[mgisbert]

Thank you very much for the answers. Mikesbike I have found finally the FS you told me and it takes much longer now to AF, I suppose that's a good thing. I will go for a hike this wednesday and try all this tips.

Thank you rawr as well for your test advices. Here you are the two options, with AF 24 and manual focus 25.

Thanks a lot!

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[TerryL]

Hi everyone,

I suppose is a very common issue for beginners and there's a lot of information on the Internet, but I have read a lot about it and I still can't find a solution.

I got a second handed K-x N73 camera with two lenses 18-50 and 55-200, both Sigma. I was wondering if there is any way to find out why my pictures have not a good sharpness. I am not sure if is a problem with the camera, the lenses (would be extrange to have same problem in both lenses) or just me doing the shot wrong. But I have tried everything, every Internet tip, every way to shot, even bought filters and cleaning kits and my smartphone pictures still have better definition. So there's no point to carry my camera. I am very disappointed because I thought is a good camera and I like photography and would like to take good pictures with it but I am a mountain guide so my specialty will be landscapes and the sharpness is very important.

Thank you very much in advance for any help!

Back button focus about 8 feet away, recompose, and shoot at f/11 for landscapes.

[mikesbike]

Terry's good advice should get you very close in achieving hyperlocal technique. However, your K-x may not have a back AF button available. Using the shutter button half-press will work just as well to get good AF, then hold the half-press while you recompose, then complete the press to fire the shutter.

In your close focus shots of the pages on the wall, they are under-exposed, and the shutter speed is still too slow for getting sharp results if there is any breeze around, even though the camera is on a tripod. You would also need a remote release in such a case while using the tripod, or use the 2-second timer, so nothing is touching the camera when it is fired. It is also necessary when using a tripod to either cover the VF so no light can enter it when your eye is taken away, as this could alter your exposure when shooting in TV mode, P mode, or any auto-exposure mode. Alternatively, you can shoot in manual mode, doing your setup with your eye to the VF. Then when your eye is taken away your settings will remain regardless whether light enters the VF eyepiece.

Using spot metering is not necessary for a shot like this one, since there is no tricky extreme of lighting to deal with here. In fact, it can very well throw exposure off when not used correctly. Regular multi-segment pattern metering will provide better exposure. Learning how to use a spot meter to get good results takes some experience.

Spot AF is another matter entirely, and is a more precise way of achieving focus of a particular part of a scene.

Another thing about the K-x, it is known for having shutter vibration problems, causing blur in shots, especially in slower shutter speeds, Mostly due to the mirror action, it seems. But using the 2 second timer locks up the mirror at the time the shutter goes off, which should take care of this issue. That issue was one of the improvements of the replacement model, the K-r.

[mgisbert]

Thank you all,

That's another example, with tripod, 2 seconds timer and all the tips you gave me (I know the picture itself is not very goog composed or interesting, just testing). It's with FS, AF 11 points... Another interesting thing is that when I select priority aperture with automatic expose they are always under-exposed so I always have to select manual and increase the exposition time. I think this one is a bit better sharped than the same example taken with my smartphone but still not good enough to carry a SLR camera, tripod, etc. (in my opinion and for my personal situation) I'm not sure if is just an stabilitation, focus and DOF problem or something else. If you have any other tip I'd feel really grateful.

Thank you very much.

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[MarkJerling]

Thank you all,

That's another example, with tripod, 2 seconds timer and all the tips you gave me (I know the picture itself is not very goog composed or interesting, just testing). It's with FS, AF 11 points... Another interesting thing is that when I select priority aperture with automatic expose they are always under-exposed so I always have to select manual and increase the exposition time. I think this one is a bit better sharped than the same example taken with my smartphone but still not good enough to carry a SLR camera, tripod, etc. (in my opinion and for my personal situation) I'm not sure if is just an stabilitation, focus and DOF problem or something else. If you have any other tip I'd feel really grateful.

Thank you very much.

I'm not sure I understand your setup. It looks like a bright, sunny day, and you're shooting 1/50 of a second, and F11 aperture. Why not go to something like F5.6 and 1/400 shutter speed?
Likewise some of your earlier shots posted in this thread: 1/40 second and F18. Or, 1/20 sec and F18. Or, 1/10 sec and F29. You simply can't expec super sharp pictures at those speeds and F-stop settings.

If you shot at a faster shutter speed, you'll certainly not need to carry a tripod in those lighting conditions and with that lens.
My advice would be to (for bright sun shots anyway) try to stay in the F4.5 to F6.3 range and select a shutter speed that works for that F-stop, to get the correct exposure.

Of course, if you're trying to create a specific effect, that's a different story, but if you're simply trying for sharp then I'd stay away from super narrow apertures and super slow shutter speeds.

[mgisbert]

But, I thought I should use a small aperture to get a big DOF and more space focused on landscape pictures. I thought I should use as high F as possible (then I received the advice to use F11 maximum). Won't i get just one part of the picture focused if I use smaller F?

Thank you.

[MarkJerling]

But, I thought I should use a small aperture to get a big DOF and more space focused on landscape pictures. I thought I should use as high F as possible (then I received the advice to use F11 maximum). Won't i get just one part of the picture focused if I use smaller F?

Thank you.

For landscapes, you certainly would like to part of the landscape where you want the eye to go, to be in as sharp focus as possible. And, it's true that more of the image will be in focus at a narrower aperture. But, what you're dealing with is the other elements you're introducing by going with such slow shutter speeds and narrow apertures:

• Diffraction.
• Wind movement of objects in your landscape.
• Movement of the camera on the tripod.

I would start at F5.6/F6.3 and go up to F8. Best results are likely to be found in that range. F11 is right on the edge of where you'll see diffraction.

[caliscouser]

Yes, for best quality day time landscape shots, start with:
- ISO 200
- between f/5.6 - f/8
- That should give shutter speed between 1/200 and 1/500
- AE Metering: Multi-Segment

[mikesbike]

But, I thought I should use a small aperture to get a big DOF and more space focused on landscape pictures. I thought I should use as high F as possible (then I received the advice to use F11 maximum). Won't i get just one part of the picture focused if I use smaller F?

Thank you.

Yes, you need smaller apertures under certain conditions, especially- 1. having an important object somewhat close in the foreground that you want to be sharp in addition to those in the distance. 2. shooting at more telephoto range.

When shooting a scene with a wide angle lens, you can get good DOF with wider apertures. Your examples were shot at slightly wide angle to normal focal length, so getting good DOF should not really be a problem. If you needed maximum DOF to include a foreground interest, Terry's suggestion would likely do it. However, none of these images has anything of significant interest in the foreground that needs to be sharp, hence the comments by Mark and caliscouser.

In any case, you need to keep your shutter speed up when dealing with any subjects that can move. Then it is not generally necessary to use a tripod. Without a tripod, have your camera's SR turned on, but when using a tripod turn it off.

[ehrwien]

AF 11 points

This is letting the camera decide what in the frame should be in focus. What exactly the camera will choose may differ from one shot to another. I'd switch to center point AF. Looking at the scene of the last posted photo, I suspect this is a warm day so anything beyond the dark green trees in the center of the image won't be sharp anyway because of heat in the air (you can clearly see the effect on a hot day directly above an asphalted street. The heat will move and stretch and contract the air so that you can't expect to clearly see what is behind it).
In your scene I'd point the central focus point to the small, dark tree in the lower center (near the fence) or the pale trees to the right and left behind it.

[normhead]

But, I thought I should use a small aperture to get a big DOF and more space focused on landscape pictures. I thought I should use as high F as possible (then I received the advice to use F11 maximum). Won't i get just one part of the picture focused if I use smaller F?

Thank you.

Here is a pretty typical lens chart , this one for the FA 50 macro


At F4, YOU have 2668 lw/ph (Line Widths per Picture Height) in the centre and 2586 at the edge.
At the edge only 2410. This is a pretty typical looking chart. By the time you've dpoped to ƒ11 you have 2416 lwph centre and 2301 edge.

You've lost 250 lwph centre and 200 edge. I have i the past gone through sample photos at Imagine Resources and it's debatable as to whether or not a difference up to 100 LWPH are visible pixel peeping, the differences are pretty obscure. But the 200 drop in centre and 200 lwph at the edges will be clearly visible. ƒ11 may produce an everything in focus image but no part of the image is as sharp as ƒ4 or ƒ5.6, but looking at your last sample, there's no reason with hyperfocal technique you could not have had the whole subject in focus at ƒ5.6 or ƒ8. In other words, you didn't shoot to maximize sharpness.

Th other point here, is you shot at 400 ISO. The differences in IQ are such that especially for this type of landscape, your images will look sharpest at 100 ISO. 100 ISO uses the sensor at it's optimal setting. So you have two things going on, you can't get the kind of sharpness you want at F11, and you probably can't get the kind sharpness you want at 400 ISO.

ƒ5.6 or ƒ8, 100 ISO will max out the resolution of your camera. I'd always give those three settings a try. You might want to bracket so you can choose the best exposure, and use all three ƒ-stops (4, 5.6, and 8), then choose afterwards, that will give you a better understanding of the issue. And shooting at ,multiple settings will let you see how sharp your setup can be. Shooting the way you're shooting, you won't be accomplishing much.

For landscape I usually shoot ƒ5.6 of ƒ8 on APS_c, ƒ8 or ƒ11 on full frame.

[mgisbert]

Same spot, speed increased, sunny day as well, similar results (for me). What do you think? I have tried the other lens (55-200) to see if there's any difference.

Thank you very much

[rogerstg]

IMO, the hazy environment makes it difficult to assess lens sharpness. You can make the photos look better by running a dehaze filter, or messing with contrast and sharpness in post processing. FWIW, most smartphones automatically do that, making the image look sharper.

For example:

[rogerstg]

And here's another one of your shots with some sharpening and light eq:

[mgisbert]

Thank you, is there any option for that in lightroom? I was thinking as well in post processing but, first of all, I have no idea about post processing and secondly, I would like to get the best possible result originally from my camera.

Thanks a lot.