How do I take sharper photos?

MichaelHo

MichaelHo

MichaelHo

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It's a nice sunny day today so I thought I'd go out to take some photos to practice with different settings.
These are a sample of what I took, however they are not very sharp :(

pkukYwd1wqmJmawSCU03ks3kskXL0003kskXLyETo7r1c.jpg


Tv: 1/30
Av: 20.0
ISO: 200
Exposure compensation: 0
WB: Daylight

w1LDaLH2po0L1iXx0503ks3kskXL0003kskXLyETo7r1c.jpg


Tv: 1/160
Av: 18.0
ISO: 400
Exposure compensation: +1/3
WB: Shade

oCsggBeFoJEolgYR7T03ks3kskXL0003kskXLyETo7r1c.jpg


Tv: 1/200
Av: 14.0
ISO: 200
Exposure compensation: 0
WB: Daylight

KlohcKzmKrCq0cac1o03ks3kskXL0003kskXLyETo7r1c.jpg


Tv: 1/15
Av: 20.0
ISO: 400
Exposure compensation: 0
WB: Shade

47JmNYQ0J47sCNBM3603ks3kskXL0003kskXLyETo7r1c.jpg


Tv: 1/8
Av: 22.0
ISO: 400
Exposure compensation: 0
WB: Shade

These were all taken hand held with a Canon 400D and the kit lens, any advice on how I can achieve sharper photos?
 
First things:

Shutter speed, handheld try not to go below 1/40 (it might be 1/30... but trial and error would prove).
ISO, try to go for 100 wherever possible. Although canons are really good with higher ISO so I doubt 400 would have any effect.

Otherwise though, I cant really see any sharpness problems.

Woah, didnt see the massive aperture values! :eek:
 
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I would say stay above 1/60th second at least, especially with my shakey hands! To get the sharpness most lenses are sharpest past F/6 onwards I tend to go for F/8 where possible, ISO 100 is nice but no always possible, so try and stay below 400 but some people dont mind niose, so feel free to go further also
 
Hi there,

Shutter speed is important, I always find that if I'm shooting below 1/60 then the image is a little blurred. (Shakey Hands)

What I would do is stop using tv and chuck it onto M

Set your ISO - better the light, lower the ISO 100 is ideal
Shutter speed - 1/200

Make sure what your focusing on isn't to difficult for the camera.

For example, your first photo has a lot going on in it, it's going to be difficult to get it all in focus, so set your focus point to say the center one and try it from there.

Oh and if anyone tells you the kit lens is limiting slap them as it's far from limiting. I took some of my best photos with mine.
 
Tripod or a faster shutter would help. :)

Actually, i remember thinking that my 350D's images were far softer than those from my old Sony F717.

It's not that the SLR wasn't taking sharp photos it's just that the sony (like all prosumers) automatically sharpens an image right after you capture it. This gives the impression of better sharpness and makes SLR images appear soft to a newcomer.

Also, the kit lens is good for the money but you'd be surprised how much sharper a more expensive zoom (or even reasonably priced prime) is! I'd recommend the thrifty/nifty fifty (50mm f/1.8) which can be had for around £50 2nd hand if you have a search. :cool:

gt
 
gt_junkie said:
Also, the kit lens is good for the money but you'd be surprised how much sharper a more expensive zoom (or even reasonably priced prime) is! I'd recommend the thrifty/nifty fifty (50mm f/1.8) which can be had for around £50 2nd hand if you have a search. :cool:

gt
Click to expand...

Oh don't get me wrong, there are far far better lens' out there, but I remember when I got my 350D a few told me how crap the kit lens was and after now being a lot more experienced can safely say they are wrong.

If anything the kit lens is good because it forces you to really work with the camera to get the most out of it, it's when you learn the most about the body, which obviously helps when using other lens'

Agree about the nifty fifty, bought mine for £45 and it made me £300 on it's first shoot :cool:
 
Are you shooting RAWs? I'm sure these need more sharpening than JPEGs straight off the camera.

AFAIK the handheld rule is not to drop below 1/focal length. If you're shooting at 50mm then you really dont want to go for a shutter speed longer than 1/50th. If you're shooting at 300mm you dont want to go longer than 1/300th. And so on.

As said above, kit lenses tend to be a lot sharper at apertures below wide-open. So go for f6, f8 and onwards.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys, will be keeping the shutter speed a lot faster from now on. I do plan on getting the nifty fifty soonish, but since I've just had my camera for a few days I'm just getting used to all the settings on it first.

I am shooting in RAW, I need to sharpen these? Do I just do it in photoshop? I don't have the RAW plug in for it though.

Regarding Aperture value, I'm sticking to around f/18 for these landscape type shots, Id go very low if I wanted to blur the background for say a portrait and lastly if I was to take a macro type shot I'd stick it to around f/10. Is this the right way to go about it? When would I need to use aperture of say 24?
 
MichaelHo said:
Thanks for all the advice guys, will be keeping the shutter speed a lot faster from now on. I do plan on getting the nifty fifty soonish, but since I've just had my camera for a few days I'm just getting used to all the settings on it first.
Click to expand...

Good man, just keep snapping! you'll get used to it soon enough :) you'll soon pick it all up!

I am shooting in RAW, I need to sharpen these? Do I just do it in photoshop? I don't have the RAW plug in for it though.
Click to expand...

Yes :) RAW means just that - the picture as it is seen the camera doesn't do any work, you need to do the PP work the camera normally does internally :) And yes photoshop can do it - I use Aperture myself, not sure if your on Mac or Windows, for Windows I'd recommend Adobe Lightroom.

Regarding Aperture value, I'm sticking to around f/18 for these landscape type shots, Id go very low if I wanted to blur the background for say a portrait and lastly if I was to take a macro type shot I'd stick it to around f/10. Is this the right way to go about it?
Click to expand...

Nobody can give you a direct answer I'm afraid, all depends on the situation, like light, composition etc. Play around you'll soon get the feel and just experiment, fastest way of learning!

When would I need to use aperture of say 24?
Click to expand...

Well this was shot at f/22

Turbo_by_je_design.jpg


If memory serves, shot with the kit lens as well ;)

All depending on light, and composition, like I say, experiment! :)
 
I think you're very high aperture values aren't a great idea for these images. You don't need an aperture that high and I am certain they would be adding softness!
 
You're going to get diffraction softness at f/22, coupled with the fact that it's producing shutter speeds like 1/8 which are rarely going to be sharp hand-held.

Stop up to f/8 or so, sharpen in post-processing, and you should be fine.
 
I was going to reply to this at 12:30 but got called away to a meeting.


There is no need to use an aperture above F8 for landscape shots. Wide lenses only require an aperture of F4 to achieve the Hyperfocal distance.
 
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SDK^ said:
I was going to reply to this at 12:30 but got called away to a meeting.


There is no need to use an aperture above F8 for landscape shots. Wide lenses only require an aperture of F4 to achieve the Hyperfocal distance.
Click to expand...

Except when doing long exposure landscape shots. ;)
 
ok, I think I'm getting it a bit more now, so faster shutter speeds and wider aperture. I was afraid of using lower aperture values because I was scared it would not give me adequate DOF. I thought that you needed a higher F value in order to keep everything in the shot in focus.

Phate: I did take a look on your site, and I do love that photo you just posted, amazing that you can even see the grain of the concrete. I am on a mac too and have photoshop CS3, they have a few sharpen options, how do I choose which to use?
 
thanks for all the advice. I will be taking them into account, hopefully weather will be just as good the next day I'm free and I'll take these again.

Messiah Khan: thanks for the link. I will have a read an sharpen up my RAWs.
 
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