Nikon D5100 problems

[marcdax]

Hello , I'm Marc from Ghent (city in Belgium).
Have some problems with my new D5100.
Before the D5100 I had an Olympus E420, my first DSLR. Made good pictures for such a 'cheap' camera.
After 2 years i thought to upgrade to a better one , a Nikon D5100.
But my pictures are worse than with my Olympus.

Problems :
1- In daylight (no sun but not totally clouded) , on automatic or P program :
I take a picture , it takes 1/4 sec to take it ??
and than you get this

exif data :
F5/6 , iso 100 (on auto) , s 1/4sec
This picture isn't sharp at all , and it had 8 sharpsetting points

This picture has exif data : f/5 , iso 100 (on auto) , s 1/8sec

4 sharpsettingpoints on the bike itself


Next picture i took was this one :

exif : f4/8 , iso100 (on auto) , 1/15sec

I'm totally not happy about the pictures , the last one is the best.
I tried on the M stand , i put it on f/22 and it would take 6 seconds to take a photo ? in daylight ?
I use the stock 18-55 kit lens , but it can't be that bad ??
If i compare shots that are in a reviews of a D5100 they are 5-6 times better than mine.

2- I've set the sharpness to 8 , i know they only work on PASM.
I just wonder , why i have to sharpen all the photos as my earlier E-420 i never did that and they were even sharp or sharper on the details.
I took pictures of a person and if i look at the picture full size and compare it to a full size photo on a review , they are sharp and no noise , mine is less sharp and has noise (partly due to sharpning i presume ?)

I have no filters on my lens , had them but took them off because i read on the forum it could have something to do with unsharp photos.
I have the same thing on my other lens 55-200.
I can't check with someone else his lens , so i dont know if its the camera or the lenses
It's like 7 pictures arent really sharp , than you get a good one , than 4 less sharp , than a good one or 2 , ........
edit :
I also set the VR off , no difference.

thanks for the time reading and looking and if you see a fault in writing , I normally speak flemish (dutch)

 

[cgipson1]

Keep your shutter speed above the reciprocal of your focal length (i.e. 100mm / 100 Shutter speed. Or just keep your shutter speed above 200 period.. you will be good) by either adjusting your aperture or your ISO. Get it off of AUTO or P.. use Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority or Manual. Get it off of Auto ISO...

learn your exposure triangle....

Read your manual...

read Amazon.com: Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera (9780817439392): Bryan Peterson: Books

read Amazon.com: David Busch's Nikon D90 Guide to Digital SLR Photography (9781598639056): David D. Busch: Books

 

[Rephargotohp]

If you are using the Auto ISO it appears you have your Maximum ISO set to ISO 100 (see page 155) Since all your images were shot at ISO 100. This resulted in your shutter speeds being too long to hand hold. Either change the maxium ISO To a much higher number in Auto ISP or turn off Auto ISO and use a more resonable one for your scene

 

[MTVision]

Hello , I'm Marc from Ghent (city in Belgium).
Have some problems with my new D5100.
Before the D5100 I had an Olympus E420, my first DSLR. Made good pictures for such a 'cheap' camera.
After 2 years i thought to upgrade to a better one , a Nikon D5100.
But my pictures are worse than with my Olympus.

Problems :
1- In daylight (no sun but not totally clouded) , on automatic or P program :
I take a picture , it takes 1/4 sec to take it ??
and than you get this

exif data :
F5/6 , iso 100 (on auto) , s 1/4sec
This picture isn't sharp at all , and it had 8 sharpsetting points

This picture has exif data : f/5 , iso 100 (on auto) , s 1/8sec

4 sharpsettingpoints on the bike itself

Next picture i took was this one :

exif : f4/8 , iso100 (on auto) , 1/15sec

I'm totally not happy about the pictures , the last one is the best.
I tried on the M stand , i put it on f/22 and it would take 6 seconds to take a photo ? in daylight ?
I use the stock 18-55 kit lens , but it can't be that bad ??
If i compare shots that are in a reviews of a D5100 they are 5-6 times better than mine.

2- I've set the sharpness to 8 , i know they only work on PASM.
I just wonder , why i have to sharpen all the photos as my earlier E-420 i never did that and they were even sharp or sharper on the details.
I took pictures of a person and if i look at the picture full size and compare it to a full size photo on a review , they are sharp and no noise , mine is less sharp and has noise (partly due to sharpning i presume ?)

I have no filters on my lens , had them but took them off because i read on the forum it could have something to do with unsharp photos.
I have the same thing on my other lens 55-200.
I can't check with someone else his lens , so i dont know if its the camera or the lenses
It's like 7 pictures arent really sharp , than you get a good one , than 4 less sharp , than a good one or 2 , ........
edit :
I also set the VR off , no difference.

thanks for the time reading and looking and if you see a fault in writing , I normally speak flemish (dutch)

All DSLRs have an anti-aliasing filter so you have to sharpen them in post. Were you using a tripod at 1/4? Not sure why automatic would give you those settings but that's the issue with auto. I thought with P mode you could set your own settings. Never used P mode so I'm
Not sure.

F/5.6? It's probably the widest aperture for that focal length so it won't be sharp. Lenses don't perform well wide open. Not sure why the SS was 1/4. 8 sharp settings? You mean 8 focus points were used? That could be another reason your photos are soft. The camera is choosing where to focus and then it's using surrounding focal points. Using af-c or af-a and single focus point will get you better focus and sharper images.

F/22 would probably take 6 seconds because it is a small aperture - lens is opened just a tiny bit. You probably needed to raise your ISO to get a faster shutter speed. You can go pretty high with the d5100 and have little to no noise as long as you expose it properly. If you aren't using a tripod with slow shutter speeds then the photo will be soft. If you are shooting at the widest aperture then the photos will not be as sharp.

Sharpness settings affect JPEGS not raw files. Honestly, it sounds like user error. If you are getting some sharp photos and some not then its probably something you did. Your focus may be off, your not utilizing the different settings properly, etc. The noise in your photos is probably due to not being properly exposed. You will have more noise at ISO 100 with an underexposed shot than at ISO 400 with a perfectly exposed shot.

The 18-55 lens isn't bad at all. You can get amazing shots with it! Any other questions just ask. I have te d5100 and the same lenses. Maybe you could post more examples......

 

[marcdax]

Get it off of AUTO or P.. use Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority or Manual. Get it off of Auto ISO...

If i use S(hutter) i can't go higher on my A (or F/...).
So it's normal that you have a shutter time of 6 seconds on a F/22 in daylight ? That's what I got this afternoon
I cant carry a tripod around all day , good for nightphotos , but in daylight i expect i can take a photo without a tripod.


I know what you mean about taking pictures on Auto , but I sometimes have/just want to take a 'snapshot' (have to call it something) and than I expect a decent photo.
So where is the problem with that than ?

 

[cgipson1]

6 seconds might be normal for F22 at a low ISO like 100.... that is why you might need to change your ISO to something else. Take it off of AUTO ISO.... and for normal shots, you would never need F22. The only time I use that small an aperture is when I am shooting macro.

There are three parts to every exposure ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture.... they all work together. Your AUTO ISO is not a good idea.... control it yourself. Look at your meter... keep your shutter speed up so you don't get motion blur that looks like the subject is out of focus

use an aperture and ISO that will allow you the shutter speed you need.

Or use the ISO and shutter speed to give you the aperture you want for DOF.

Or use the Shutter speed and aperture to get the ISO you want to use....

 

[MTVision]

If i use S(hutter) i can't go higher on my A (or F/...).
So it's normal that you have a shutter time of 6 seconds on a F/22 in daylight ? That's what I got this afternoon
I cant carry a tripod around all day , good for nightphotos , but in daylight i expect i can take a photo without a tripod.

I know what you mean about taking pictures on Auto , but I sometimes have/just want to take a 'snapshot' (have to call it something) and than I expect a decent photo.
So where is the problem with that than ?

In shutter you can raise and lower your aperture by changing your shutter speed and/or ISO. If you had raised your shutter speed your aperture would have opened up more (small f#).

you said there wasn't really any sun. The image you showed - you are in shadow and the image has both shadow and bright areas. Your metering mode is probably on evaluative so the camera is trying to get a proper exposure for both the bright areas and the shadows. Learn about your cameras metering modes and it will help.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to take a snapshot. Its just as quick to use aperture priority or shutter priority. If you can't carry a tripod always then you need to learn about exposure and metering modes. There is no way you will get a sharp photo hand holding at a shutter speed of 1/4

 

[marcdax]

Thanks for the many quick answers already. Goes fast here !

I will try some new one with the advice this afternoon

 

[marcdax]

hello again
Took some pictures this afternoon.
Went with the advice of the single focus point and set the iso higher.
Did take them with auto iso so i could see what it would do

Here are the pictures =
iso 1250 , shutter 1/320 , f 6.3
Focus was on the neck of the duckling
But is it me or is the grass on top of the picture sharper than around the duck ?

Than i saw a garbagething , and i took this shot.
This is one I find very good
shutter 1/1250 , f7.1 , iso 1250

Than i have a nightshot , normally i dont have problems with them , but this one
iso 800 , shutter 10sec , f/20
focuspoint is just beside the door on the right side

This one is even more terrible
iso 800 , 13 sec , f/29 , on a tripod , fp in the middle of the photo

So why is this ? I've taken some nightpictures , but never like this.

 

[fjrabon]

why do you keep shooting with such crazy apertures? f/29 for a night picture? You should probably be shooting those types of shots at like f/5.

 

[marcdax]

I also took this one this afternoon.
iso 1000 , 1/25sec , f/8

another question , how do you get the whole picture sharp and not only the jar ?
Normally you upgrade you F , but tried it and would not work.

 

[marcdax]

why do you keep shooting with such crazy apertures? f/29 for a night picture? You should probably be shooting those types of shots at like f/5.

Than there is something wrong with that camera.
I set the 13" and that's the f the camera came with........
But with an F/5 , how do i get the whole picture sharp ?
And in another answer somebody said that an f5.6 was to small ......

edit :
I know that you can change the F in the M mode , but what is the reason that the camera doesnt take the proper F mode itself ?
I'm not the smartest guy in the world , probably you've noticed , but I'm in for learning but
- Someone says take pictures in A or S mode , so if i set them on S i get those "silly" apertures
- If i set it on A mode i get shuttertimes that you need a tripod.
Conclusion : i can only use the M mode on my camera ?

- If i take a picture on the automode I've got the same problem.
I never get a sharp picture (besides one or two)


So is it me or the camera ?

 

[fjrabon]

another question , how do you get the whole picture sharp and not only the jar ?
Normally you upgrade you F , but tried it and would not work.

well, a couple of things, you can raise your aperture, however, then you'll need to shoot on a tripod, because raising your aperture causes a longer shutter speed. However, when you're shooting this close, you'll have to shoot at an extreme aperture, and even then everything won't be fully in focus, it will just be close. In the image above, f/25 probably gets the books in teh background in focus, but the cup that's nearly touching the lens probably will still be fuzzy.

The easiest way to get more of the shot in focus is to move away and then crop to the image you want.

 

[fjrabon]

why do you keep shooting with such crazy apertures? f/29 for a night picture? You should probably be shooting those types of shots at like f/5.

Than there is something wrong with that camera.
I set the 13" and that's the f the camera came with........
But with an F/5 , how do i get the whole picture sharp ?
And in another answer somebody said that an f5.6 was to small ......

I have no idea what you're even talking about here. You need to buy a book in your native language that will teach you how aperture, shutter speed and ISO work together. You chose to set your shutter speed at 13 seconds? That's exactly why the pictures are blurry, because over 13 seconds, on anything less than a pro level tripod, your camera is going to shake.

 

[cgipson1]

sorry, but you need to RTFM.. and also read the books I mentioned earlier!

Bye!