Do all digital SLR's take a slightly out of focus shot?

Hair Bear · Sep 20, 2006

Do all digital SLR's take a slightly out of focus shot?

I have been pushing my self to get a Nikon D80 and today went in to take a couple of pics so i could take a CD home and check the images out

In general it seems like a good camera and great lens combo for £799 < they also got buy now pay later.

But the shots seem just a little out of focus, great amount of detail in the image and I should think they look great on 5x7 prints.

So do all digital cameras take a slightly out of focus or fuzzie shot and therefore need a bit of sharpening? Or is it just that model?

D-50 · Sep 20, 2006

I dont have any experience with that model but DSLRs take extremely sharp pictures compared to a point and shoot. You may have not been focusing correctly, there is no way a DSLR should give out of focus results on purpose.

Big Mike · Sep 20, 2006

At what magnification were you viewing the image?

I don't think that digital SLR cameras are any more or less accurate than film SLR camera are...but very few people looked at 35mm film at 200% with the resolution of a computer screen.

You can adjust the amount of 'in-camera' sharpening or use RAW (which has none applied)...or you can use Photoshop to sharpen the images. A lot of people do find that images from a DSLR don't have the as much sharpness & saturation as images from digi-cams. This is because digi-cams often have those settings cranked up to impress consumers who don't know anything about post processing. It's reasonable to assume that a DSLR user will be more inclined to post process their images...and therefore don't want those settings cranked up from the camera.

Hair Bear · Sep 20, 2006

It wasn't a raw file but was on super fine so some compression

Took a couple inside the shop and two or three outside.

Had it on Auto focus and auto metering for speed.

My comarison is with a file thats been scanned from a 35mm neg at the highest res possible by the shop.

Jeff Canes · Sep 20, 2006

Thats easy answers NO, IMO i would say the opposite DSLR are generally sharper that film at any speed, there could be hundred reasons why an image is out of focus, could you post some sample, that would help

Hair Bear · Sep 20, 2006

I'm just trying to find the best place to put the pic so you can see it.

Any tips?

Big Mike · Sep 20, 2006

Photobucket.com

Hair Bear · Sep 20, 2006

hows this?

Much detail, but just very slightly out of focus on my screen

Soocom1 · Sep 20, 2006

First, the image to me at least looks tack on!
I do notice the following though:

Your focused in on her left eye, and probably shooting at a wide aperture.
looks like the camera is balancing out to the light spots, and this gives an illusion of out of focus.
The screen I am looking at the image on is a Dell 1800 FP LCD monitor.

IMOHO
If any advice, take a step or two back, drop the stop down by a half to full stop, and refocus in on her nose, and cheeks. This will allow for a sharper focus for her entire face. (Notice the hair in front is out of focus.)

Hair Bear · Sep 20, 2006

So you think the depth of field is contributing to the issue rather than a general focus issue

I shot this really quick, stepped out of the shop and took 5 pics with the nervous assitant waiting by my side.