Fuzzy Photos

[christop]

Besides the horrible banding that's clearly visible on the wall in the background (probably due to too much JPEG compression), this is probably about the sharpest you'll get straight out of camera with this lens.

 

[ptl2010]

Here we go Aperture f8 ISO-100 and 1/15 for shutter speed. I took two of them and that the first one was fuzzy, so I turned auto focus on, and here is what happened.
View attachment 25503

As you can see the results are nice and sharp. You can use a wider aperture to achieve shallow DOF, just make sure you have the camera properly focused. Most lenses are sharpest a half stop above there widest aperture. Some are fine wide open. I've used my 18-55 and 55-250 wide open often, and have never had any issues with sharpness or softness.

Always ALWAYS use the lowest ISO possible to save on noise, but take into consideration what you're shooting. One rule I use is to keep the shutter speed equal to or higher than the focal length. So, if you're shooting at 28mm, 1/30th of a second is about as low as you can go hand held and still get reasonably sharp images. I usually double it. Then set your aperture to get the DOF you want, I use f2.8 or F4 on my fast primes and 5.6 and 8 on my slow zooms. I then set the ISO to get proper exposure. With practice this will work almost all of the time. This changes when it comes to sports, as there is a lot of motion, so you need a much higher shutter speed. This works well for parties or portraiture, things of that nature.

Another thing to take into consideration is noise is sort of fixable, motion blur is not. So Don't go too low on your shutter speed to save on noise, most photo editing software does a great job at removing it, but there's not much you can do to remove motion blur.

If this is all way over your head, here are a few of my favorite resources for learning photography. Do a little browsing and watch whatever interests you, and as always practice practice practice!

AdoramaTV
FroKnowsPhoto

 

[ffmedjoe]

Makes sense I just need to play with it some more. Would it be beneficial to get something like a 35mm or 50mm lens for close up things. I can pick them up used for $50-$150 I have a 18-55 that came with the camera and I bought a 55-200 used. I would have liked to buy the 300mm but I am on a budget. Thoughts?

 

[pgriz]

Buying more lenses won't help you in the skills area. My suggestion is to practice under good light conditions, then go to more challenging situations. When you are pushing the limits of your equipment, by all means go and invest in whatever equipment you feel you need. But buying a 35mm or 50mm lens, both of which are in the zoom range you already cover, doesn't make sense to me UNLESS they are offering advantages such as much better maximum aperture or much sharper resolution. I suggest you look through this post: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...299286-new-feature-photography-tutorials.html. It has a wealth of useful tutorials and articles.

 

[ptl2010]

Pgriz is on the right track. The 18-55 and 55-200 are plenty for a beginner, and in all reality, plenty for most people that don't do this for a living. I've shot portraits, concerts, landscapes, architecture, macro, still life, and sports all with an 18-55mm and 55-250mm lens. I do own a few prime lenses, but I use them when I need better low light performance or I want a super shallow depth of field. Another benefit is they are usually a bit sharper than zooms.

The camera is just your tool, you have to make the image great. Ansel Adams didn't have a 5dmkIII with a 16-35 f2.8, but his images still look great. Noise performance and sharpness are some of the least important aspects of photography.

Do you want to learn photography, or do you simply own a DSLR to have a nice camera to take pictures with? If you want to get into photography, take lots of pictures. Not meaningless ones, try to take images that mean something. This is something I just recently grasped myself. A photo can be technically perfect, but if it doesn't capture anything interesting or meaningful, it's just a picture.

I would also suggest you look up a few things...

- Composition, the rule of 3rds
- Exposure triangle, how to use your DSLR in manual mode
- How DSLR lenses work, what focal lengths do to your images
- Using available light. One of the most beautiful and color accurate light sources is right outside your door, and it doesn't cost a penny to use!