Sharpness problems please help

[ricktas]

quote "sometimes its sharp and sometimes its not"

adjust the microfocus ? Hows this help ?

As I said in my post, it might not help in this case, but your comment "AF micro adjusting is a massive furfy" (full stop) is what I replied to. As a statement by itself it is incorrect, and if I took it as a global, overall statement about the benefits of AF fine tuning, others might have as well, and I wanted to correct that.

[farmer_rob]

Why do you use center focus and recompose? (I'm sure this causes your random softness wide open.) With 11 focus sensors on the D90, you should be able to have a focus point on the subject.

[abitfishy]

I was using the multipoint where it chooses for me, but found too often it chose the wrong spot.

What method do you suggest Farmer Rob?

Would changing to center point 'wide' assist?

[farmer_rob]

I'm guessing manual selection of the point using the selector on the back. I am wary of "automatic" selection without looking at "how" it chooses the focus point. What options do you have? Can you use multipoint and then use the selector to change the point if it is wrong? (ie use Multipoint as a shortcut then override?) I tend to feel that the automatic settings (in general) are to give people upgrading from a P&S a bit of a safety net, and are often not going to give the optimum result - because we are still smarter than cameras .

Note that I can't talk from experience on a fancier camera here: my D40x only has 3 focus points, and I choose which one manually - while looking though the viewfinder. If I let the camera choose, it doesn't always do what I want.

[abitfishy]

Yes, I can do all that with manual selection, but it all sounds too much like hard work.

Single point and recompose seems pretty common, so I should be able to do that. If I keep an aperture that gives me some depth I should be OK.

Or maybe I'll just stick to P&S.

[MarkChap]

Yes, I can do all that with manual selection, but it all sounds too much like hard work.

Single point and recompose seems pretty common, so I should be able to do that. If I keep an aperture that gives me some depth I should be OK.

Or maybe I'll just stick to P&S.

Hard Work ????????

Are you kidding, look at all the work you have put in already, in an effort to solve your problem ??
Find this hard to accept, you either want sharp images, and need to work at getting them, or you don't, in which case this whole exercise has been a waste of time.

If you want consistent results, particularly at wide apertures, use manual selection of a single focus point.
Use the focus point as close as possible to the area that is critical, the eyes in the case of a portrait.

Using single centre point and recomposing can have an effect on focus, particularly at wide apertures with shallow DoF.

Not sure of the Nikon, but the Canon has a dedicated button just near my thumb, press the button, spin the dial and the focus point I want is selected, slide my thumb to the AF button and away I go.

[abitfishy]

I was waiting for a reply like that. You were quick!

I've read about it in the manual but not attempted it, so will take a look. I guess its also just getting used to the procedure too, once its second nature it won't be 'hard work'.

Oh, and thanks for biting.

[MarkChap]

Another thought I just had.

Does the D90 have a rear button for focus ??
If you are focusing and recomposing by holding the shutter button halfway whilst recomposing, maybe you are sometimes releasing that and then refocusing on the wrong area ?

I use rear button focus on my Canons exclusively now, press the button for focus and when I release the button the focus won't change until I press the button again.

[abitfishy]

Yes, I'm sure it has an AF lock. There are a few that has happened to, but the majority I've been pretty steady.

[kiwi]

forget af lock, focus recompose and all that stuff

Have you actually looked in View NX for example of what the focus point in your OOF shots actually is ?

Are you using AF-S or AF-C ?

[abitfishy]

Hey Kiwi.

I'm using AF-A.

Yes, checked a lot in ViewNX, many are great, a few are off, but then there are some like the attached. Within the focus area its pretty soft to me. 1/1000 and F3.2 as you can see.

Just scrolled through a lot in ViewNX and the only pattern I can see is ANY at 135 aren't great at full size. Particularly at higher shutter speeds. Most of the better ones are between 55-75mm with mid range shutter speeds, 1/125 - 1/500. Using the Tokina 50-135 lens. I know there tends to be sweet spots with lenses, but I didn't expect it to be quite so limited.

Would love to hear from anyone else with that lens.

[jaqson]

Just like me I am sure many amateurs who are reading this are very thankful for this discussion because It is exactly what I am going through at the moment and probably what all amateurs go through when starting out. Sometimes it is so overwhelming what you have to think about and set up even before you take a single image.

So many of my shots have sharp focus on certain areas of the face and sightly out of focus on others (I take close up candid shots) It is very frustrating at times.

[kiwi]

OK, well, obviously focussing on the mouth is the wrong plan, always focus on the nearest eye, select the focus point manually, use af-continous, af-c, I have no idea what af-a is ? so that if you or the subject move it's tracking. make sure focus is acquired (there should be a indicator in the viewfinder at least) before you push the shutter

Step down the lens to two stops more than wide open

Ensure you have good shutter technique - ie - dont stab the shutter button like you are pressing some quiz show thing, roll your finger over the shutter to release. Hold the camera properly - just google it if not sure

any shutter speed 1/100s + 1/focal length should be OK

Try that

[abitfishy]

So many of my shots have sharp focus on certain areas of the face and sightly out of focus on others (I take close up candid shots) It is very frustrating at times.

Um, yes, frustrating it is. I do think you will find for the close up candids it is a too wide an aperture. I have a few great photos like that with the eyes perfect but everything else off. Have you checked the Exif info for aperture details?

[Travelm8]

all great advice but there is a known fault with some
d9o's back focusing which you can search on google and see if you are having those issues (as mine was) it can be repaired under warranty if that is an issue. My d90 would only get crisp shots on my 18-200 at 155mm either side of that focus was very poor. I do think we expect too much from digital it is limited in sharpness whilst a brilliant medium it's not the ultimate for certain styles of photography.

Cheers
John

[abitfishy]

OK, well, obviously focussing on the mouth is the wrong plan,

Yes, accepted, but nonetheless, you can see how bad that screen shot is.

AF-A automatically selects the correct mode between AF-S and AF-C.

Will try that out.

1st Option Plan of attack: Few stops wider, AF-C and either manual focus point or single point and recompose (prefered!)

2nd Option Plan of attack: Forget photography and stick to fishing.

[kiwi]

1st option is better, D90 only makes a good weight

The screen shot of a 100% unsharpened raw file is a bit meaningless, ive seen worse

[abitfishy]

1st option is better, D90 only makes a good weight

Absolutely Kiwi. Fishing is good, but taking photos of pretty girls........

[kiwi]

all great advice but there is a known fault with some
d9o's back focusing which you can search on google and see if you are having those issues (as mine was) it can be repaired under warranty if that is an issue. My d90 would only get crisp shots on my 18-200 at 155mm either side of that focus was very poor. I do think we expect too much from digital it is limited in sharpness whilst a brilliant medium it's not the ultimate for certain styles of photography.

Cheers
John

Disagree, I expect every shot to be razor sharp. If it's not it's not a limitation of digital, it's a limitaion of me or the gear I am using

There is zero excuse for soft photos

[RLeadbetter]

hmm this might be an answer to the same problem im having.

Thanks