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F30 Focus/Sharpness issue resolved.

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pmishra

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I bought the F30 about 3 weeks ago and had been struggling to get sharp pictures that were a breeze on my old Nikon and Olympus. Finally I have figured out the issue and would like to share it.

I had been led/mis-led into thinking that high ISO (upto 400) were without noticeable quality loss. The F30 ergonomics are somewhat poor and do not allow individual ISO setting for each mode. I wanted to have "outdoor modes" and "indoor modes" with independant ISO settings. The F30 does not allow that, so I set my ISO to 400 for all situations.

This was causing my pictures to not be as sharp as I would expect even in broad daylight. Once I changed my ISO to 100 the pictures have become sharp as I would expect (at the expense of low light sensitivity).

Also the F30 prefers higher ISO to stronger flash. I took a series of indoor shots varying the ISO from 800-100 and noticed that the flash power goes up significantly at ISO100. For even more flash power I am now considering buying a slave flash and relying on the high ISO settings only on occasions when I will not have a slave flash or for nightscape.

Any one else using a slave flash please share your experince.
 
those non-sharp photos? I am sure till 8x10 it should be fine. I am afraid of motion blur more than loss of details at 400
 
It is true that higher ISO softens your shots ... that's actually by definition, since noise increases as well and will soften all edges. NR on the F30 is a bit harsh and edges take a beating from that too.

However, those shots once reduced are still very sharp. The Fxx series of cameras still have some of the highest acuity ever measured in compact cameras. So your issue is simply one of far too much pixel peeping I would think.

I regularly shot the F11 at 1600iso just for fun and challenge, and I never had any complaints about the sharpness of the shots once I had appropriately processed them:



--
http://letkeman.net/Photos
 
Kim Letkeman said:
It is true that higher ISO softens your shots ... that's actually
by definition, since noise increases as well and will soften all
edges. NR on the F30 is a bit harsh and edges take a beating from
that too.

However, those shots once reduced are still very sharp. The Fxx
series of cameras still have some of the highest acuity ever
measured in compact cameras. So your issue is simply one of far too
much pixel peeping I would think.

I regularly shot the F11 at 1600iso just for fun and challenge, and
I never had any complaints about the sharpness of the shots once I
had appropriately processed them:
Click to expand...
is that your thumb print on the handle?
 
I would like to add that the MACRO shots were usually sharp. It are the people-shots that were not sharp. I could notice the softening very easily on my 20" computer screen which may be not fair but my older Nikon and Olympus had no issues there.

I really wish that f30 interface was a little better that it will allow to set ISO settings independantly for each shooting mode. The F31 has the same limitation.
 
pmishra said:
I really wish that f30 interface was a little better that it will
allow to set ISO settings independantly for each shooting mode. The
F31 has the same limitation.
Click to expand...
What would this buy you? The ability to restrict ISO, slow the shutter speed and dramatically increase your risk of blur, perhaps?

Blur destroys far images far more certainly than does noise on the Fxx series of cameras.

--
http://letkeman.net/Photos
 
Kim Letkeman said:
pmishra said:
I really wish that f30 interface was a little better that it will
allow to set ISO settings independantly for each shooting mode. The
F31 has the same limitation.
Click to expand...
What would this buy you? The ability to restrict ISO, slow the
shutter speed and dramatically increase your risk of blur, perhaps?

Blur destroys far images far more certainly than does noise on the
Fxx series of cameras.

--
http://letkeman.net/Photos
Click to expand...
If I could set independant ISO setting for each mode, I would have a low-light mode (higher ISO), a mid-light mode and a bright light mode. This way instead of setting the ISO every time I would just change my mode-dial.
 
pmishra said:
If I could set independant ISO setting for each mode, I would have
a low-light mode (higher ISO), a mid-light mode and a bright light
mode. This way instead of setting the ISO every time I would just
change my mode-dial.
Click to expand...
Are you assuming that Fuji is utterly incompetent and is pushing ISO up wildly without thought?

Each successive camera has gotten less aggressive about pushing ISO up unnecessarily. The F30 and F20 are darned good at setting ISO only high enough to prevent blur.

I've shot thousands of images with each of the F10 and F11, and never worried about the camera ruining my shots. It tries hard not to ruin them, unless overridden incorrectly (very common with people who think ISO is the root of all evil.)

Blur is universally fatal to an image. ISO noise is irrelevant up to 800 and even at 1600 if you are competent with exposure and perhaps with a back-end work flow that includes Neat Image.

Go ahead and set ISO manually if you really must ... I do it now and again if I am shooting on tripod in low light (80iso) or at a concert and want the highest possible shutter speeds (1600iso.) But when hand holding, let the camera save you from yourself.

--
http://letkeman.net/Photos
 
man oh man, nice image kim...

M
--

'Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask 'how,' while others of a more curious nature will ask 'why.' Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.' -Man Ray
 
Kim Letkeman said:
pmishra said:
If I could set independant ISO setting for each mode, I would have
a low-light mode (higher ISO), a mid-light mode and a bright light
mode. This way instead of setting the ISO every time I would just
change my mode-dial.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
pmishra: Yes, I know exactly what you are talking about because I have asked Fuji to allow F10's successors to maintain separate ISO settings under each shooting mode wherever ISO can be set by the user.

For examples, the Auto Mode, M mode. and certain special scene mode should be allowed to maintain their own separate ISO settings (whether certain Auto ISOs or certain fixed ISOs).

If different Flash modes can be maintained under various shooting modes, why not the more important ISO?

Unfortunately, Fuji has not implemented this one yet.
Kim Letkeman said:
Are you assuming that Fuji is utterly incompetent and is pushing
ISO up wildly without thought?
Click to expand...
Yes, with the F10.

Fortunately, Fuji listened and improved the ISO scheme starting with F11, reducing the basic Minimum Shutter Speed for Auto ISO from F10's 1/100s to F11's 1/60s.
Kim Letkeman said:
Each successive camera has gotten less aggressive about pushing
ISO up unnecessarily.
Click to expand...
Yes, from F10 to F11 - Please see above.
Kim Letkeman said:
The F30 and F20 are darned good at setting
ISO only high enough to prevent blur.
Click to expand...
I do NOT see further improvement as far as being "less aggressive with ISO", from F11 to F30.

However, Fuji did listen at least one more time there (actually on quite a few things):

Fuji has moved the ISO setting to be the first item under the F-button menu since the F30 - at least we can adjust ISOs manually more easily now.

Fuji added Auto ISOs that have different Maximum ISOs (Auto 400 and Auto 1600), but left out Auto 800 (Auto ISO with Maximum ISO of 800).

Fuji kind of listened and quietly put Auto 800 in with the F31, although clumsily - I get a feeling that Fuji may fix that with the F40 with a more elegant ISO and Auto ISO selection interface as suggested in this forum.

(not to mention Fuji has just started the process of getting rid of xD)
Kim Letkeman said:
I've shot thousands of images with each of the F10 and F11, and
never worried about the camera ruining my shots. It tries hard
not to ruin them, unless overridden incorrectly (very common with
people who think ISO is the root of all evil.)

Blur is universally fatal to an image. ISO noise is irrelevant up
to 800 and even at 1600 if you are competent with exposure and
perhaps with a back-end work flow that includes Neat Image.
Click to expand...
Kim, it is because you are very good with Noise reduction at PP, and are willing to do PP. Not all Fuji F series users are good with PP Noise Reduction like you, or are willing to do PP. Most aren't.
Kim Letkeman said:
Go ahead and set ISO manually if you really must ... I do it now
and again if I am shooting on tripod in low light (80iso) or at a
concert and want the highest possible shutter speeds (1600iso.) But
when hand holding, let the camera save you from yourself.
Click to expand...
Fuji should listen one more time here.

How aggressive the Auto ISO should be in pushing up the ISOs?

Why not leave it up to the individual Users by having Customizable Auto ISO where users can set the Minimum Shutter Speed (MSS)?

User(s) like Kim and a few others can set the MSS for Auto ISO to 1/120s, 1/100s, 1/80s or 1/60s.

Users like pmishra, myself and many others can set the MSS for Auto ISO to 1/40s, 1/30s or 1/20s, until Fuji adds Optical Image Stabilization, then we can set the MSS for Auto ISO to 1/15s, 1/10s or even 1/4s.

We all will be and can be very happy then. And Fuji will sell a lot more digicams.
 
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