not so sharp photos

[pokopelo]

ok so I was shooting the other day, and just downloaded Lighroom 3 beta to play with it for PP i'm seeing that the photos are not sharp when i closeup ... I have a D60 with the kit lens 18-55, I'm shotting in the shade of trees at about noon, I don't know if it's me wanting to see sharper photos, or this is as good as it gets with the kit lens... i've already ordered a 35mm 1.8, would I get sharper photos with it, assuming shooting in same setup with the 2 lens... can't wait to start shooting with my new glass... what do you think?

 

[reznap]

They look pretty good to me (maybe underexposed but that's not your issue..). I think when you 'pixel peep' - or examine a picture close-up - anything taken on a crop sensor is going to look funky at 100%.

Also your lens is probably going to be a bit sharper around f/9 or f/11 than it will be if you have it wide open (f/3.5 I'm guessing..)

 

[KmH]

You need to google Depth-Of-Field (DOF) to learn how the lens focal length, aperture, and subject distance determine what will or won't be in focus in an image.

In your first one the DOF is shallow and it looks like the focus point is on the left and that part of the wall close to the camera is sharp.

DOF is always parallel to the image sensor plane so the wall starts loosing focus the further it gets from the image sensor.

 

[pokopelo]

ok my message did not come across as I wanted... sorry but english is not my native language... what I meant to ask is that I think that even at the focal point, i'm not getting the sharp image i was expecting, how do the previously posetd pics look to you guys?

also the question is would i get sharper photos with the 35mm 1.8 than what i get with the 18-55mm lens at the same setup for the same photo... how do these 2 compare in that?

 

[bazooka]

They look pretty sharp to me. Did you apply sharpening to the RAW? And yes, the prime should be sharper, at least at a greater range of apertures than the kit lens, perhaps at all apertures.

 

[SushiWarrior]

Better lenses are just sharper. The 35mm will be MUCH sharper. Kit lenses are some of the softest lenses you can buy, especially wide open.