Quote Originally Posted by abitfishy View Post
... Am I expecting too much at full size to expect great sharpness???

... It would be appreciated as I'm getting a little put off about my photography not even being able to get sharp photos most of the time.

Thanks a lot.
Firstly, DON'T GIVE UP. It is solveable, and it is likely to be straightforward. You have a good camera, and good lenses.

It seems to me that you are taking on a lot very quickly. It is difficult to track a problem when there are so many variables. I've had a look at your photos on flickr, and there are so many variations, it is hard to get an idea of what is what.

Spend some (more) time on subjects that don't move (e.g. a brick wall) and work it out before trying to take photos you want. I find autofocus a deceptive beast - it promises a lot, but will not actually deliver unless you work at it.

So, some suggestions and comments:

1. At 100%, it is hard to get a really sharp photo - although not impossible - and pointless. You've got heaps of pixels in the D90 - don't waste them on parts of the shot that you will drop later - move closer, zoom in or change lenses. (I try to avoid cropping as much as possible, as the image is invariably degraded.)

2. Sharpening can be issue - if you are using RAW, you must sharpen in PP. If not, you have to be really careful about the picture presets (I do understand the ones you mean.) In the camera menu, you will find some adjustments available for the picture presets. Sharpening is one of these. You may find that portraits have less sharpening. (I don't know - I shoot raw and do sharpening in PP.)

3. Softness can come from
i) wide aperture and hence thin DOF, and then missing focus on the point you want.
ii) Camera shake. VR helps, but you should be at a shutter speed over 1/60 hand held.
iii) Camera shake 2 - mirror slap, light tripod, wind: often apparent at slower shutter speeds (which is why you use the tripod )
iv) small aperture. Above f16 you get diffraction problems on most DSLRs. I noticed some of your flickr samples were f22. There will definitely be diffraction at f22 on a D90, which will appear as softness. Open up (rule of thumb - no smaller than f11.)
v) focus error - the focus points in the camera are not absolutely spot on in the viewfinder on all cameras. This can be a problem at wide apertures (see i).
vi) focus error 2 - back/front alignment. Adjustable on some cameras. Best checked with a focus chart - and I don't think this will be your problem.
vii) bad focus - you just aren't focussing on what you should be.

4. With your test shots, you have a subject (fence?) that will have some parts in focus and others not. Pick a picture with an aperture of f8. Look at the whole picture. Are there sharp spots? If not, then you have a problem with camera shake. If there are sharp spots, are they forward or back from where you want focus? Then you have a focus error problem. (Your lens should have a point in focus - it is just a matter of making sure the focus point is where you want. If there is no point in focus, it is typically because of camera movement.)

5. Work with one lens first. Choose an easy subject that will show something in focus. Work to focus on what you want. Work on a mid-range aperture - f8. Work with a fast shutter speed (1/125 at least.) Get consistent test images, then move on to other apertures and other lenses.

It seems that you manage the light and composition well - getting the sharpness is well worth the effort.