D800 is here..

[rodw]

Rod, they're all very soft and the dynamics low which could be caused by the high ISO used in a number of them. The ones with the high ISO and high shutter speed could be off-set by using a smaller "f" stop. Worth a try.

Thanks Redgum. Yes I know they are not ideal and agree with you. I have done a bit of processing so may have lost some detail from the jpegs as I may have overworked the blacks and shadows and reduced range. I had troubles getting my head around a lot of things like focus points and focus methods and the like and the ISO had to be fairly high. I'm sure it is not technique as some of them were from a rest.

I am still not sure if the lens is part of the problem which is what I want to find out. I've had it for 7 years or so and it needs a service and clean if I keep it but if it is not up to the task, I will flog it on ebay. I took this lens to work and had it sitting in my drawer as I dont really use it on DX so it just sat there with an older CF card until I got the call to pick up my body..

Anyway, a few things fell into place last night while I was playing with settings.

Today, I had a go with a 50mm F1.4 lens near noon and in bright light, they are sharp and soe of the colour was fantastic. I was a lot more conscious of shutter and aperture and adjusted ISO to keep things around F8. My plan is to try a different lens every day for a while. Hopefuly, I will find a couple worth sharing when I find some time later tonight. I will say it was reay nice to take a few pics with a 50mm lens on an FX camera again!