Blurry and unsharp K10D images

stewart_photo · 11-18-2007, 04:09 PM

Originally posted by therightpic

(snip) Anyway, thanks for all of your help everyone, I just know I am going to get slammed but ... (snip) ... Regretfully, I am turning to Nikon. (snip)

I seriously doubt you'll be "slammed" here. Instead, I suspect most will agree the $1200 Nikon D80, with it's preprogrammed point & shoot modes (landscape, close up, portrait, sports, etc), will likely be easier for you (coming from a Sony DSC-H5) to use. If you're not satisfied with the defaults, the Pentax K10D requires a little extra work to customize the images to your specific tastes. If you're simply not willing to do that extra work, the K10D is clearly not the camera for you.

What will get one "slammed," as you put it, is complaining about that. To most here, doing so is as silly as buying a new automobile, leaving the gear shift as delivered by the dealer (in park or neutral), and then complaining in online forums afterwards about the vehicle not performing as expected.

Another thing that will get one "slammed" is absurdly claiming the Pentax K10D cannot obtain good images. The thousands of images posted in this forum and elsewhere are a testament to the outright falseness of this claim, as are my own personal experiences and that of others.

stewart

Snowcat · 11-18-2007, 04:44 PM

therightpic, i understand your desire to have good shots right out of the camera, that's what torturing me too actually... BUT you've chosen a wrong system for that. Definetely wrong. Having the same matrix as Pentax, Nikon's cameras require as much post-processing as Pentax's do. Both Pentax and Nikon have a bias toward people who dont mind to PP their shots to get amazing results.... To have nearly none PP you must've chosen Olympus or Panasonic, cameras that have good clever CPUs that do all kind of things for you...
Well... Anyway, good luck with your new system! ^^

JamesD · 11-18-2007, 06:17 PM

btw... great shots of the Mockba River (I hope I got that right), Snowcat. I spent a month in your country back in 1990... one week in Leningrad (St Petersburg), one week in Moscow, a few days in Kiev and a week in Yalta. I have many great images that I love to review from time to time. Perhaps some day my wife and I will return. I would like that very much. Meanwhile... I really enjoyed looking at your image and hope you will submit more.

Snowcat · 11-19-2007, 12:52 PM

Thanks for your kind words, JamesD! If you like, you can see some photoes on my Fotki page (link is in my signature), and surely there will be more to come

(sorry for offtop)...

Captain · 11-19-2007, 04:27 PM

Thanks SnowCat for the directions on setting image tone.

My guy at the camera store set it for me but I could have easily done it myself.
I am happy with the results, but is there anything else I can do to make my photos even sharper in Jpeg?

Snowcat · 11-20-2007, 08:51 AM

Well i think next steps are optical. Remember that mostly sharp images are produced when you shoot with aperture from 8 to 11. Less then 8 and more then 11 - sharpness begin to decrease.
And different lenses give you different sharpness. Kit lens is definetely not the best out there, thought it's not bad at 55mm end...

JamesD · 11-20-2007, 10:07 AM

Fascinating images on your website, Snowcat. It seems we have some things in common. My wife and I are also Orthodox. My father was born in Russia but the family left shortly before the Revolution. I really enjoyed all of your photography and quite frankly had forgotten about the need to stop down to f8-f11 for best results with some of my lenses. It's funny how a simple thing like that can be forgotten. I think that sometimes I've forgotten so much from my film days in trying to understand these new digital cameras with all their options. Oh well...

CombatCamera · 11-20-2007, 10:27 AM

Originally posted by Captain

Thanks SnowCat for the directions on setting image tone.

My guy at the camera store set it for me but I could have easily done it myself.
I am happy with the results, but is there anything else I can do to make my photos even sharper in Jpeg?

Are you using the 18-55mm lens kit? That's what I have, and my pictures are not 'that' sharp neither. I'm pretty sure is my lens, but I have nothing to compare with.

Captain · 11-20-2007, 10:30 AM

If I am looking for a high quality len in 18 to 55mm range for my K10D what would you guys suggest?

MUD · 11-20-2007, 11:45 AM

Originally posted by Captain

If I am looking for a high quality len in 18 to 55mm range for my K10D what would you guys suggest?

I haven't made the jump to the K10D, yet, but if I do......

Pentax 50-135 f2.8 for sure...

and to answer your question,

Pentax 16-50 f2.8

or

Sigma 18-50 f2.8.

All the best -

Jonathan

Snowcat · 11-20-2007, 12:05 PM

This is what i made for test purposes with my 18-55 kit...
F=35mm, A=11
Bright tone, Contrast-1, Sharpness+2, Saturation+1
ISO400, with flash, In-camera JPEG

Looks pretty sharp for me actually. Beware - link to full sized pic, 3MB.

CombatCamera · 11-20-2007, 12:45 PM

Well, on close subjects, I get a fairly sharp picture, but if I focus on infinity, closer objects are 'sharp' but the distant objects are a bit soft (IMO) I'd like to try the Pentax 16-50 or the Sigma and compare the results.

JamesD · 11-20-2007, 12:51 PM

Beautiful image. I've just made the same changes and will find out how they work for me. Thanks for sharing.

11-19-2007, 04:27 PM	#35
Captain Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Huntsville, Ontario, Canada Posts: 26	New K10D owner Thanks SnowCat for the directions on setting image tone. My guy at the camera store set it for me but I could have easily done it myself. I am happy with the results, but is there anything else I can do to make my photos even sharper in Jpeg?

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11-18-2007, 04:09 PM	#31
stewart_photo Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Heidelberg, Germany Posts: 1,864	Originally posted by therightpic (snip) Anyway, thanks for all of your help everyone, I just know I am going to get slammed but ... (snip) ... Regretfully, I am turning to Nikon. (snip) I seriously doubt you'll be "slammed" here. Instead, I suspect most will agree the $1200 Nikon D80, with it's preprogrammed point & shoot modes (landscape, close up, portrait, sports, etc), will likely be easier for you (coming from a Sony DSC-H5) to use. If you're not satisfied with the defaults, the Pentax K10D requires a little extra work to customize the images to your specific tastes. If you're simply not willing to do that extra work, the K10D is clearly not the camera for you. What will get one "slammed," as you put it, is complaining about that. To most here, doing so is as silly as buying a new automobile, leaving the gear shift as delivered by the dealer (in park or neutral), and then complaining in online forums afterwards about the vehicle not performing as expected. Another thing that will get one "slammed" is absurdly claiming the Pentax K10D cannot obtain good images. The thousands of images posted in this forum and elsewhere are a testament to the outright falseness of this claim, as are my own personal experiences and that of others. stewart

11-18-2007, 04:44 PM	#32
Snowcat Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Moscow, Russia Posts: 239	therightpic, i understand your desire to have good shots right out of the camera, that's what torturing me too actually... BUT you've chosen a wrong system for that. Definetely wrong. Having the same matrix as Pentax, Nikon's cameras require as much post-processing as Pentax's do. Both Pentax and Nikon have a bias toward people who dont mind to PP their shots to get amazing results.... To have nearly none PP you must've chosen Olympus or Panasonic, cameras that have good clever CPUs that do all kind of things for you... Well... Anyway, good luck with your new system! ^^

11-18-2007, 06:17 PM	#33
JamesD Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 536	btw... great shots of the Mockba River (I hope I got that right), Snowcat. I spent a month in your country back in 1990... one week in Leningrad (St Petersburg), one week in Moscow, a few days in Kiev and a week in Yalta. I have many great images that I love to review from time to time. Perhaps some day my wife and I will return. I would like that very much. Meanwhile... I really enjoyed looking at your image and hope you will submit more.

11-19-2007, 12:52 PM	#34
Snowcat Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Moscow, Russia Posts: 239	Thanks for your kind words, JamesD! If you like, you can see some photoes on my Fotki page (link is in my signature), and surely there will be more to come (sorry for offtop)...

11-20-2007, 08:51 AM	#36
Snowcat Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Moscow, Russia Posts: 239	Well i think next steps are optical. Remember that mostly sharp images are produced when you shoot with aperture from 8 to 11. Less then 8 and more then 11 - sharpness begin to decrease. And different lenses give you different sharpness. Kit lens is definetely not the best out there, thought it's not bad at 55mm end...

11-20-2007, 10:07 AM	#37
JamesD Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 536	Fascinating images on your website, Snowcat. It seems we have some things in common. My wife and I are also Orthodox. My father was born in Russia but the family left shortly before the Revolution. I really enjoyed all of your photography and quite frankly had forgotten about the need to stop down to f8-f11 for best results with some of my lenses. It's funny how a simple thing like that can be forgotten. I think that sometimes I've forgotten so much from my film days in trying to understand these new digital cameras with all their options. Oh well...

11-20-2007, 10:27 AM	#38
CombatCamera Inactive Account Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 36	Originally posted by Captain Thanks SnowCat for the directions on setting image tone. My guy at the camera store set it for me but I could have easily done it myself. I am happy with the results, but is there anything else I can do to make my photos even sharper in Jpeg? Are you using the 18-55mm lens kit? That's what I have, and my pictures are not 'that' sharp neither. I'm pretty sure is my lens, but I have nothing to compare with.

11-20-2007, 10:30 AM	#39
Captain Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Huntsville, Ontario, Canada Posts: 26	If I am looking for a high quality len in 18 to 55mm range for my K10D what would you guys suggest?

11-20-2007, 11:45 AM	#40
MUD New Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: New Mexico Posts: 11	Originally posted by Captain If I am looking for a high quality len in 18 to 55mm range for my K10D what would you guys suggest? I haven't made the jump to the K10D, yet, but if I do...... Pentax 50-135 f2.8 for sure... and to answer your question, Pentax 16-50 f2.8 or Sigma 18-50 f2.8. All the best - Jonathan

11-20-2007, 12:05 PM	#41
Snowcat Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Moscow, Russia Posts: 239	This is what i made for test purposes with my 18-55 kit... F=35mm, A=11 Bright tone, Contrast-1, Sharpness+2, Saturation+1 ISO400, with flash, In-camera JPEG Looks pretty sharp for me actually. Beware - link to full sized pic, 3MB.

11-20-2007, 12:45 PM	#42
CombatCamera Inactive Account Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 36	Well, on close subjects, I get a fairly sharp picture, but if I focus on infinity, closer objects are 'sharp' but the distant objects are a bit soft (IMO) I'd like to try the Pentax 16-50 or the Sigma and compare the results.

11-20-2007, 12:51 PM	#43
JamesD Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 536	Beautiful image. I've just made the same changes and will find out how they work for me. Thanks for sharing.