Another Newbie In Need of Advice

[fmw]

You will also need to get your shutter speed up higher. Rule of thumb, shutter speed at least the focal length of lens you are using. Even better shoot with about f/8 to f/11 and your shutter speed with go way up for that shot.

Or faster. However, that is a rule of thumb for hand holding and he used a tripod. I do think his lens might perform better at f8 or f11 but the shutter speed shouldn't matter with a steady tripod.

 

[KC1]

If you've been getting motion blur on a tripod, its time for a new tripod.

 

[john.margetts]

If you've been getting motion blur on a tripod, its time for a new tripod.

If you are holding the camera while it is on the tripod and then press the shutter release vigorously you will still get camera shake. If you are going to go to the trouble of a tripod, you need to also go to the trouble of a remote release.

 

[KC1]

Lol. If you press that vigorously, you need a new technique or a new hobby.

 

[table1349]

Not really. Most folks don't understand what a truly stable tripod set up is. I spent more on the head than 90% of the people here spent on their entire tripod setup and more on the legs than most of the newbies want to spend on their first DSLR. Ultra solid even with a 400 f2.8 and body attached. I still use a remote shutter and when needed due to extremely slow shutter spread I use mirror lockup.

 

[chuasam]

Stop worrying about detail and sharpness. It's a rabbit hole that only leads to measurebating. Think about how big you will print or how you will display the image. If the so called lack of sharpness doesn't detract from the image in that situation, consider it a success. Move on. Take more pictures. Enjoy yourself.

 

[medic2230]

You will also need to get your shutter speed up higher. Rule of thumb, shutter speed at least the focal length of lens you are using. Even better shoot with about f/8 to f/11 and your shutter speed with go way up for that shot.

Or faster. However, that is a rule of thumb for hand holding and he used a tripod. I do think his lens might perform better at f8 or f11 but the shutter speed shouldn't matter with a steady tripod.

It shouldn't but, it can have an affect on it. Something simple such as using the timer to take the photo instead of using your finger on the shutter button could help tremendously. I will use a remote for mine at times but I've also used the 2 sec timer when I didn't feel like getting all the remote stuff out. I agree that rule is for hand holding but is also effective for use on tripod in certain situations. Of course if you're using the tripod for a time exposure it doesn't matter because then you should be using the timer or remote for it anyway.

 

[medic2230]

Could this not also be caused by lens diffraction using such a small aperture?

Also @Phantom552 don't get hung up on the kit lens deal. It's all about learning the lens and what it can do then using it to it's full potential. Yes the better glass is nice to have and makes excellent images but you can also get some really great stuff if you learn the lens you have inside and out and know exactly what it is capable of.

 

[robbins.photo]

You will also need to get your shutter speed up higher. Rule of thumb, shutter speed at least the focal length of lens you are using. Even better shoot with about f/8 to f/11 and your shutter speed with go way up for that shot.

So for the rule of thumb you spoke of, a 30mm focal length would equate to at least a 1/30 shutter speed? I'll probably try staying around f/8 and taking the same shots in the next day or so sometime and see what happens.

Thank you everybody for your input so far.

For handheld shots even with a shorter focal length I'd try to stay in the 1/120 range if you have enough light. In bright daylight conditions you can get fast shutter speeds and still keep your ISO at acceptable levels even if your stopping down the lens quite a bit. 1/120 is normally fast enough to cancel any blur/camera shake if you have a stationary target. If your target is moving you'd want to up the shutter speed appropriately to cancel out any blur caused by their motion.

On longer telephoto shots 2 x the focal length will usually give you a very crisp, sharp photo - but depending on the lighting you might want to reduce the shutter speed to 1 x focal length or sometimes even slower to get a lower ISO.

I use the auto-iso feature on my camera and let the camera select the ISO, then I'll manipulate the shutter speed and aperture to reduce the ISO the camera is selecting if I feel it's necessary to reduce noise in the final shot. In bright, sunny conditions you probably won't find it necessary too often, and letting the camera pick the ISO for proper exposure usually works pretty well.

Your camera has a single control dial, so normally what I recommend is auto-iso, set a maximum ISO to whatever you feel is the acceptable level of noise you want in a shot (Say ISO 3200 or possibly 6400). Set a minimum shutter speed based on your situation, such as 1/120 if your shooting handheld at stationary targets, maybe 1/500 for sports or faster action, etc and use that in conjunction with AV mode for shots where aperture is the most important, say on portraits or landscapes.

When your shooting in situations where controlling your shutter speed is more important, switch to Tv mode and use the control dial for shutter speed - say if your trying to capture really fast action or in a situation where you actually want some motion blur and that's more important than your DOF - like say your shooting a prop driven aircraft. They look funny if your shooting at high enough shutter speeds to freeze the prop while they are in mid air, so in a case like that getting the shutter speed right is generally more important than aperture.