[Speed Pujari]

Originally Posted by josh.machine

Hi,

I would try and resize the photos and see how they look. Will also try out Tv mode to set higher shutter speed.

Meanwhile the below link points to some photos that i have taken using my new dslr and their respective details are present as well if you select each photo individually.

aayushjoshi: Galleries: Digital Photography Review

@aayush, just saw the images you have posted. Nice images.
Couple of things I noticed-
The shutter is as aslow as 1/50 and the aperture is as small as f/10. That seems to be a clear cut culprit for sharpness eaters.

If at all you want to use such a big aperture then boost the ISO. I am sure about the higher ISO performance in 1100D though.

Boost the contrast by 1-2 points. That also adds up to the sharpness.

Use tripod and see the magic.

[sachinj12]

Originally Posted by shajufx

There is only one solution: Take it off
Curious to know what lens though !

18-105mm kit lens, my friend.

Your smiley is confusing me. Did your suggestion intend pun?

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by josh.machine

hi, my first post to the dslr thread.

I recently bought a DSLR, canon 1100d. I have noticed that most of the times i am missing the sharp focus on my photos. I am setting the focal points manually, when looking in the small lcd the photo looks sharp and nice but when viewed on a large monitor i can make out that its not in focus.

I checked in DPP and the focal point shows up where i intend it to but still the sharpness in the photo is not there. Any pointers are appreciated.

Please keep in mind that i am a novice in this subject and maybe missing some basics here.

There can be a few reasons
1. Camera shake. Try a tripod.
2. Too slow a shutter for moving objects. Up the shutter speed to 1/250 or 1/500.
3. Back/front focus. A lot of autofocus lenses do not focus exactly where they are supposed to. To check you will need a tripod a scale and a stool and some support to hold the scale.
- Prop up the scale on a stool/chair at about 45 degrees (top away, bottom towards you).
- Set up the camera on a tripod so that it is at the same level as the middle of the scale (horizontally) - in a 12" scale aim for 6".
- Set the camera to manual aperture and set the aperture to the lowest number - 1.8, 2, etc. Adjust the speed/ISO to get correct exposure.
- Use Auto focus and shoot.
Now take it to the computer and display at 100%. If there is no back/front focus, the 6" mark should be sharpest. Otherwise note which graduation is sharpest, and you know how much the lense is out of focus (in mm). Most DSLR have a menu item to enter this value. That will tell the camera how much to offset the focus to get perfect focus.

Originally Posted by sachinj12

How do I eliminate the shadows cast by the lens hood? Whenever I have used the hood, I have noticed my corners to be blackened.

A lense hood is designed to have neither shadow cast not vignetting. In case you are getting either, you are using a lense hood meant for higher focal length lense. Check the compatibility of the lense hood to the lense.

Here is a must read article on lense hoods Lens hoods

[amolpol]

Originally Posted by josh.machine

Hi,

I would try and resize the photos and see how they look. Will also try out Tv mode to set higher shutter speed.

Meanwhile the below link points to some photos that i have taken using my new dslr and their respective details are present as well if you select each photo individually.

Is there a specific shot you think is a problem? Looking through your gallery is going to be a big task. I just looked at IMG_1139 and it looked reasonably sharp to me.

[sachinj12]

Originally Posted by Aroy

A lense hood is designed to have neither shadow cast not vignetting. In case you are getting either, you are using a lense hood meant for higher focal length lense. Check the compatibility of the lense hood to the lense.

Here is a must read article on lense hoods Lens hoods

I am using the hood provided with the kit

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by sachinj12

18-105mm kit lens, my friend....Your smiley is confusing me. Did your suggestion intend pun?

Hey I have so many friends using the same lens with the hood, not a single person has commented about this issue. Chethan, Lohit....the list of users is endless (team-bhp members itself) ! So, not able to understand the actual issue, please post an image. No my smiley meant fun, no pun

[sachinj12]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Hey I have so many friends using the same lens with the hood, not a single person has commented about this issue. Chethan, Lohit....the list of users is endless (team-bhp members itself) ! So, not able to understand the actual issue, please post an image. No my smiley meant fun, no pun

Posting the images, please excuse the quality of the images. Like a true noob, I was shooting in scene mood with a DSLR (it was my first day with a DSLR). All shot with kit lens (Nikon D-90 with 18-105mm). Can someone tell me how to extract shooting info from the file so that I can post it here for better analyzing?

Look at the corners of the images, they all have shadows.

Originally Posted by shajufx

Do you have a filter on it ? Exif data can be seen even in a simple program like Irfanview, right click on the image icon > Properties > Summary > Advanced.

Yup, Marumi filters. Jayesh suggested those (didn't buy Hoya those cause they were expensive)

Originally Posted by R2D2

The 18-105 is one of those little gems from Nikon if you go by the reviews.

If you are using the kit lens and hood, take off the hood and try taking some pics. If you still see vignetting then it is not the hood at all but present in the lens. Vignetting will be present in most lenses especially at max aperture. You may want to reduce the aperture 1 stop and try.

One more question - do you have a UV filter on the lens? If yes, take it off and give it a try. Filters with thicker frames can cause vignetting at the wide end.

You can use Opanda Exif viewer to check EXIF info

Cheers!

The shadows are not present when the hood is removed (filters are screwed on to the lens all the time, I never remove them). The filters are UV filters.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by sachinj12

Posting the images......how to extract shooting info from the file.....

Do you have a filter on it ? Exif data can be seen even in a simple program like Irfanview, right click on the image icon > Properties > Summary > Advanced.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by sachinj12

Look at the corners of the images, they all have shadows.

The 18-105is one of those little gems from Nikon if you go by the reviews.

If you are using the kit lens and hood, take off the hood and try taking some pics. If you still see vignetting then it is not the hood at all but present in te lens. Vignetting will be present in most lenses especially at max aperture. You may want to reduce the aperture 1 stop and try.

One more question - do you have a UV filter on the lens? If yes, take it off and give it a try. Filters with thicker frames can cause vignetting at the wide end.

You can use Opanda Exif viewer to check EXIF info

Cheers!

[josh.machine]

Originally Posted by amolpol

Is there a specific shot you think is a problem? Looking through your gallery is going to be a big task. I just looked at IMG_1139 and it looked reasonably sharp to me.

Infact the image 1139 is a classic example of what i am talking about, if you open it at 100% you will see that it not exactly in focus and details are missing. Same is the case with 1171, 1167 and 1163 to some extent.

[josh.machine]

Originally Posted by Aroy

There can be a few reasons
1. Camera shake. Try a tripod.

Trying to avoid it as its an overhead.

2. Too slow a shutter for moving objects. Up the shutter speed to 1/250 or 1/500.

as of now have tried only still objects and faced the issue.

3. Back/front focus. A lot of autofocus lenses do not focus exactly where they are supposed to. To check you will need a tripod a scale and a stool and some support to hold the scale.
- Prop up the scale on a stool/chair at about 45 degrees (top away, bottom towards you).
- Set up the camera on a tripod so that it is at the same level as the middle of the scale (horizontally) - in a 12" scale aim for 6".
- Set the camera to manual aperture and set the aperture to the lowest number - 1.8, 2, etc. Adjust the speed/ISO to get correct exposure.
- Use Auto focus and shoot.
Now take it to the computer and display at 100%. If there is no back/front focus, the 6" mark should be sharpest. Otherwise note which graduation is sharpest, and you know how much the lense is out of focus (in mm). Most DSLR have a menu item to enter this value. That will tell the camera how much to offset the focus to get perfect focus.

This is something i really want to try but dont think i can manage the entire setup mentioned above. will try to do something similar though. Not sure if my 1100d has any such preset settings, need to check the manual.

Thanks for all the tips, have updated my thoughts inline.

[josh.machine]

Originally Posted by Speed Pujari

@aayush, just saw the images you have posted. Nice images.
Couple of things I noticed-
The shutter is as aslow as 1/50 and the aperture is as small as f/10. That seems to be a clear cut culprit for sharpness eaters.

If at all you want to use such a big aperture then boost the ISO. I am sure about the higher ISO performance in 1100D though.

Boost the contrast by 1-2 points. That also adds up to the sharpness.

Use tripod and see the magic.

Thanks for appreciating. Well i am setting the aperture to around f8-f10 as i read somewhere that its the sweet spot to get sharp images. I am letting the camera decide on the shutter speed. 1100d usually gives usable photos till ISO 1600 so i can definitely up my ISO from 100 to 400 or so to increase the shutter speed.
I haven't yet to tried to change the inherent settings in the camera, i will try to increase the contrast and sharpness a bit and see how it goes.

Tripod is currently not an option as i want to avoid the overhead as much as possible.

[RaguHolla]

Originally Posted by sachinj12

I am using the hood provided with the kit

Originally Posted by sachinj12

The shadows are not present when the hood is removed (filters are screwed on to the lens all the time, I never remove them). The filters are UV filters.

Most likely cause may be using built in flash. Did flash fire in any of this shots? You should check if flash height supports lens with hood! Does it causes darker areas without flash also? If so it does causes then as others suggested it might be filter.

[sachinj12]

Originally Posted by RaguHolla

Most likely cause may be using built in flash. Did flash fire in any of this shots? You should check if flash height supports lens with hood! Does it causes darker areas without flash also? If so it does causes then as others suggested it might be filter.

Yup, flash was fired. Maybe the flash is the culprit.

Also, I have noticed there are some scratches on the filters already. The size of them is very small, probably the size of a pin tip. There is no visible loss of quality, the camera is handled by me alone and I have practically babied it. Beats me as how the filters were scratched.

[RaguHolla]

Originally Posted by sachinj12

Yup, flash was fired. Maybe the flash is the culprit.

Also, I have noticed there are some scratches on the filters already.

Well built in flash isn't meant for using with hood. Check flash height in user manual. They do advice on which lens hood can be used and on which you can not.

Same is case with my D90. If use hood I have larger dark area, or use 70~300mm lens. Its not a bad idea to invest in flash!

As far as scratch goes, they might be due to lens cap! Nikon provides clip on caps, which sometimes irritating to clip! They may tend scratches on cheaper filters. But this very unlikey have any effect on final outcome.