Focus or Camera Shake?

[PJM]

I'm trying to sort out the effects of various factors on my results. The two photos shown were taken from a platform about 25' above the water near dusk. Both were taken with manual aperture and shutter and auto ISO. The camera was set to single spot auto-focus. They were also shot with a 70-300mm telephoto lens set around 250mm.

When I took the first photo I noticed me and the platform were both shaking a little bit so I set the shutter speed faster. I also opened up the lens since I didn't think depth of field was much of a consideration in this situation.

The second photo looks to me to be slightly crisper. Would that be due to the camera shake in the first or maybe the camera having difficulty finding focus at dusk. Or could it be due to the lower ISO in the second. Or, maybe all 3?

Now that I write this it seems dumb since I got the desired result. But I'd still like opinions.

Pete

#1: f/14, 1/250, ISO auto = 22800, 250 mm
DSC_0081 by Peter Martin, on Flickr

#2: f/7.1, 1/400, ISO auto = 7200, 260 mm
DSC_0083 by Peter Martin, on Flickr

 

[Fujidave]

The 2nd is better and more crisp, so agree with what you say here.


The second photo looks to me to be slightly crisper. Would that be due to the camera shake in the first or maybe the camera having difficulty finding focus at dusk. Or could it be due to the lower ISO in the second. Or, maybe all 3?

 

[john.margetts]

The shutter speed is a bit slow on the first. Using the old adage of minimum shutter speed being the reciprocal of the focal length, your shutter speed should have been 1/375 or faster (you are using a crop sensor camera so that minimum shutter speed gets multiplied by 1.5).

 

[n614cd]

When you look at the colored leaves, they should all be within the same depth of field and all be in focus; this can be seen even in the second image.
In the second image the aperture is further open yet there is less blur. Being further open, the DoF is shallower...
To me this adds up to then a movement issue. When you look at the leaves further, they do not appear wind blown. I would therefore stipulate that the blurry leaves in the first picture is caused by the camera moving.

Tim

 

[waday]

Just a quick note that the change in ISO is going to make a big difference in your final image quality. There's going to be a significant difference between ISO7200 and ISO22800. Digital cameras are better at high ISOs now than they were before, but ISO 22800 is still pretty high...

 

[PJM]

Thank you for your comments.

 

[AlanKlein]

Use a tripod for consistent and better results. It will allow you to stop down the aperture increasing the DOF. You won't be so concern about shutter speed. With lighting like this, I can shoot down to 1/2 even one or two seconds with small apertures because my camera is on a sturdy tripod.

 

[AlanKlein]

...and you will be able to keep ISO at 100 or 200.

 

[Braineack]

do you have a UV filter on the end of the lens?

I think both shots are victim of Noise Reduction software as well.

 

[PJM]

Yeah, a tripod will be my next acquisition. But I just wanted to get out and shoot some pictures, learning little bits at a time. I posted a few photos from yesterday in Just For Fun.

 

[PJM]

do you have a UV filter on the end of the lens?

I think both shots are victim of Noise Reduction software as well.

No, just a clear protective filter so far.

 

[Braineack]

yeah. remove it. enjoy sharpness.

 

[astroNikon]

do you have a UV filter on the end of the lens?

I think both shots are victim of Noise Reduction software as well.

No, just a clear protective filter so far.

What may be clear from a simple observance usually isn't clear at all.