My RAWs BLOW!

[Vicelord John]

I don't know whats wrong. I did minimal post including adjusting curves and levels, etc. I do not own Photoshop, so what I did was in Aperture. I noticed you can adjust sharpness but when I did that it came out looking like the inside of a ducks ass. There is obviously something I am missing with shooting raw. This is when I adjusted sharpness. The originals were so damned soft I could hardly look at them.

 

[Overread]

RAW shots are often softer than JPEG when they come out of the camera, but resized for the net that shot looks far too soft for it to be the result of that fact (plus you sharpened it to start with).

I'm going to hazzard that you have some error in the taking of the image rather than the RAW processing. Also when you shoot try shooting in RAW+JPEG to start with - at least then if this problem occurs again you can tell if its the difference between the RAW and the JPEG or an error when you took the shot

 

[Shahid]

dub meet ftw!

 

[Pugs]

Hm... I agree with doing the comparison between RAW and JPEG by setting the camera to shoot both. All RAW files need tweaking in terms of softness, contrast, etc... but you're right, this shot does look like crap, John... especially after sharpening.

 

[Vicelord John]

I was shooting with a Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 that day... Here is one of the JPEG shots, still pretty soft:

I wonder if it was a lens issue that day? it was a rental that had been dropped and was having some trouble autofocusing in certain situations.

 

[Pugs]

Ooh... that's craptastically soft, too! I'd definitely lay the blame squarely at the feet of the dropped rental lens... I like what you're finding to shoot, though...

 

[Vicelord John]

yeah thanks, I don't think compisition is my problem. as soft as that one is, thats how soft the car pictures were as well. The lens kept going to infinity and not wanting to focus on anything.

 

[TJ K]

Yep this is that situation where it is the gears fault for a bad result.
TJ

 

[Vicelord John]

are you sure? Some of those car shots were taken with the kit lens as well, though I don't remember which ones. My kit lens works perfectly.

 

[TJ K]

What settings was your camera on. JPG quality, size, etc, ISO, all the good stuff?

 

[Vicelord John]

I shoot ISO200 whenever possible. both of these situations included. JPEG Fine, etc. all that good stuff.

 

[TJ K]

The only thing i can think of is your lens or the camera is having focusing issues.

 

[Vicelord John]

I have taken sharp pictures since then all in JPEG, and have not tried to shoot RAW.

 

[themedicine]

I think its been said that Jpegs are already sharpened in camera, but if you sharpened your images afterward, well, I just don't know.

I love the .:R and the Mark 2. Are they both yours?

 

[Vicelord John]

I think its been said that Jpegs are already sharpened in camera, but if you sharpened your images afterward, well, I just don't know.

I love the .:R and the Mark 2. Are they both yours?

no no, the car pic is a sharpened RAW picture, and the second one is an unsharpened JPEG.

Both cars are coworkers. I've had a few VW products in my past, but now am rockin a Triumph 675 triple.

My most recent VW: