Background lines on Nikon D3000

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andyholl

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Andy
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Hello,

I bought my first SLR, a Nikon D3000 last year and am really enjoying it. I realised I needed a bigger lens and so bought a 55-300mm F4.5 VR about a month ago.

I am generally pleased with it however I am having two issues:

1. When using a shallow DOF, shooting in Aperture priority, the blurred background has clear diagonal line patterns running across it (see crop of image below). Is this a common problem with SLRs or is it something other D3000 users have experienced? I have bought photoshop elements 8 (mac) so is there a simple way of removing these?



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2. A lot of shots which I feel I have got the focus right on seem to be quite blurred. Could this be due to the lens or (more likely in my opinion) the body, or am I just expecting too much from a £300 camera?




Thanks very much for any help or advice you can offer.

Andy
 
Number 2 is probably due to 1/80s shutter speed. Bit of camera shake too. The bokeh on number is weird. I've seen similar with cheap mirror lens. It's also weird that the dogs head isn't in focus. Considering that it's shot at 1/800s.
Have you tried a different lens of the body? Just to compare.

Kev.
 
Does the lens have a filter on? Cheap filters can cause all sorts of weirdness.

Second is just camera shake.
 
Thank very much for the replies. I have got a UV filter fitted which I paid about £10 for so thats likely to be it thank you! I had thought a bit of clear glass would have very little effect but obviously I was wrong!

The dog photo as you say was shot in S priority and isn't very sharp. Another example on the photo below she was sat still and so I would have expected a much sharper image.



Would a better body help (D5000?) or should I just learn to take steadier shots? I had used A priority to try and get a shallow DOF but maybe I am pushing the camera too hard?
 
Even with a VR lens at 1/50 and at 300mm is risking camera movement.

Some use a simple formula that your shutter speed at its lowest should match your focal length so 300mm would be minimum 1/300th
 
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andyholl said:
Thank very much for the replies. I have got a UV filter fitted which I paid about £10 for so thats likely to be it thank you! I had thought a bit of clear glass would have very little effect but obviously I was wrong!

The dog photo as you say was shot in S priority and isn't very sharp. Another example on the photo below she was sat still and so I would have expected a much sharper image.



Would a better body help (D5000?) or should I just learn to take steadier shots? I had used A priority to try and get a shallow DOF but maybe I am pushing the camera too hard?
Click to expand...

In this photo, the foliage in front of the dog appears to be more in focus. Either you mis-focused or your lens is front focusing.

Your camera and lens should be capable of sharper photos than this. It's worth spending some time on technique and testing before spending your hard-earned.
 
DigitalRelish said:
In this photo, the foliage in front of the dog appears to be more in focus. Either you mis-focused or your lens is front focusing.

Your camera and lens should be capable of sharper photos than this. It's worth spending some time on technique and testing before spending your hard-earned.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for the replies everyone I really appreciate it. Digital Relish I think you may have a point, looking through a lot of the photos it does seem that other items in the shot (often closer to the camera) are sharper than the subject. Is front focusing a physical fault with the camera or something I can correct when taking the shot?
 
You should have focus options somewhere in the menu system. Spot focus, wide focus ect...

If it were me taking the picture of the dog I would point the centre of the lens at the dogs head/eyes. Press the shutter button half way to focus, hold it there while I compose the shot and then fully press to take the photo. All works well providing the dog doesn't move lol :-)
 
Andyvalver said:
You should have focus options somewhere in the menu system. Spot focus, wide focus ect...

If it were me taking the picture of the dog I would point the centre of the lens at the dogs head/eyes. Press the shutter button half way to focus, hold it there while I compose the shot and then fully press to take the photo. All works well providing the dog doesn't move lol :-)
Click to expand...

Thanks Andy, Thats the method I am using (with spot focus on the center point) so hopefully I'm not too far wrong! She does tend to move once she see the camera though!
 
andyholl said:
Thanks very much for the replies everyone I really appreciate it. Digital Relish I think you may have a point, looking through a lot of the photos it does seem that other items in the shot (often closer to the camera) are sharper than the subject. Is front focusing a physical fault with the camera or something I can correct when taking the shot?
Click to expand...

It could be user error, a misalignment of the sensor within the camera body, a misalignment of the lens or a combination of all three!

I don't know if your camera features AF Fine Tuning, but it's a feature which allows you to correct for this to some degree. It might be worth carrying out some focus testing to see what's what.

If you do find a fault then it can be corrected, but it means sending off your lens and/or camera to be calibrated. If you don't find any fault with the lens or body under controlled conditions (no subjects which can run away) then you'll know it's just down to technique. So, best test it out first.
 
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Hi Andy

A bit of software that can be downloaded from the Nikon website, if you haven't already got it, is ViewNX. If you look at the menu bar there is a button that will show the focus point on the picture being viewed, it's a handy feature when you think you have focused correctly only to find you haven't :shrug:
 
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