My pictures doesn't look right

hamlet

No longer a newbie, moving up!
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
Messages
2,894
Reaction score
435
Location
Belgium
Can others edit my Photos
Photos OK to edit
These shots were taken with the 18-55vr



cq8zn4G.jpg

1Ah3B5U.jpg




The problem i have with my pictures is that they look very weird when i zoom in. It doesn't look sharp at all. Every picture i taken, no matter what shutter speeds i use, they all turn out like this. I don't understand how to improve on this, have i reached the limits of my kit lens?
 
Got VR turned on?
 
I believe that's an issue with your kit lens and your 32mp sensor. One solution is not to zoom in that far, the web sized version looks fine.

What were the camera settings of that shot? looks like a higher ISO coupled with a slightly slower shutter; that doesn't help.
 
When you crop that heavy you will start to lose detail
 
I believe that's an issue with your kit lens and your 32mp sensor. One solution is not to zoom in that far, the web sized version looks fine.

What were the camera settings of that shot? looks like a higher ISO coupled with a slightly slower shutter; that doesn't help.

Here you go.

IBBhOZn.jpg
 
When you crop that heavy you will start to lose detail

You have a camera that has about the same megapixel count as i do. How does a similar centre crop look on your image when you shoot with the 24-105?
 
Yeah, don't pixel-peep. That way leads to buying more gear. Your camera's sensor has more resolution than can be easily obtained by average lenses in average uses.

Your lens can do better than what you're seeing, probably, but you need to use a tripod, the optimum apertures, quite high shutter speeds, and either a remote or the self timer to minimize vibrations. There's a whole basket of techniques you can use to improve sharpness, and every little bit helps.

But, generally, your sensor has a lot of resolution.

Furthermore, it is a feature of Bayer array sensors that the actual useful resolution is, in typical usage, about half of the pixel count because of the techniques used to gather color information. This means that, always, when you zoom in to the point that you can see individual sensor pixels, you'll be disappointed. The picture just, somehow, won't seem to have as much resolution as there are pixels. That's just the Bayer array demosaicing math, there's nothing to be done about it.

So, stop pixel peeping, stop worrying about dust, stop worrying about your gear. Your gear is fine and can take superb pictures.

Start thinking about how to arrange things in the frame to make a pleasing picture.
 
When I shifted from my 400D at 10.1MP to my 7D at 18 MP I found that what looked sharp at 100% view on the 400D looked softer at 100% view on the 7D. Instead I tend to find that around a view size of 60% or so renders things about where I can judge sharpness.

For a 36MP sensor chances are 50% or maybe less would be ideal to judge sharpness.

Remember the higher the MP count the bigger the image is when viewed at 100% size. What really matters is what it looks like at print/webdisplay/output size.
 
I believe that's an issue with your kit lens and your 32mp sensor. One solution is not to zoom in that far, the web sized version looks fine.

What were the camera settings of that shot? looks like a higher ISO coupled with a slightly slower shutter; that doesn't help.

Here you go.

IBBhOZn.jpg


and your answer:

looks like a higher ISO coupled with a slightly slower shutter; that doesn't help.
 
Yeah, don't pixel-peep. That way leads to buying more gear. Your camera's sensor has more resolution than can be easily obtained by average lenses in average uses.

Your lens can do better than what you're seeing, probably, but you need to use a tripod, the optimum apertures, quite high shutter speeds, and either a remote or the self timer to minimize vibrations. There's a whole basket of techniques you can use to improve sharpness, and every little bit helps.

But, generally, your sensor has a lot of resolution.

Furthermore, it is a feature of Bayer array sensors that the actual useful resolution is, in typical usage, about half of the pixel count because of the techniques used to gather color information. This means that, always, when you zoom in to the point that you can see individual sensor pixels, you'll be disappointed. The picture just, somehow, won't seem to have as much resolution as there are pixels. That's just the Bayer array demosaicing math, there's nothing to be done about it.

So, stop pixel peeping, stop worrying about dust, stop worrying about your gear. Your gear is fine and can take superb pictures.

Start thinking about how to arrange things in the frame to make a pleasing picture.

I agree completely. But the reason this bothers me is because i want to make posters. I have tried doing these shots with a tripod, vr, no vr, high shutter speeds, low shutter speeds. Pretty much everything in the book and i cant get my pictures sharper than this.

And also on the point of focusing on making more pleasing pictures: I have a very hard time to get started. I cant take amazing pictures that draw my audience in, i have a writers block.
 
Last edited:
When I shifted from my 400D at 10.1MP to my 7D at 18 MP I found that what looked sharp at 100% view on the 400D looked softer at 100% view on the 7D. Instead I tend to find that around a view size of 60% or so renders things about where I can judge sharpness.

For a 36MP sensor chances are 50% or maybe less would be ideal to judge sharpness.

Remember the higher the MP count the bigger the image is when viewed at 100% size. What really matters is what it looks like at print/webdisplay/output size.

Posters is what i'm concerned about.
 
1/80 sec, hand held and pixel peep dont mix. That is basically like shooting a macro handheld at 1/80

I probably shot this one wrong, but all my images turn out like this. Even the ones with much higher shutter speeds.
 
My only thought is that there is some sort of camera processing going on. Either noise reduction, or some sort of smoothing. Check to make sure all those little "helpers" are turned off.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top