9 replies to this topic

[Taipei101]

Good morning ,
Why this drastic difference in quality ?
I took pics of the Cheetah with the factory settings and later I might have customized some settings in the menu.
So last week I took pics of this cardinal bird and all the pics were so poor , was VR off ? Was it misfiring? I was leaning on a solid fence ,no wind ,very steady. The light conditions were better than the cheetah (cloudy ,hand held ,no leaning)what settings could have been wrong?
Is the camera defective?
Thanks for reading

[Tony]

Greetings Taipei101 and again welcome to the Forum.

 

There are many highly skilled individuals on this Forum and are always more than willing to be of assistance.  However, you have not provided any information regarding settings that you used.  This is the reason you have not received any response to your question.  Also, the folks here are always sensitive in regards to offending anyone, and so at times it is believed the best way to avoid that situation is to not respond at all.

 

In the image of the Cardinal, when opening it up it is readily apparent that it is out of focus.  You mentioned that you did not use a tripod, and trust me, that is more than likely the problem.  I have Nikon's VR Lenses, Canon's IS Lenses, Pentax's SR Lenses, etc.,etc., and stacked together, my tripod assists me in getting the best results.  When using a tripod, you will notice that your photographs will look much better.

 

Your second photo of the Cheetah, ( I am a huge fan of Big Cats) is obviously much improved, which leads me to believe that there is nothing malfunctioning in your camera.  Nice job on that one.

 

Please, provide the settings and we can move forward from there.

 

Many thanks,

 

TT

[Taipei101]

Hi Tony,
Thanks for replying , I didn't include many details because I thought that you can read the properties/exif from my images , my mistake , so now I include 2 pics of the properties of the cardinal and cheetah from PC and Phone together , you said that the tripod is the problem but the good photo of the cheetah is also handheld with a lot less light and slower shutter speed . With the cardinal the light was perfect and the settings very fast but it looks blurred by movement  ,maybe not out of focus , pay attention to the little branches all around the bird,they seem doubled as shaking , I had a very steady hand leaning on a fence and no wind. In the shot of the cheetah I held the camera high to avoid the Cheetah fence at the Philadelphia Zoo..
I heard rumors from other Nikon owners that the Nikon VR doesn't like complete stillness ,it will try to correct anyway and create a shake ,I don't know if it's true but after 2 weeks of good quality images using this camera the pics didn't come out "still" anymore ,.there always seem to be a little shake no matter what ,in daylight ,sunny , cloudy sunset ,flash etc... I don't know what to do . my fear is that it is defective and worked good only for 2 weeks ,I'm gonna try different setting soon to see if I'm missing something . I got a 5 years total warranty from Adorama so I might use for a replacement .
I include also a shot of an Owl with the tripod and the problem is still there like the cardinal.

When I went into the settings I didn't see an option to disengage the VR in the still images menu/column . It's only in the menu column of the video controls . does it sound correct ?

Please give me some advice , this is my first Nikon since digital so maybe there are some things about Nikon that I don't know . the only FF camera I own is the Sony A7 and I also have a few APSC from Sony  , Fuji and Canon .

 

Regards.

 

Taipei

 

 

Sorry I forgot the Owl's properties .

F.8

1/80sec

Iso 100

Focal length ,503mm or equivalent 2800

[Taipei101]

Could this be a clue ?

I shot this plane with autofocus first and it looked terrible so I tried manual focus and it looks a lot better , hand held.

F.8

1/80 sec.

ISO 100

Focal length 539mm or equivalent 3000

Both

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

[Merco_61]

When using an extremely narrow field of view, you need to hold the camera with good technique and use shorter shutter speeds than you think.

When shooting using AF, do you cradle the lens surround or do you hold further back? The left hand should be as far forward as you can to give a more stable platform for the camera. When using manual focus, the hands gets to the correct place naturally.

There is an old rule of thumb that says that when shooting handheld without support, the shutter speed should be 1/the focal length or shorter to avoid blur. The VR usually manages to stabilize somewhere around 2 1/2 steps longer speeds than without VR. You can sometimes get away with longer, but it is very much a gamble. Another thing to remember is that the VR doesn't compensate for the subject moving, so if the cardinal was moving at all, the magnification would make 1/2500 or so necessary to get a critically sharp photo.

 

One factor that you might have changed that could give these results is if you have turned AutoISO off or changed the cap value.

 

To verify that nothing has happened to the lens, you will have to shoot something boring like a brick wall using a sturdy tripod and either the self-timer or a remote to eliminate as many factors as possible.

[Bengan]

Just to be sure. I suppose that you know that it takes about 1 sec for the VR to kick in ones you half depress the shutter release button.

 

You should also check if there is a difference with AF in live view and viewfinder. You haven't specified how you have AF set up. Do you have your shutter release set for focus priority?

 

VR should be off when the camera is on a tripod, but I doubt that you can simulate a tripod holding the camera no matter how steady you are, so when holding it: ON.

[mikew]

Looking at your settings for the cardinal they should be ok, i still feel the main problem is camera shake due to the magnification and the fact the bird is small and possibly up a tree/bush, taking a burst of 4 or 5 shots would have given you a sharp one.

 

Are you shooting raw or jpeg as i think a bit more PP would help with the Cheeta, if its jpeg have you been into the camera settings and adjusted sharpness and saturation, Nikons are renowned for leaving the facxtory with poor jpeg settings.

 

The Cheeta i had a play with first your result then mine, i only had a small file to play with, i understand the problems as i had the P900

 

 

[Taipei101]

I still believe that I got a defective P1000 , because my old superzoom Canon SX50 HS (only 1200mm) never gave me a problem , photos always beyond my expectations , very satisfactory , rarely a shaky or blurred photo. But with this P1000 I find myself asking everybody for help and no matter what I try the image are always shaky or blurred ,tripod or not ,  I believe more and more that the VR is defective in my item , I never had this problem with my Canon which I still enjoy , but I was craving more telephoto reach. The photo of the cheetah was taken in the first 2 weeks of owning the P1000 when most photos were still and beautiful , afterward I didn't get still photos anymore.

In a week or 2 I'll exchange it if I doesn't give me correct photos.

[mikew]

I still believe that I got a defective P1000 , because my old superzoom Canon SX50 HS (only 1200mm) never gave me a problem , photos always beyond my expectations , very satisfactory , rarely a shaky or blurred photo. But with this P1000 I find myself asking everybody for help and no matter what I try the image are always shaky or blurred ,tripod or not ,  I believe more and more that the VR is defective in my item , I never had this problem with my Canon which I still enjoy , but I was craving more telephoto reach. The photo of the cheetah was taken in the first 2 weeks of owning the P1000 when most photos were still and beautiful , afterward I didn't get still photos anymore.

In a week or 2 I'll exchange it if I doesn't give me correct photos.

 

If you are so convinced the camera is at fault you need to change it,the one thing you need is confidence in your gear, hope your experiance improves with a change.

[TBonz]

I agree with Mike - if you think it is bad, take it back where you purchased or send it to Nikon for warranty service.

 

You could try putting the camera on a tripod (remember to turn off VR) and shoot something like a brick wall in good light to see if it is the camera or not.  Post that here with the EXIF info if you decide to give it a try...