Sharpness issue!

BakDinitzen · 04-23-2012, 08:23 AM

I would love some comments regarding the sharpness of the photos below. I'm starting getting paranoid: I don't find that my photo's has the amount of sharpness that I would like. I know there can be so many reasons for that, and I'm trying to eliminate as many as possible. First I blamed my kit lens, but I don't find pictures taken with 35 Limited remarkably sharper when I zoom in on the photo! So if anybody would like to comment on this, it would be much appreciated!
Pictures taken using tripod, SR off. PP: Levels and contrast!

Attached Images

View Picture EXIF

View Picture EXIF

enoeske · 04-23-2012, 08:39 AM

Are you shooting in raw? Are you doing any sharpening?

Anvh · 04-23-2012, 08:41 AM

To me they don't look bad at this small size.
Although your camera might be front focusing a bit because the flower at the bottom look sharper then the wall.

Tom Woj · 04-23-2012, 08:57 AM

You could use live view to manually focus, and zoom in on the LCD so you make sure focus is bang on, then check again. Could be front/back focus. As mentioned, if it's raw, you will probably need to add sharpening anyway.

I'd be happy with that personally, although I don't pixel peep all that much as it is

. Add an unsharp mask/other form of sharpening to your workflow if you want more maybe.

slackercruster · 04-23-2012, 09:15 AM

They are OK, but could be better. Try manual focus and not auto. Some lenses are just half-ass with sharpness.

Try mirror lock up with 2 sec shutter delay. But you should not have to do this to get it sharp.

Kit lens is a crapper. But it is sharp enuf for what it is and usefull as a cheap disposable lens.

BakDinitzen · 04-23-2012, 10:12 AM

Well, as mentioned, I might be getting paranoid! When I zoom in 100%, it really doesn't look sharp to me. But I honestly don't know what to expect. It is raw, and I didn't sharpen!

BakDinitzen · 04-23-2012, 10:14 AM

Originally posted by slackercruster

They are OK, but could be better. Try manual focus and not auto. Some lenses are just half-ass with sharpness.

Try mirror lock up with 2 sec shutter delay. But you should not have to do this to get it sharp.

Kit lens is a crapper. But it is sharp enuf for what it is and usefull as a cheap disposable lens.

I did mirror lock up, and I also checked manual focus.

Tom Woj · 04-23-2012, 10:24 AM

Originally posted by BakDinitzen

It is raw, and I didn't sharpen!

That could be it then. Raw files pretty much always need sharpening. Why? Because the camera won't do any to it, it's just raw data from the sensor. Try taking the same shot as raw+jpeg, compare the two, and you should see that the jpeg is a bit sharper because it had some done to it in-camera.

joe.penn · 04-23-2012, 10:28 AM - **1 Like**

Well, I would go out and find a sharper brick wall to shoot...

slackercruster · 04-23-2012, 10:30 AM

Originally posted by BakDinitzen

I did mirror lock up, and I also checked manual focus.

Make sure lens is clean. Use a lenshood. Try dif f stops. Shoot some closeups of a $1 bill or coins and send in some jpegs

vonBaloney · 04-23-2012, 10:47 AM

They look in-focus. RAW files need sharpening. The lower the ISO, the more sharpening they need. (Higher ISO needs less because of the noise factor.)

eddie1960 · 04-23-2012, 10:51 AM

Originally posted by Tom Woj

That could be it then. Raw files pretty much always need sharpening. Why? Because the camera won't do any to it, it's just raw data from the sensor. Try taking the same shot as raw+jpeg, compare the two, and you should see that the jpeg is a bit sharper because it had some done to it in-camera.

definitely this is part of the answer. the shots look acceptable re sized for the web though (you could put up a 100% crop as an example).
As mentioned though Raw files all need some sharpening. and you should really do the sharpening based onthe planned output (ie is it for print or web.If print how large and from what viewing distance)

For me the realistic measure is never pixel peeping on a screen aside from to look for back/front focus issues. the judgement for me is the print (I know I'm an old fashioned geezer)

slip · 04-23-2012, 03:58 PM

at F8 it should be sharp pretty well from the branches to the wall. I don't know how your raw program works, but in adobe it puts some sharpening on automatically. If your program can be set to do this, then see if the results improve. also try with flash to see if it helps the sharpness (I notice that flash helps improve my sharpness on my k10 for what ever reason)

good luck

DeadJohn · 04-23-2012, 04:22 PM

Looks sharp enough to me at that resolution. The shadow of the thorns near the left edge look sharper than the bricks, though, so I wonder if maybe lack of contrast is making the photo look less sharp than it actually is? A lens hood (as someone else mentioned) (and if you're not already using one) will improve contrast and might improve perceived sharpness.

Maybe try this test: repeat with the same lens, wall, and lighting conditions. Set the aperture to its widest and take one photo with autofocus. Then set to manual focus, turn the focus a little in one direction, take a photo, turn the focus a little the other direction, take a photo. If either manual photo is sharper than the autofocus one then it's a focus issue. If all 3 look sort of the same the autofocus is working okay. Or try Live View as another poster mentioned.

BakDinitzen · 04-24-2012, 05:36 AM

Thanks for all replies.
It seems, except for possible back/front focus issue and replacement of my wall , it's up to my pp skills. That certainly might be the case. I use Aperture, and don't know if it applies a certain amount of sharpening as default, but I have tried to ad more sharpening to my wall, and it definitely improved the result.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Sharpness, Fine Sharpness, Extra Sharpness	Taviali	Pentax K-5 & K-5 II	8	03-31-2012 12:56 PM
sharpness	jeghead1	Pentax DSLR Discussion	7	05-27-2010 06:56 AM
Sharpness VS Fine-Sharpness in k20d	wasim_altaf	Pentax DSLR Discussion	8	10-12-2009 11:41 AM
Sharpness vs Fine Sharpness on K20D	morfic	Pentax DSLR Discussion	2	11-02-2008 10:13 AM
Fine sharpness and sharpness move together on K20D 1.01	morfic	Pentax DSLR Discussion	2	07-11-2008 09:18 PM

04-23-2012, 08:39 AM	#2
enoeske Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Surprise, Az Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,136	Are you shooting in raw? Are you doing any sharpening?

04-23-2012, 08:41 AM	#3
Anvh Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 4,616	To me they don't look bad at this small size. Although your camera might be front focusing a bit because the flower at the bottom look sharper then the wall.

04-23-2012, 08:57 AM	#4
Tom Woj Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Stafford, UK Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 163	You could use live view to manually focus, and zoom in on the LCD so you make sure focus is bang on, then check again. Could be front/back focus. As mentioned, if it's raw, you will probably need to add sharpening anyway. I'd be happy with that personally, although I don't pixel peep all that much as it is . Add an unsharp mask/other form of sharpening to your workflow if you want more maybe.

04-23-2012, 09:15 AM	#5
slackercruster Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: NE, USA Posts: 1,302	They are OK, but could be better. Try manual focus and not auto. Some lenses are just half-ass with sharpness. Try mirror lock up with 2 sec shutter delay. But you should not have to do this to get it sharp. Kit lens is a crapper. But it is sharp enuf for what it is and usefull as a cheap disposable lens.

04-23-2012, 10:12 AM	#6
BakDinitzen Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Danmark Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 79 Original Poster	Well, as mentioned, I might be getting paranoid! When I zoom in 100%, it really doesn't look sharp to me. But I honestly don't know what to expect. It is raw, and I didn't sharpen!

04-23-2012, 10:14 AM	#7
BakDinitzen Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Danmark Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 79 Original Poster	Originally posted by slackercruster They are OK, but could be better. Try manual focus and not auto. Some lenses are just half-ass with sharpness. Try mirror lock up with 2 sec shutter delay. But you should not have to do this to get it sharp. Kit lens is a crapper. But it is sharp enuf for what it is and usefull as a cheap disposable lens. I did mirror lock up, and I also checked manual focus.

04-23-2012, 10:24 AM	#8
Tom Woj Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Stafford, UK Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 163	Originally posted by BakDinitzen It is raw, and I didn't sharpen! That could be it then. Raw files pretty much always need sharpening. Why? Because the camera won't do any to it, it's just raw data from the sensor. Try taking the same shot as raw+jpeg, compare the two, and you should see that the jpeg is a bit sharper because it had some done to it in-camera.

04-23-2012, 10:28 AM - 1 Like	#9
joe.penn Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Maryland (Right Outside Washington DC) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,902	Well, I would go out and find a sharper brick wall to shoot...

04-23-2012, 10:30 AM	#10
slackercruster Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: NE, USA Posts: 1,302	Originally posted by BakDinitzen I did mirror lock up, and I also checked manual focus. Make sure lens is clean. Use a lenshood. Try dif f stops. Shoot some closeups of a $1 bill or coins and send in some jpegs

04-23-2012, 10:47 AM	#11
vonBaloney Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 6,029	They look in-focus. RAW files need sharpening. The lower the ISO, the more sharpening they need. (Higher ISO needs less because of the noise factor.)

04-23-2012, 10:51 AM	#12
eddie1960 Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,666	Originally posted by Tom Woj That could be it then. Raw files pretty much always need sharpening. Why? Because the camera won't do any to it, it's just raw data from the sensor. Try taking the same shot as raw+jpeg, compare the two, and you should see that the jpeg is a bit sharper because it had some done to it in-camera. definitely this is part of the answer. the shots look acceptable re sized for the web though (you could put up a 100% crop as an example). As mentioned though Raw files all need some sharpening. and you should really do the sharpening based onthe planned output (ie is it for print or web.If print how large and from what viewing distance) For me the realistic measure is never pixel peeping on a screen aside from to look for back/front focus issues. the judgement for me is the print (I know I'm an old fashioned geezer)

04-23-2012, 03:58 PM	#13
slip Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: 2 hours north of toronto ontario canada Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,535	at F8 it should be sharp pretty well from the branches to the wall. I don't know how your raw program works, but in adobe it puts some sharpening on automatically. If your program can be set to do this, then see if the results improve. also try with flash to see if it helps the sharpness (I notice that flash helps improve my sharpness on my k10 for what ever reason) good luck

04-23-2012, 04:22 PM	#14
DeadJohn Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: New York Posts: 4,833	Looks sharp enough to me at that resolution. The shadow of the thorns near the left edge look sharper than the bricks, though, so I wonder if maybe lack of contrast is making the photo look less sharp than it actually is? A lens hood (as someone else mentioned) (and if you're not already using one) will improve contrast and might improve perceived sharpness. Maybe try this test: repeat with the same lens, wall, and lighting conditions. Set the aperture to its widest and take one photo with autofocus. Then set to manual focus, turn the focus a little in one direction, take a photo, turn the focus a little the other direction, take a photo. If either manual photo is sharper than the autofocus one then it's a focus issue. If all 3 look sort of the same the autofocus is working okay. Or try Live View as another poster mentioned.

04-24-2012, 05:36 AM	#15
BakDinitzen Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Danmark Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 79 Original Poster	Thanks for all replies. It seems, except for possible back/front focus issue and replacement of my wall , it's up to my pp skills. That certainly might be the case. I use Aperture, and don't know if it applies a certain amount of sharpening as default, but I have tried to ad more sharpening to my wall, and it definitely improved the result.