Super Sharp Photos

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LisaBuck

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Lisa
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As a newbie I am exploring different subjects to shoot and I am focussing on portrait photography. I have a Nikon D5000 with 18-55 lens, plus a tameron 90-200 lens. For christmas I got the interfit studio lighting 3 head kit which I have now set up, plus tripod.

Now my question, do I have all the right kit to produce the super sharp photos I have seen in the galleries? If so how do I do it?!

Most of the photos I have shot are on "auto".

Most recent is my sisters wedding (also on "auto":() posted a flickr link if you would like a look!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisabuck/sets/72157625515433495/

Thank you for reading! :help:
 
Thank you, I love that picture also, I gave a framed print to my niece for Christmas - she loved it!
 
the kit lens is rarely the sharpest lens in a line up, try a 50mm 1.8 prime, nice and cheap and razor sharp and you'll probably start to get near the results you want
 
Thank you - I will look out for one. Just getting frustrated with my photos not turning out really sharp - they are in focus, just not crystal! :)

Not actually thought about the lens.... :bonk:
 
from what ive been told the lens is more important than the camera choice, look on ebay for the 50mm F1.8 lens, ive seen them for about £79 new.
 
A lot of the photos look over-sharpened but it's a matter of personal taste in the end. You won't find many togs who don't do some sharpening to a digital image - even if it's only a tad or selectively applied. The secret is to use a setting that suits the subject and works for you. You wouldn't apply the same sharpening to a middle-aged woman's portrait as you would to a racing car ;-)

The best glass you can afford also helps btw
 
Great - thank you for all your replies - I do have photoshop, will have a go at that also! ;)
 
Have a look at the Nikon 35 mm f1.8 (52.5 mm equivalent on crop sensor) around £160 but ultra sharp. got mine today and very impressed with it.
 
suggs said:
from what ive been told the lens is more important than the camera choice, look on ebay for the 50mm F1.8 lens, ive seen them for about £79 new.
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she would need to get the af-s one though, as the standard af one would not autofocus on her d5000, as it has no internal focusing motor.

Lisa, have a read up on prime lenses (but be aware that with the d5000 you need to get a lens that has a focus motor inbuilt) and also i recommend moving away from using auto asap. Stick the camera in 'A' to start with and start seeing what effects you can get by changing the aperture. Also, learn a bit about the exposure triangle that is shutter speed, aperture and iso. Even half and hours initial reading can be a real eye-opener, believe me!

I actually think some of those shots are very nice btw!
 
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diggerz said:
Have a look at the Nikon 35 mm f1.8 (52.5 mm equivalent on crop sensor) around £160 but ultra sharp. got mine today and very impressed with it.
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gutted! Amazon told me mine would be with me on the 31st but despite staying in all day waiting for it, it failed to arrive :( No post today so i'll have to stick it out until monday :(

post some pics then ;)
 
Sharpening is very important when processing your images and it all depends on the output i.e. print, web etc

Have a look at these old guides I wrote, they might help....

High pass sharpening

Unsharp mask settings

Hope this helps. :thumbs:
 
Great advice - thank you - I have seen a couple of books recommended on here - Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera and David Buschs Nikon D5000 Guide to Digital SLR Photography. So think I will have a go taking of "Auto" and have a look at some lenses. Thank you for the tutorials and the guides. Really appreciate all the advice... happy new year ;)

Gutted about your lens!
 
rampanthamster said:
gutted! Amazon told me mine would be with me on the 31st but despite staying in all day waiting for it, it failed to arrive :( No post today so i'll have to stick it out until monday :(

post some pics then ;)
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Sorry to here that but be patient you'll love it when it comes.
 
LisaBuck said:
Great advice - thank you - I have seen a couple of books recommended on here - Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera and David Buschs Nikon D5000 Guide to Digital SLR Photography. So think I will have a go taking of "Auto" and have a look at some lenses. Thank you for the tutorials and the guides. Really appreciate all the advice... happy new year ;)

Gutted about your lens!
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understanding exposure is a good one for sure, especially when you're starting out.. It's really simple to understand and doesn't use too much headache inducing jargon. Lots of pictures (and with every picture, the author tells you what his settings were which helps).
 
Lisa, be aware, the Nikon 50mm f1.8 will not auto focus on the D5000 body, manual focus only, great lens though. For manual focus use the 'range finder' option, page 156 in the manual explains. Alternatively, the Nikon 35mm lens does auto focus with a D5000 body, but more expensive.

CJS
 
To be honest the Nikon kit lens is pretty good, in fact it's better than pretty good especially if it's stopped down a little bit.
 
By the way Lisa, another 'sharp lens' is Nikons 18-70 f3.5-f4.5, top quality in moderate zooms, used by pros, so I am told, when light is not an issue? On fleBay for about £70-£80. Not sure how it compares with the 50mm, I have both, but have never compared, I only use the 50mm for macro with tubes.

Final image quality on 18-70 may be worth comets from other forum users, however, Ken RockWell has reviewed it her:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/1870.htm

He also lists the 50mm and 18-55mm among his 10 best Nikon lenses here:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/10-best.htm


CJS
 
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I strongly suspect that a different lens will make no difference. Kit lens at mid-range apertures like f/5.6-8 is very sharp, providing focus is accurate and the shutter speed high enough to prevent any movement blur.

Some good advice above on post processing technique, which can make a big difference. But if you go pixel peeping, nothing is ever crystal clear - remember you're looking at detail of an image probably a few feet wide!
 
Better put than I would have Hoppy but it's true, I have decent pro kit and I'm often suprised by photos a friend of mine produces with a kit lens, I think the older Canon kit lenses were a bit more hit and miss when I used to shoot Canon, I had two, one was great, the other was OK. From what I've seen of the Nikon ones they seem to be much more consistent.
 
Thank you for your advice. Reading though the posts it seems I might be best trying working out of "auto" with my kit lens first and understand my camera settings before I start and explore other lenses??
 
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