[biz-engineer]

From my experience with the K3 and DA* 300, I'd say:
- Aperture f/14, diffraction takes some sharpness away: use f/8 instead
- Focus at infinity may not be perfect: use live view and focus manually while activating DoF preview (also corrects for focus shift from wide open to aperture used for the xposure)
- Sensitive to mirror and shutter induced vibrations: use mirror-lock up, or live view, and if possible use a sand bag to dampen vibration, at moderate shutter speed sandbag brings sharpness on this lens to another level.
Once vibrations are eliminated, and with perfect focus, the DA* 300 is an optical marvel.

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Last edited by biz-engineer; 07-24-2021 at 03:04 AM.

[ramseybuckeye]

Yea general sky pretty much

I missed this in my earlier reply, but focusing on the boat would have given you a sharper looking photo, plus faster shutter speed and wider aperture as others have said. I can’t speak for using a monopod (they never worked out for me) but slower speed is fine on a tripod. When shooting this type of photo with a long lens handheld I’ll use shutter priority with a variable ISO, because my two long lenses (DA* 300 and DA 55-300 PLM are fine wide open). When I used the earlier non PLM 55-300 I had to shoot TAV because it needed to be at F8. But still, the atmospheric conditions can do strange things when you look close, but looking at the whole photo I think it is a good photo, I like the composition.

[texandrews]

1/125th of a second. Decades ago I had a book by a then noted landscape photographer whose instruction books were very handy (name escapes me as I type this...). Lots of great advice backed up by very good photographic examples.

One thing he demonstrated, in good light but basically open shade, was how dodgy 1/125th of a second was hand held vs. tripod. And this was with a normal-ish lens, unlike your 300mm.

So, I'd chalk it down to atmosphere, long lens possibly not fully dialed in AF wise, f14, focus point issues, and 1/125th of a second if the shot was hand-held, which the EXIF doesn't tell us. Perfect storm.

[jatrax]

For what its worth I really like the image. Absolute sharpness is not a requirement to have a pleasing image.

As to not sharp:
- not sure where the focus was, or what you wanted to be sharp. I would have focused on the boat, but that's me. If you just focused on the sky/clouds then the boat or the nearby water is not going to be sharp
- shutter speed of 1/125 is much to low. !/500 is a better choice with a 300mm if you have the light for it. Image stabilization will gain you some but I don't like to rely on it
- f/14 is starting to introduce some diffraction so that is likely part of the general softness
- over water with a long distance you are picking up humidity, atmospheric haze and temperature distortion.


So to improve:
- focus on the boat
- use f/8 and 1/500th

But overall, that's a nice image. Maybe a little abstracty but I would hang it up.

[5ks]

- - - -
- over water with a long distance you are picking up humidity, atmospheric haze and temperature distortion.

This was my first impression of the possible cause of unsharpness, based on experience in similar situations. It's kind of limited what you can do then?

But many other good arguments have been stated, can't oppose them either.

[awscreo]

Could be shutter shock too. For sharpest results I prefer to use ES on a tripod. Removes the mirror and shutter out of the equation.

[pschlute]

Or is that the best it gets?

Lovely image and looks sharp enough for where it matters....ie in the "general sky" where you focussed.

Can you provide a link to the full size image so it can be evaluated properly.

[brightseal]

full size image

[paulh]

Lovely image and looks sharp enough for where it matters....ie in the "general sky" where you focussed.

My opinion as well.

[stihlmania]

Every post above could be relevant, but what I do is bracket every image taken with a 400mm+ lens under these conditions.Shutter speed, f stop, ISO, you are not constrained with 36 exposure film caskets [ I owned an MX with a bulk film back but this is the digital age] Atmospheric distortion can never be ruled out over long distances with a long prime or zoom, way too many variables like temp at camera versus temp at the focus point, humidity, harmonics, shutter shake, etc..everything is in play. Practice with this image setting to find the best results with your camera and lens set up {monopod, tripod, hand held, etc]

[VSTAR]

300mm lens...use the rule of 1/focal length for minimum hand held....so 1/300 lowest shutter speed
f14 produces diffraction especially shooting into the sun...bracket for f8 with +/-1 fstops
focus manually in order to get the infinity position you want
And as everyone mentioned, telephoto and atmospheric conditions will possibly make it impossible to get a 100% in focus photo

[brightseal]

ES

What's ES? A tripod head?

[awscreo]

What's ES? A tripod head?

Electronic shutter

[brightseal]

Thanks for all the advice!

[haroon88]

Long focal lengths magnify everything in the scene, including any atmospheric effects. Wind, humidity, thermal currents, etc. can distort extreme telephoto targets. When you look at a bright star at night on the horizon, and it twinkles, similar atmospheric effects are involved.

As already mentioned, f/14 reduces sharpness a bit. f/8 is a good default setting for many lenses when you want sharpness and some depth of field.

Here's a similar scene of mine. Notice how the flagpole or antenna on the left side is wavy, and there are notches in the sun's edge.

Second it. Good shot overall