Can't seem to get super sharp shots from C3

This is shot at f5, 1/500 with my SEL50f18. I am just not getting the kind of wow that's sharp/detailed. Like an idiot i shot this at iso 800 when there was no need, but I don't think that should affect the sharpness at such at that iso. Is this the sharpest that can be expected from a nex?

Its sharp on his glasses. The rest is down to the small aperture blurring the background.

The 50mm f/1.8 lens is capable of very sharp shots on a NEX camera.

If you want more DOF close the aperture down.

Yes your ISO was a bit high but its not that bad.

Just practice, you will soon get the hang of it.

I think that's as good as you would expect from a 16 Megapixel Bayer sensor. The hinge of the glasses is well rendered and the stubble is all there.

There is not much noise on a NEX at 800, and it is a good speed to use for hand held outdoor work.

The lighting is very flat (not necessarily a bad thing in itself). Direct sunlight with strong contrast gives an impression of greater sharpness.

Raw files often look slightly sharper than JPGs.

I get the same thing when I put my E50 lens on my original NEX-3. And yet, far better results with my 5R. Upgrade to at least an F3?

You didn't note which lens you were using, but even at F5 they should be all fairly sharp, usually performing their best between F5.6-6.3.

A few things to check...

Make sure to turn High ISO noise reduction to 'Low' - I m not sure of the threshold for the camera to kick in this processing but ISO800 may trigger extra noise suppression leading to squashed detail.

Explore your creative style options, as you can specifically bump up the sharpness, adjust saturation, or tweak contrast. Be aware however, aside from color shift between settings they aren't all the same and they act differently with different processing hidden behind each. I personally use 'landscape' style at +2 or+3 sharpness for almost everything I shoot, especially people. Most people would say I have it backwards as I am shooting portraits with a landscape setting, but there is a method to my madness. The landscape setting accentuate the green color channel (grass, foliage, etc), however the majority of the detail is also contained in the green color channel (each pixel site is comprised of 4 dots, red/blue/green/green) so by using the landscape mode I can improve detail handling better for immediate review.

Also, keep in mind that the out of camera JPEGs are processed by the camera for sharpness, and the C3 JPEG engine isn't as robust as the current NEX6 or especially the recent update in the A7/A7R (crazy sharp, noiseless details). If you want ultimate sharpness, shoot RAW and sharpen to taste in post.

Sonyshine said:

Its sharp on his glasses. The rest is down to the small aperture blurring the background.

The 50mm f/1.8 lens is capable of very sharp shots on a NEX camera.

If you want more DOF close the aperture down.

Yes your ISO was a bit high but its not that bad.

Just practice, you will soon get the hang of it.

Click to expand...

Well, I don't necessarily want more DOF..I just expected him to be sharper than what I'm seeing there at f/5.

if you check out this site, it will help you see that when shooting closeup the DOF (range of whats in focus) can be very small and its made worse as the NEX AF isnt the most accurate and Sony lens QC is dire (AF often off a bit)


at around 5 feet at f5 on your lens/NEX i think the DOF is about 7 inches so to get a head in focus you would normally target the AF point slightly behind the front of the face so you get the head and a couple of inches in front in focus and a nice defocused background.

Theres a nice cheat which is to buy the Sony focus bracket app (if u can get apps on your cam) which takes a shot at a point (yiou can set) in front and behind the AF point - so you could set this to a small variance and then you would have 3 shots to pick from which would probably give you a shot you like

Alternatively you could stop down to a higher f number but you would loose a lovely defocused background.

I've just got a mint (from a nikon dealer) 105f2.5 nikon (Sony dont do any bright tele lenses for the NEX) which is a pig to use on the NEX as theres no AF/image stabilisation/yuu loose most auto modes&aperture setting or ability to set a minimum shutter speed (critical) .. to show you the impact of a defocused background heres a test shot i took wide open in a dark coffee bar in dull dark London a few days ago. The shutter speed is only 1/40 (the prob of not being able to set a min shutter speed with the NEX) and although its stabilisaed on a table its got a touch of camera shake but you can see the impact of a small DOF (just auto everything in lightroom as a test)

Perceived sharpness has to do with contrast too. Try increase contrast or the "clarity" setting if you have Lightroom.

I don't see any problems with this pictures under the conditions it was taken and the exposure parameters used. You can see the DOF fall off on the back of the shoulders of the sweater. The front of the sweater is well resolved.

I just got the 5R and find the JPEGs out of the camera a lithe "better" than the C3. However, it may just be the difference in the way the JPEGS are processed. DXomark shows a slight difference in the sensors. The most important is the base ISO. Its interesting that they measure a slight advantage in S/N for the C3.

ksc6000 said:

This is shot at f5, 1/500 with my SEL50f18. I am just not getting the kind of wow that's sharp/detailed. Like an idiot i shot this at iso 800 when there was no need, but I don't think that should affect the sharpness at such at that iso. Is this the sharpest that can be expected from a nex?

Click to expand...

It IS the higher ISO, it has had noise reduction applied in the camera. Shoot RAW at ISO800 and you'll see there is more noise and more fine detail there.

To be fair, the noise reduction and coarse sharpening that has been applied will give you a decent print but if you want more fine detail at 100% view then shoot lower ISO and shoot RAW.

Andrew

ksc6000 said:

captura said:

I get the same thing when I put my E50 lens on my original NEX-3. And yet, far better results with my 5R. Upgrade to at least an F3?

Click to expand...

Many people on this forum have told me that upgrading to a 5R wouldn't get me any better still image quality, all else equal. So I've been holding off on upgrading because of that.

Click to expand...

How many of the people on this forum who you talked to actually own these cameras? I do. Are you running a poll or seeking informed opinions?

The 5R/T is identical to the 6 in picture taking quality.

ksc6000 said:

This is shot at f5, 1/500 with my SEL50f18. I am just not getting the kind of wow that's sharp/detailed. Like an idiot i shot this at iso 800 when there was no need, but I don't think that should affect the sharpness at such at that iso. Is this the sharpest that can be expected from a nex?

Click to expand...

If you want sharper shoot RAW and apply your own sharpening or tweak your sharpness settings for the JPEG files. As others said, try dropping noise reduction a bit if you can (don't recall settings on NEX).

Also, auto ISO is your friend. I just wish Sony let you set min shutter speed in A mode. Still, use auto ISO, then set A or S if you need a min shutter speed. That way you shoot at the lowest ISO you can.

Eric

alpha604 said:

You didn't note which lens you were using, but even at F5 they should be all fairly sharp, usually performing their best between F5.6-6.3.

A few things to check...

Make sure to turn High ISO noise reduction to 'Low' - I m not sure of the threshold for the camera to kick in this processing but ISO800 may trigger extra noise suppression leading to squashed detail.

Click to expand...

This.

The image is perfectly sharp for normal viewing. The main issue is that the use of high ISO has kicked in NR & over-exposure which is losing some detail on the woollen cardigan. This can be partially remedied by using curves to reduce the brightness of the cardigan but some lost detail due to highlight burnout cannot be recovered.

I presume the OOC camera file was a Jpeg which means that IQ is not optimised anyway.

ksc6000 said:

This is shot at f5, 1/500 with my SEL50f18. I am just not getting the kind of wow that's sharp/detailed. Like an idiot i shot this at iso 800 when there was no need, but I don't think that should affect the sharpness at such at that iso. Is this the sharpest that can be expected from a nex?

Click to expand...

Honestly, too many are focusing too much on ultimate sharpness, it's like if I can't see detail within the pixel itself, they are not happy.

The picture above is plenty sharp at the size uploaded, does it look softer at full size?

--

ksc6000 said:

This is shot at f5, 1/500 with my SEL50f18. I am just not getting the kind of wow that's sharp/detailed. Like an idiot i shot this at iso 800 when there was no need, but I don't think that should affect the sharpness at such at that iso. Is this the sharpest that can be expected from a nex?

Click to expand...

Is this the sharpest possible from C3 + SEL5018? Of course not - ISO800 underexposed the shot (via aperture and/or shutter speed) by two stops, and boosted the image brightness back up to "normal," and may have implemented some high ISO NR, which shouldn't affect it much, maybe, not too much anyway, probably, sort of, if you don't pixel peep... It's a perfectly sharp shot for regular use, but why would you use a compromised example as your benchmark?

Turn off OSS, put your camera on a tripod/table, use self-timer, set f5.6 or whatever is its sharpest aperture, base ISO, A Mode, focus carefully on something static, carefully process RAW, and you will see it at its sharpest - anything less than this benchmark is now guaranteed user error/shooting conditions/other compromises (lighting, subject movement etc), if such pixel peeping is a concern for you! (It is for me too, but then if a shot isn't razor sharp I may accept it for other qualities!)

I have seen razor sharp SEL5018 shots. My F3 is pretty good with a good lens I believe, your C3 should be at least as good:


F3 + Canon FDn 50/1.4 + Lens Turbo, somewhere around f4?

--

Regards,
Alan
my Flickr

[No message]

boardsy said:

ksc6000 said:

This is shot at f5, 1/500 with my SEL50f18. I am just not getting the kind of wow that's sharp/detailed. Like an idiot i shot this at iso 800 when there was no need, but I don't think that should affect the sharpness at such at that iso. Is this the sharpest that can be expected from a nex?

Click to expand...

Is this the sharpest possible from C3 + SEL5018? Of course not - ISO800 underexposed the shot (via aperture and/or shutter speed) by two stops, and boosted the image brightness back up to "normal," and may have implemented some high ISO NR, which shouldn't affect it much, maybe, not too much anyway, probably, sort of, if you don't pixel peep... It's a perfectly sharp shot for regular use, but why would you use a compromised example as your benchmark?

Turn off OSS, put your camera on a tripod/table, use self-timer, set f5.6 or whatever is its sharpest aperture, base ISO, A Mode, focus carefully on something static, carefully process RAW, and you will see it at its sharpest - anything less than this benchmark is now guaranteed user error/shooting conditions/other compromises (lighting, subject movement etc), if such pixel peeping is a concern for you! (It is for me too, but then if a shot isn't razor sharp I may accept it for other qualities!)

I have seen razor sharp SEL5018 shots. My F3 is pretty good with a good lens I believe, your C3 should be at least as good:

F3 + Canon FDn 50/1.4 + Lens Turbo, somewhere around f4?

Click to expand...

I think the difference between these pictures is mainly the lighting and the angle of the head. The glasses are no sharper than in the original photo (above), but the stubble is in the same plane of focus as the glasses. So the stubble is just a touch out of focus in the OP's photo.

D Cox said:

boardsy said:

ksc6000 said:

This is shot at f5, 1/500 with my SEL50f18. I am just not getting the kind of wow that's sharp/detailed. Like an idiot i shot this at iso 800 when there was no need, but I don't think that should affect the sharpness at such at that iso. Is this the sharpest that can be expected from a nex?

Click to expand...

Is this the sharpest possible from C3 + SEL5018? Of course not - ISO800 underexposed the shot (via aperture and/or shutter speed) by two stops, and boosted the image brightness back up to "normal," and may have implemented some high ISO NR, which shouldn't affect it much, maybe, not too much anyway, probably, sort of, if you don't pixel peep... It's a perfectly sharp shot for regular use, but why would you use a compromised example as your benchmark?

Turn off OSS, put your camera on a tripod/table, use self-timer, set f5.6 or whatever is its sharpest aperture, base ISO, A Mode, focus carefully on something static, carefully process RAW, and you will see it at its sharpest - anything less than this benchmark is now guaranteed user error/shooting conditions/other compromises (lighting, subject movement etc), if such pixel peeping is a concern for you! (It is for me too, but then if a shot isn't razor sharp I may accept it for other qualities!)

I have seen razor sharp SEL5018 shots. My F3 is pretty good with a good lens I believe, your C3 should be at least as good:

F3 + Canon FDn 50/1.4 + Lens Turbo, somewhere around f4?

Click to expand...

I think the difference between these pictures is mainly the lighting and the angle of the head. The glasses are no sharper than in the original photo (above), but the stubble is in the same plane of focus as the glasses. So the stubble is just a touch out of focus in the OP's photo.

Click to expand...

The near rim of the glasses in mine is OOF, as I focused on the near eye. But I think his entire shot is compromised at the 100% pp level, probably by the ISO800 - it has a "jpeggy" digital look that I believe mine doesn't. Using higher than base ISO to affect shutter speed or aperture in good light is merely under-exposing.

--
Regards,
Alan
my Flickr

boardsy said:

D Cox said:

boardsy said:

ksc6000 said:

This is shot at f5, 1/500 with my SEL50f18. I am just not getting the kind of wow that's sharp/detailed. Like an idiot i shot this at iso 800 when there was no need, but I don't think that should affect the sharpness at such at that iso. Is this the sharpest that can be expected from a nex?

Click to expand...

Is this the sharpest possible from C3 + SEL5018? Of course not - ISO800 underexposed the shot (via aperture and/or shutter speed) by two stops, and boosted the image brightness back up to "normal," and may have implemented some high ISO NR, which shouldn't affect it much, maybe, not too much anyway, probably, sort of, if you don't pixel peep... It's a perfectly sharp shot for regular use, but why would you use a compromised example as your benchmark?

Turn off OSS, put your camera on a tripod/table, use self-timer, set f5.6 or whatever is its sharpest aperture, base ISO, A Mode, focus carefully on something static, carefully process RAW, and you will see it at its sharpest - anything less than this benchmark is now guaranteed user error/shooting conditions/other compromises (lighting, subject movement etc), if such pixel peeping is a concern for you! (It is for me too, but then if a shot isn't razor sharp I may accept it for other qualities!)

I have seen razor sharp SEL5018 shots. My F3 is pretty good with a good lens I believe, your C3 should be at least as good:

F3 + Canon FDn 50/1.4 + Lens Turbo, somewhere around f4?

Click to expand...

I think the difference between these pictures is mainly the lighting and the angle of the head. The glasses are no sharper than in the original photo (above), but the stubble is in the same plane of focus as the glasses. So the stubble is just a touch out of focus in the OP's photo.

Click to expand...

The near rim of the glasses in mine is OOF, as I focused on the near eye. But I think his entire shot is compromised at the 100% pp level, probably by the ISO800 - it has a "jpeggy" digital look that I believe mine doesn't. Using higher than base ISO to affect shutter speed or aperture in good light is merely under-exposing.

--
Regards,
Alan
my Flickr

Click to expand...

I guess this makes me wonder if I'm not going to get that sharpness you got in that imagine even if I shoot raw, don't bump the iso above the base....simply because the SEL50f18 won't give me the sharpness you got w/ that lens?