Do I have unrealistic sharpness expectations?

Rodger in Edmonton wrote:

16GreenBeans wrote:

Hey there all,

I've just purchased my first real camera and macro lens and have been really enjoying all the fun photo opportunities available at the 1:1 scale. However, looking at all of my photos, I keep finding myself unsatisfied with the level of sharpness I've been able to achieve.

Although everything looks pretty sharp zoomed out, which is probably perfect, I keep thinking that because I can't zoom in 150% and still see sharp detail that my photos are "not good enough". It's like I need everything to be absolutely crystal clear in terms of sharpness and this makes me think my current photos are "noisy" or "blurry".

I need to ask, I'm crazy right? Is the level of sharpness I'm getting perfectly fine and I'm chasing some impossible goal, or could my work actually be clearer in terms of detail?

Here's some examples of what I mean. Zoomed out, these photos look nice and sharp, totally ok. But zoomed in, they look rather blurry/noisy. That said, I also have no lighting equipment whatsoever (unsure if that might make things worse).

This is normal right?

(Note: The files are pretty big! Also, the second photo of the wall seems to not load in high quality unless you open it in a new tab.)

Gold gilding on an old book.

Paint cracks on a wall.

Cheers!

GB.

You are using a tripod , manual focus and remote - correct?

If so, these puppies should be razor sharp unless the lens is a dog by nature.

If this is hand held with IS at 1/13 and ISO 100

Try hand held with ISO 400 - 800 and a much higher shutter of at least 1/500 and report the results.

If you are using flash use hypersync with a higher shutter speed.

Hey Rodger,

Actually, that's probably why these images might not be razor sharp.

I don't have a remote trigger and my tripod may or may not have the stability of a one-legged drunken pirate in a carnival funhouse. I do use manual focus combined with focus peaking, but it may have been undermined by the first two issues.

I also don't have a flash yet, but I'm planning to try and set up a diffused light source. I likely will end up upgrading my tripod rather soon-ish.

Thanks for the suggestions!