Image not sharp, can someone figure out why?

[nigelgan]

Hi there,

I would just like to get some help with one of the picture I took at Taronga Zoo. Is there any reason why the picture is not as sharp when I blow it up to around 60% to 100%?



Could the reasons be

1. Camera shake (Picture shot at 1/250 f2.8 )
2. Out of focus
3. AF areas

Any help or opinion is greatly appreciated.

[Zeeke]

What lens were you using??

It could be a million things why your image is soft... possibly the focusing point, possibly it being at f2.. or even camera shake.. or it could be due to your glass not being great quality,

The image does look sharp around the body, but soft around the face.. it'd be a cracker shot if it was razor sharp all over.. but if I were to guess, i'd say its the focus point being on the body and it needed to be on the face/eyes of that meerkat...

Tim

[nigelgan]

Hi Tim,

I was using Nikon 80-200mm f2.8.
I reckon too it could be the focus point. Is there anyway I can get the camera to focus at more than one point, i.e. the face and body. I'm currently using a D70.
Some of the other photos I took showed that the face is sharp but the body is not sharp.
Thanks for your prompt reply. Its very much appreciated

[Zeeke]

maybe going upto f5 ot f6 if you want to get a lil bit more depth of field... i'd probably be using around f8 with the 80-200 ... should keep the meerkats in focus but the background soft and blurred...

If i was working on focus, id make sure the head is in focus above anything else.. if you can get that right, then working out the depth of field afterwards shouldnt be too hard, just wack your camera into aperature priority mode and set to f8 and it'll work out shutter speed for you given the lighting conditions.... should work better for you..

Hope that helps.. but if someone more knowledgeable comes along, they might have some better advice for you

Tim

[nigelgan]

Thanks Tim.

I'll keep that in mind the next time. I think you are right about getting the right DOF and the focus being on the face.

[PiroStitch]

I'm leaning towards OOF or camera shake as there is no one spot where it is in focus. If there was a point that was in focus, then I would have considered DOF.

What range on the 80-200 were you using? Was it towards the 80 end or 200 end? Those lenses can be quite heavy so a shutter of 1/250 may not have been enough to get the meerkat tack sharp.

[shutterbug]

Looks like camera shake

Sharpen and print....you might be surprise.

[nigelgan]

What range on the 80-200 were you using? Was it towards the 80 end or 200 end? Those lenses can be quite heavy so a shutter of 1/250 may not have been enough to get the meerkat tack sharp.[/quote]

It was shot at 200mm.

[nigelgan]

Looks like camera shake

Sharpen and print....you might be surprise.

What if I blow it up to about A4 size? Thanks for your help

[nigelgan]

Here's another image which is kind of blur when you blow it up.

[vort]

Thats not camera shake .. that's definately an issue of not focusing properly and the aperture being too large.. f/2.8 at 200mm creates very shallow dof, try opening it up to f/4 and practice focusing on moving subjects

[Bodak]

Both images come up well with some PP work in Photoshop

[Glen]

Nigelgan, it is probably a matter of not accurate enough focus or too shallow a DOF leaving no room for error. At 1/400th sec you should have been fast enough.

It is often hard to tell in these shots though and may be some other factor.

[nigelgan]

Thanks guys for taking the time to post a reply. Appreciate it.