Technique? It is simple:
- One cannot make consistently sharp photos with lenses incapable of the desired performance. This does not mean corner-to-corner resolution/contrast at all apertures. It depends on one's needs and aims.
- Take care with focusing. When critical focus is desired, take care to make sure you are in control and using a method that allows both accuracy 1 and precision2
- Be aware that depth of field may not deliver 3
- Be aware that even wide-angle lenses require attention to focus
- Be aware of potential for camera motion and the limitations of shutter speed and shake/vibration reduction to mitigate such. One cannot overstate the value of an appropriately stable tripod and head.
- Be aware of factors that may result in subject motion
- Perception of sharpness is highly dependent on contrast. Dull light will unavoidably result in less-than-crisp results that probably will not respond to contrast adjustment in post. Soft light ==> soft results.
How these points relate to your current kit or skill level is hard to say. Fortunately, using a dSLR allows one to find out what works without having to burn through a ton of film. Practice and attention to basics are probably more important than doing a deep dive on the technical side.
Steve
1 How well the chosen focus method performs in terms of placing the focus point at the focal plane of the sensor or film.
2 In simplest terms, the chance of getting the same focus over multiple attempts. Note that even a highly accurate approach may fail to provide consistent results if precision is poor.
3 Stopping down may allow more of the frame to appear in focus, with the key word being "appear". In reality, there is only one distance that is in focus., even at narrower apertures. What this means is that printing or viewing big (say pixel peeping) will always show missed focus if present, while printing smaller or viewing at a moderate distance/magnification may make even out-of-focus elements of the frame appear sharp.
Last edited by stevebrot; 03-31-2020 at 07:30 AM.
Reason: word choice and grammar