How to achieve such sharpness?

[mycognitivecreations]

I saw the photo of the year 2017 (2017 Photo of the Year) and I would like to ask the pros out there, how to achieve such sharpness in camera? Does a crop sensor affect sharpness when compared to a 'full frame' sensor? Thank you!

 

[weepete]

I'm not a pro, but using a sharp lens, making sure the lens is clean, making sure there is no unwanted blur, setting the correct depth of field, getting good contrast in the shot, good post processing technique and an appropriate final size all play a part.

You really won't see a difference in terms of pure sharpness between aps-c and full frame with all other things being equal, but there are some areas where using a full frame camera will produce a better result than an aps-c. Full frame cameras have better low light performance, for example. This could then have an impact on sharpness, because you typically need less noise reduction in post, or you can get cleaner shots at higher ISOs allowing you to use a faster shutter speed.

So sharpness is not one thing, but has a multitude of factors that can have a role.

 

[SCraig]

The camera body has something to do with it, you're not going to get sharpness with a poorly constructed low-resolution camera. However, the two main criteria for sharpness are, in my opinion, the lens and the knowledge and abilities of the person behind the camera.

 

[sergezap]

Post processing.
With the same lens, the smaller sensor means the higher sharpness across the frame.

 

[smoke665]

Not withstanding the skill of the individual who produced this beautiful image, I would assume much of it was a result of enhancement in post processing.

 

[sergezap]

The camera body has something to do with it, you're not going to get sharpness with a poorly constructed low-resolution camera. However, the two main criteria for sharpness are, in my opinion, the lens and the knowledge and abilities of the person behind the camera.

Resolution and sharpness is a totally different things.

 

[Jeff15]

The camera is only as good as the person holding it, that said the right gear and post-processing will make a huge difference...

 

[mycognitivecreations]

I'm not a pro, but using a sharp lens, making sure the lens is clean, making sure there is no unwanted blur, setting the correct depth of field, getting good contrast in the shot, good post processing technique and an appropriate final size all play a part.

You really won't see a difference in terms of pure sharpness between aps-c and full frame with all other things being equal, but there are some areas where using a full frame camera will produce a better result than an aps-c. Full frame cameras have better low light performance, for example. This could then have an impact on sharpness, because you typically need less noise reduction in post, or you can get cleaner shots at higher ISOs allowing you to use a faster shutter speed.

So sharpness is not one thing, but has a multitude of factors that can have a role.

Thank you for your response! I found that the image taken with my nikon 35mm is way sharper than my sigma 10-20mm when I zoom in 100%.

 

[mycognitivecreations]

The camera body has something to do with it, you're not going to get sharpness with a poorly constructed low-resolution camera. However, the two main criteria for sharpness are, in my opinion, the lens and the knowledge and abilities of the person behind the camera.

Agreed that knowledge and ability plays a vital role. I have used my live view to get focus and check the sharpness before taking the picture. I would zoom in to the spot that I wanted to focus on in my live view and manual focus from there. However, as mentioned previously in my reply to weepete, there is a noticeable difference between the sharpness of my nikon 35mm and sigma 10-20mm. I am wondering if there is something wrong with my sigma and the focus is not calibrated properly. But then again, I got it off MPH when I was in the UK and now I am back in my own country with no warranty.

 

[mycognitivecreations]

The camera is only as good as the person holding it, that said the right gear and post-processing will make a huge difference...

Agreed! How would you suggest I enhance the sharpness to achieve something similar in pp?

 

[Gary A.]

As weepee stated, sharpness is a combo of many things, some elements being more significant than others. Some elements, such as shutter speed, the significance will change according to subject matter and shutter speed. Such as, changing shutter speed one stop, from 1/60 to 1/30 may have much greater impact upon sharpness than adjusting the shutter one stop from 1/1000 to 1/500.

But, the sharpness/resolving power of the lens is definitely an important factor in every image. Zooms, in general, are less sharp than prime lenses.

 

[smoke665]

Agreed! How would you suggest I enhance the sharpness to achieve something similar in pp?

Unfortunately there is no one specific answer, as it depends on the image. In some case simply increasing the contrast will give the appearance of sharpness, in others you might need to dodge and burn, in others frequency separations, in others using a layer with a high pass filter, in others I've used a group that uses the surface blur filter to sharpen the image. Do a google search for sharpening in PS and you should find thousands of you tube videos

 

[KmH]

In the case of the image linked to a middle lens aperture had to be used, but not so small a lens aperture that diffraction started diminishing sharpness.
Understanding Depth of Field in Photography
Diffraction Limited Photography: Pixel Size, Aperture and Airy Disks
Tutorials – Sharpness
Understanding Your Camera’s Hyperfocal Distance
Understanding Camera Autofocus

 

[SCraig]

Resolution and sharpness is a totally different things.

They may be but you'll never get any sharpness from a low-resolution image. I have an old 1 or 2 megapixel Sony camera at home somewhere and I guarantee you'll never see a sharp image from it.

 

[Gary A.]

To attain sharpness, I feel it all starts with a high quality / high resolving lens. In general, if you put a high resolving lens on a MFT body - you will get a sharp image. If you put the same lens on a ASP-C body - you will get a sharp image. If you put the same lens on a FF - you will get a sharp image.

Typically, starting out with a soft image ... anything you can do in post won'y make it significantly sharper ... but sometimes it make it appear marginally sharper.