8 replies to this topic

[susanwinsor@mac.com]

I've shot successfully for years with a D-80 and did not consider myself a beginner till I started with the 7100. I have at least one of the settings wrong because many of my photos' subjects are blurry, even at the default settings. I typically shoot farmers up close with environmental background in ⅔ of frame (fields etc), at f4 or 5.6. Their faces are not always in focus. For now I have chosen 11 focus points, and lock my focus/metering on his face while framing. What am I doing wrong? My subjects are not moving when I shoot. Thanks

I think my camera might be too smart for me?

[Steve M]

I've shot successfully for years with a D-80 and did not consider myself a beginner till I started with the 7100. I have at least one of the settings wrong because many of my photos' subjects are blurry, even at the default settings. I typically shoot farmers up close with environmental background in ⅔ of frame (fields etc), at f4 or 5.6. Their faces are not always in focus. For now I have chosen 11 focus points, and lock my focus/metering on his face while framing. What am I doing wrong? My subjects are not moving when I shoot. Thanks
I think my camera might be too smart for me?

Can you post some of your photos with the settings you used?

[mikew]

You are smarter than your camera , just post us some samples, a few things that could be wrong spring to mind and sample images would help.

[leighgion]

Yeah, we need a bit more data. There’s so many possible reasons for focus to be off.

[Debthrush]

Morning! I am totally a beginner and have a D7100. I just purchased the Tamron 150-600 G2 to photograph the eagles that are nesting near my home. I am shooting manual mode, auto iso, various shutter speeds and f stops. I’ve tried all metering modes, focus points. I shoot jpegs,keep VR on, my pics look clear, until I zoom on them. They are not crystal clear. I have had other people at the eagle nest (their pics are awesome and you can see the eagles eyes and feather detail) shoot with my camera to see if it just me not holding steady, but zoomed in,they are not crystal clear either. Any advise for a setting I am not using correctly? Thank you in advance.

[Ron]

Debthrush, my first thought (since you seem to be indicating that you're hand holding the camera/lens) would be to mount your camera and lens on a sturdy tripod and give it another go. Any 150-600mm lens is going to be difficult to hand hold (at any focal length).

 

Perhaps you could post an example (including EXIF data). That would be a big help in diagnosing your problem.

 

--Ron

[TBonz]

Examples of the problem along with the EXIF data (shutter speed, aperture, ISO) are quite valuable in attempting to identify and solve the problem.  If you are trying to hand hold that lens, you would want your shutter speed up fairly high.  If you are on a tripod, you would want to turn OFF your VR.  

[mikew]

Apart from the info ask for above are you shooting raw or jpeg,if its jpeg are you on the highest quality  setting and have you adjusted the in camera jpeg settings, the default settings are very soft.

[robproctor83]

One thing that might help if you don't mind doing it is to reset your camera back to factory. 

 

With that said, with a third party lens you may get front or back focusing which can ruin your shots. Its just like it sounds, you get either front or back focused from your subject which prevents the shot from being sharp. You may want to try manually focusing and seeing if the pics come out sharp. You also should setup a simple test scene with a sharpness chart that you print out and use to take pics of. You may also want to try focusing with Live View since that uses a different focusing mechanic. It's also possible a faulty phase detect sensor is on your camera, they are very fragile and don't take much to get out of tune. Good luck.