To be honest that's about as sharp as you can hope for, altohugh you could sharpen it a bit in post production.

Hope that helps

Marc Sabatella · 07-03-2011, 03:52 PM

Is it also possible you are unfamiliar with the concept of depth of field? It is not reasonable to expect the entire picture to be sharp with a dslr, or any other camera with a sensor larger than the typical p&s.

bobva · 07-03-2011, 06:07 PM

Originally posted by twitch

Your 2 bird shots were shot with too slow of a shutter speed. 1/50 is far too slow for hand holding, especially out at 110mm+. I noticed you shot both those at ISO200. I'd suggest changing your camera to auto ISO with a range up to ISO3200, that way you will allow the camera to use a higher ISO so it can use a higher shutter speed. THose shots should both have been ~ISO800 & 1/200.

The last shot doesn't look that soft to me, I noticed you were out at 300mm which is the extreme end of a cheap consumer zoom. To be honest that's about as sharp as you can hope for, altohugh you could sharpen it a bit in post production.

Hope that helps

Im not trying to hjack or anything..... But how did you come up with the speed & ISO the OP is using.
I do see Ash asked for the EXIF intact but where did you find it?

twitch · 07-03-2011, 06:11 PM

Originally posted by bobva

Im not trying to hjack or anything..... But how did you come up with the speed & ISO the OP is using.
I do see Ash asked for the EXIF intact but where did you find it?

Follow the links into flickr and choose the "actions -> view exif info" option.

JohnBee · 07-03-2011, 06:38 PM

Originally posted by chas310

Thanks and don't be to hard on me.

The water lily(I think its called) looks fine. Might use a little sharpening, but that's a matter of taste really.

The two birds on the other hand were taken at 1/50s shutter which is far to slow to expect anything to look sharp and any movement at this range(300mm) on either the subject or the shooters part will result in blur.

Having said that, one solution in cases such as these, might be to use TA/V mode to keep your shutter speeds-up while you take your shots.

JeffJS · 07-03-2011, 06:44 PM

In looking at the Rest of the photos in your flickr, you are capable of better shots than this. I think, as suggested, your problem with the two bird shots and even the flower shot, is one of exposure. The Flower shot is over exposed.

bobva · 07-03-2011, 06:51 PM

Originally posted by twitch

follow the links into flickr and choose the "actions -> view exif info" option.

Thank You,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Big Time

chas310 · 07-04-2011, 05:40 AM

Thank you very very much. All of you have been very helpful. I will take all of the suggestions and practice some more. Maybe eventually I will get it right!

07-03-2011, 12:15 PM	#1
chas310 New Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Ohio Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 8	What am I doing wrong? New to the digital world and have had a Pentax K1000 for years. My wife is Nikon fan but we had all the great Pentax equipment so I bought a Kx. I love the camera and its ease of changing settings, changing the shutter speed, aperature and ISO and our old lenses work great. It takes great photos and the color is awesome. My only problem is that I simply cannot get a clear photo. They are always soft focused or simply blurry. What am I doing wrong? I tried tripods, monopods and leaning agains solid objects. The lenses I am using are the kit lens 18-55 Pentax, 50 mm Pentax, 70-300 Tamron and a 70-210 Qauntray. Thanks and don't be to hard on me. Chas

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07-03-2011, 01:10 PM	#2
Bramela Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Newcastle Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,284	Can you show us a couple of your photos, as that would help analysis?

07-03-2011, 01:17 PM	#3
Ash Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Toowoomba, Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,920	Do the soft results also include those from the 18-55 when focusing accurately and shooting at f/8? If not, then manual focusing technique may be one of the causes. Others include slow shutter speed, too thin depth of field, unstable tripod, etc. A few photos of this problem may shed some light, but please keep EXIF intact or give all exposure details.

07-03-2011, 01:34 PM	#4
chas310 New Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Ohio Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 8 Original Poster	a couple of pics

07-03-2011, 01:36 PM	#5
chas310 New Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Ohio Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 8 Original Poster

07-03-2011, 01:46 PM	#6
chas310 New Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Ohio Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 8 Original Poster	one more.

07-03-2011, 03:19 PM	#7
hcc Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,001	I may have a couple of suggestions. (a) Do you use shake reduction (SR)? In the affirmative do make sure to wait for SR confirmation (the hand symbol) before shooting. Simply the SR may take 1-2 s to stabilise and if you shoot before SR confirmation, the shot may look blurry. (b) I recommend to select centre focus point rather than multple focus points. This will help to focus on the center of the picture. Hope that the comments will help...

07-03-2011, 03:21 PM	#8
twitch Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 4,571	Your 2 bird shots were shot with too slow of a shutter speed. 1/50 is far too slow for hand holding, especially out at 110mm+. I noticed you shot both those at ISO200. I'd suggest changing your camera to auto ISO with a range up to ISO3200, that way you will allow the camera to use a higher ISO so it can use a higher shutter speed. THose shots should both have been ~ISO800 & 1/200. The last shot doesn't look that soft to me, I noticed you were out at 300mm which is the extreme end of a cheap consumer zoom. To be honest that's about as sharp as you can hope for, altohugh you could sharpen it a bit in post production. Hope that helps

07-03-2011, 03:52 PM	#9
Marc Sabatella Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Denver, CO Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,685	Is it also possible you are unfamiliar with the concept of depth of field? It is not reasonable to expect the entire picture to be sharp with a dslr, or any other camera with a sensor larger than the typical p&s.

07-03-2011, 06:07 PM	#10
bobva Forum Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Tacoma Everett Posts: 53	Originally posted by twitch Your 2 bird shots were shot with too slow of a shutter speed. 1/50 is far too slow for hand holding, especially out at 110mm+. I noticed you shot both those at ISO200. I'd suggest changing your camera to auto ISO with a range up to ISO3200, that way you will allow the camera to use a higher ISO so it can use a higher shutter speed. THose shots should both have been ~ISO800 & 1/200. The last shot doesn't look that soft to me, I noticed you were out at 300mm which is the extreme end of a cheap consumer zoom. To be honest that's about as sharp as you can hope for, altohugh you could sharpen it a bit in post production. Hope that helps Im not trying to hjack or anything..... But how did you come up with the speed & ISO the OP is using. I do see Ash asked for the EXIF intact but where did you find it?

07-03-2011, 06:11 PM	#11
twitch Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 4,571	Originally posted by bobva Im not trying to hjack or anything..... But how did you come up with the speed & ISO the OP is using. I do see Ash asked for the EXIF intact but where did you find it? Follow the links into flickr and choose the "actions -> view exif info" option.

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07-03-2011, 06:38 PM	#12
JohnBee Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Newrfoundland Photos: Albums Posts: 4,667	Originally posted by chas310 Thanks and don't be to hard on me. The water lily(I think its called) looks fine. Might use a little sharpening, but that's a matter of taste really. The two birds on the other hand were taken at 1/50s shutter which is far to slow to expect anything to look sharp and any movement at this range(300mm) on either the subject or the shooters part will result in blur. Having said that, one solution in cases such as these, might be to use TA/V mode to keep your shutter speeds-up while you take your shots.

07-03-2011, 06:44 PM	#13
JeffJS Inactive Account Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Michigan, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 7,484	In looking at the Rest of the photos in your flickr, you are capable of better shots than this. I think, as suggested, your problem with the two bird shots and even the flower shot, is one of exposure. The Flower shot is over exposed.

07-03-2011, 06:51 PM	#14
bobva Forum Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Tacoma Everett Posts: 53	Originally posted by twitch follow the links into flickr and choose the "actions -> view exif info" option. Thank You,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Big Time

07-04-2011, 05:40 AM	#15
chas310 New Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Ohio Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 8 Original Poster	Thank you very very much. All of you have been very helpful. I will take all of the suggestions and practice some more. Maybe eventually I will get it right!