Nikon 55~200 AFS

[snowbear115 47]

Maybe something like this?
NIKKOR 35mm f/1.4 from Nikon.

 

[Quovadis]

Ok.. I have my answer. It's a crappy lens. No matter what I do it's close to impossible to get a tack sharp image. I cannot afford a $2000 lens. What i need is a sharp lens (Manual) no AFS.
I do not need VR or any other sort of image stabilization.
Maybe the Tokina 100mm? Any suggestions? I can spend up to $700

Why manual? Are you now focusing in manual mode? If so, why? That lens should be better than that, and I'm pretty sure mine is, which is the "S" version. I do not understand why you are trying to focus manually.

Figure out your DOF (plug in all the variables) and select a point about mid-way in the DOF. Say the handle or clasp, for instance. Place the focus point on that spot. Keep your aperture about in the midrange. If the tripod is completely stable, and the shutter speed is moderate, it should produce an acceptable photo.

Focusing with AFS is difficult on bags, sometimes they are all black. Oh you are possibly thinking that my eyes are not finding the correct focus through the viewfinder? Or what i see as being in focus is not reality?

 

[Quovadis]

Here is the same picture taken with the AFS turned on. Still not good sharpness. Pretty much unacceptable.

 

[fmw]

The Nikon AF-S 55-200 mm lens is a consumer grade lens ($350).
It is not designed like, nor is made using the better glass, as Nikon's professional grade lenses.
Which is why Nikon's AF-S 70-200 mm lens is $2100.

I agree that you are using to small a lens aperture and at anything smaller than f/11, like f/22, you are losing focus sharpness because of diffraction.

You need a much better understanding of how to control depth-of-field - DoF:
Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

Lens focal length, point of focus distance, and lens aperture all have to be managed to control DoF.

Lastly. If you are using a tripod VR needs to be turned off.
Nikon VR explained

I shoot all of my tabletop product images at f22. I use f18 occasionally to deal with subjects that are dark and not reflective. My images are and have always been tack sharp. Diffraction is one of those rare phenomena that exist in theory and rarely affect normal photography in practice. Shooting at f22 allows me to insure that everything is sharp front to back without thinking about it or worrying about it. Even f32 doesn't cause me problems with diffraction. I hand hold the camera and allow the strobes to handle the exposure time which is normally 1/several thousandths of a second. I use a 60mm macro lens on a DX camera body and auto focus. In rare cases I use a wide angle zoom when the subject requires it.

If nothing is sharp in your images, then there is an equipment problem because you should get at least one plane in focus if you use your auto focus. Since you use a tripod, the problem is not likely to be motion blur. I tend to think that the issue is depth of field. That means that the plane of focus is sharp but portions of the image further from or nearer than the plane of focus are soft. You fix that by stopping down, using a shorter lens or increasing the distance from the lens to the subject. Your issue may be as simple as focusing a little deeper into the subject. Hard for me to guess without watching what you do.

I don't know which lens you are using but, if it is long zoom, I would consider investing in a macro lens.

 

[fmw]

Ok.. I have my answer. It's a crappy lens. No matter what I do it's close to impossible to get a tack sharp image. I cannot afford a $2000 lens. What i need is a sharp lens (Manual) no AFS.
I do not need VR or any other sort of image stabilization.
Maybe the Tokina 100mm? Any suggestions? I can spend up to $700

Why manual? Are you now focusing in manual mode? If so, why? That lens should be better than that, and I'm pretty sure mine is, which is the "S" version. I do not understand why you are trying to focus manually.

Figure out your DOF (plug in all the variables) and select a point about mid-way in the DOF. Say the handle or clasp, for instance. Place the focus point on that spot. Keep your aperture about in the midrange. If the tripod is completely stable, and the shutter speed is moderate, it should produce an acceptable photo.

Focusing with AFS is difficult on bags, sometimes they are all black. Oh you are possibly thinking that my eyes are not finding the correct focus through the viewfinder? Or what i see as being in focus is not reality?

You want to focus where there is a high contrast area. For example, a black bag presents a perfect target where it meets the background. You can focus there, hold the focus and then recompose. Or you can leave the composition at the edge of the bag and simply crop out what you don't need later on.

If you have a vision problem be sure to use auto focus. It should handle things just fine.

 

[astroNikon]

0.5 sec shutter speed ?
you may be getting some shutter flap

Try upping your Shutter speed to 1/125 minimum
or try "Exposure Delay" as the d3x00 and d5x00 series do not have MUP

 

[astroNikon]

btw, this was the issue I was having with my 55-200 even compared to the normally sharp 18-55.
I test shot against blades of grass and their just was no sharpness by comparison.
Do you have any other lenses to test against, like the 18-55 lens ?
Then you can A/B the sharpness with the same technique and object.

FYI, my kit lens was a 18-105 with my D7000, even the 18-105 was sharper than the 55-200 at all focal lengths.

 

[fmw]

OP, here is an image of a lens I have for sale on Ebay.

If I remember correctly this image was setup in seconds and shot at f18 which I use normally for basically black subjects. I used a Nikon D7000 camera and 60mm f2.8D micro Nikkor lens. The distance from the edge of the lens cap to the back of the lens body is probably close to that of some handbags. The plane of focus is the number 28 on the lens body which is tack sharp.

You can begin to see some slight softness both on the word Nikon on the lens cap and on the lettering behind the front lens element. So everything is not tack sharp but everything is what we would consider acceptably sharp. F22 might have cleaned up a little of that but basically, this shot gets the job done as simple commercial product shot.

What is it about your images that differs from what you see here?

 

[Quovadis]

Here is the same identical pic taken with the 18~55, ISO 100 1/3s f/10 18~55
Same blurriness as with the 55-200
Next i will try one at f22 I bet it's even more blurry

 

[Quovadis]

By the way, the focus point was on the center buckle.

 

[Quovadis]

0.5 sec shutter speed ?
you may be getting some shutter flap

Try upping your Shutter speed to 1/125 minimum
or try "Exposure Delay" as the d3x00 and d5x00 series do not have MUP

1/125 gave me a black jpeg and a black raw file.

 

[KmH]

The Nikon AF-S 55-200 mm lens is a consumer grade lens ($350).
It is not designed like, nor is made using the better glass, as Nikon's professional grade lenses.
Which is why Nikon's AF-S 70-200 mm lens is $2100.

I agree that you are using to small a lens aperture and at anything smaller than f/11, like f/22, you are losing focus sharpness because of diffraction.

You need a much better understanding of how to control depth-of-field - DoF:
Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

Lens focal length, point of focus distance, and lens aperture all have to be managed to control DoF.

Lastly. If you are using a tripod VR needs to be turned off.
Nikon VR explained

I shoot all of my tabletop product images at f22. I use f18 occasionally to deal with subjects that are dark and not reflective. My images are and have always been tack sharp. Diffraction is one of those rare phenomena that exist in theory and rarely affect normal photography in practice. Shooting at f22 allows me to insure that everything is sharp front to back without thinking about it or worrying about it. Even f32 doesn't cause me problems with diffraction. I hand hold the camera and allow the strobes to handle the exposure time which is normally 1/several thousandths of a second. I use a 60mm macro lens on a DX camera body and auto focus. In rare cases I use a wide angle zoom when the subject requires it.

If nothing is sharp in your images, then there is an equipment problem because you should get at least one plane in focus if you use your auto focus. Since you use a tripod, the problem is not likely to be motion blur. I tend to think that the issue is depth of field. That means that the plane of focus is sharp but portions of the image further from or nearer than the plane of focus are soft. You fix that by stopping down, using a shorter lens or increasing the distance from the lens to the subject. Your issue may be as simple as focusing a little deeper into the subject. Hard for me to guess without watching what you do.

I don't know which lens you are using but, if it is long zoom, I would consider investing in a macro lens.

Good for you.

As noted in the link regarding diffraction provided in a post before mine, how much diffraction a lens aperture/camera image sensor (pixel size) combination used varies the amount of diffraction.

 

[KmH]

. . . whole bag to be in focus with as little bokeh as possible on one part of the bag. . .

Bokeh is not adjustable, and is an inherent quality of the optics and construction of each make/model of lens.

What you are referring to is depth-of-field.

Your main trouble is an insufficient understanding of how to do photography so that you get consistent, high quality results.
You're looking for an equipment solution when the solution is improving your knowledge and understand of how to do photography.

Hire a professional.

 

[Quovadis]

F22 0.60S iso 100 @55mm Blurry as F***

 

[Designer]

Here is a pic i just shot, and as you will see at 100% magnification it's not sharp. ISO 100 f/13 1/3s 55-200@92mm.
Actually this is one of the better focused shots at F13. To get it tack sharp I have to apply a few unsharp masks.

First off, you're not putting enough light on the bag. Use more light.

Also some parts (the parts that are in focus) look in focus to me. Look at the grain and stitching lower right corner.

Also; your shutter speed at 1/3 second might not be optimum. Go faster.