Is this sharp? (Sony A7III w/50mm 1.8)

[sumx4182]

First off, be kind. I apologize in advance if I'm an idiot and am expecting too much from a cheap lens...

I'm working to sell off my Pentax gear to fund another lens or two, but I wanted to get the Sony and at least a cheap lens to have something in my hand to be able to sell off the rest of my gear. I just want to know if I'm getting typical results or if A) the 50 that is have is a bad sample, B) If I'm doing something wrong, C) All the above.

The first thing I noticed is that the Sony really wants to keep ISO low at the expense of the shutter. I know it is stabilized but the first shot indoors at f1.8 was only 1/50s at ISO500. I was a bit surprised it didn't bump up the shutter and the ISO a bit on it's own.


Sony A7III, Sony 50mm f1.8, f1.8, 1/50s, ISO 500

The next shot is outdoors and stopped down (better light, more DoF...). I think I had the ISO set manual on this one and that doesn't help sharpness, I know, but it's only ISO 500, nothing crazy. Why do I feel it's not sharp for f6.3???


Sony A7III, Sony 50mm f1.8, f6.3, 1/500s, ISO500

The last is a shot from my previous camera, a Pentax K-30 with admittedly a much better lens, the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and a higher shutter speed and lower ISO. (I know I'm not comparing apples to apples here, but it's not a scientific test.)


Pentax K-30, Sigma 18-35mm f1.8, @35mm, f1.8, 1/2000s, ISO100, -0.3EV

My gut reaction is that the last shot is sharper at f1.8 and 16MP ASP-C than the Sony is a f6.3 and 24MP FF.



Am I wrong?

 

[MILC man]

The first thing I noticed is that the Sony really wants to keep ISO low at the expense of the shutter.

if you don't like how any camera behaves, change the settings.

I know it is stabilized but the first shot indoors at f1.8 was only 1/50s at ISO500. I was a bit surprised it didn't bump up the shutter and the ISO a bit on it's own.

see above.

The next shot is outdoors and stopped down (better light, more DoF...). I think I had the ISO set manual on this one and that doesn't help sharpness, I know, but it's only ISO 500, nothing crazy. Why do I feel it's not sharp for f6.3???

we can't tell you why you feel any specific way about anything.

if you want opinions about the sharpness of a photo, post full-size pics.

The last is a shot from my previous camera, a Pentax K-30 with admittedly a much better lens, the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and a higher shutter speed and lower ISO. (I know I'm not comparing apples to apples here, but it's not a scientific test.)

My gut reaction is that the last shot is sharper at f1.8 and 16MP ASP-C than the Sony is a f6.3 and 24MP FF.

Am I wrong?

look at the glasses, your pentax shot is totally back-focused, it's a fail.

 

[sumx4182]

The first thing I noticed is that the Sony really wants to keep ISO low at the expense of the shutter.

if you don't like how any camera behaves, change the settings.

I know it is stabilized but the first shot indoors at f1.8 was only 1/50s at ISO500. I was a bit surprised it didn't bump up the shutter and the ISO a bit on it's own.

see above.

The next shot is outdoors and stopped down (better light, more DoF...). I think I had the ISO set manual on this one and that doesn't help sharpness, I know, but it's only ISO 500, nothing crazy. Why do I feel it's not sharp for f6.3???

we can't tell you why you feel any specific way about anything.

if you want opinions about the sharpness of a photo, post full-size pics.

The last is a shot from my previous camera, a Pentax K-30 with admittedly a much better lens, the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and a higher shutter speed and lower ISO. (I know I'm not comparing apples to apples here, but it's not a scientific test.)

My gut reaction is that the last shot is sharper at f1.8 and 16MP ASP-C than the Sony is a f6.3 and 24MP FF.

Am I wrong?

look at the glasses, your pentax shot is totally back-focused, it's a fail.

I didn't ask your opinion on the photo itself. The plane of focus is on the upper lip in that photo. It's sharper there than any area in any of the Sony photos. I'm just learning all the settings and behavior of the new camera and system and admitted as such. Your response was about what I expected from alot of people on message boards. Hopefully someone more helpful will come along and try to actually help.

 

[The Davinator]

While the Pentax shot does indeed look way sharper, are you able to post full size files on both so we can see a bit better? As it stands, the Sony lens looks soft.

 

[MILC man]

The first thing I noticed is that the Sony really wants to keep ISO low at the expense of the shutter.

if you don't like how any camera behaves, change the settings.

I know it is stabilized but the first shot indoors at f1.8 was only 1/50s at ISO500. I was a bit surprised it didn't bump up the shutter and the ISO a bit on it's own.

see above.

The next shot is outdoors and stopped down (better light, more DoF...). I think I had the ISO set manual on this one and that doesn't help sharpness, I know, but it's only ISO 500, nothing crazy. Why do I feel it's not sharp for f6.3???

we can't tell you why you feel any specific way about anything.

if you want opinions about the sharpness of a photo, post full-size pics.

The last is a shot from my previous camera, a Pentax K-30 with admittedly a much better lens, the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and a higher shutter speed and lower ISO. (I know I'm not comparing apples to apples here, but it's not a scientific test.)

My gut reaction is that the last shot is sharper at f1.8 and 16MP ASP-C than the Sony is a f6.3 and 24MP FF.

Am I wrong?

look at the glasses, your pentax shot is totally back-focused, it's a fail.

I didn't ask your opinion on the photo itself.

you put it in the thread with false claims about the sharpness.

The plane of focus is on the upper lip in that photo.

no, that is wrong, the plane of focus is over the left eyeball, you can clearly see that in the glasses, as I stated... it's a totally mis-focused shot.

it's also a bigger picture than the two sony pics, with the subject much bigger in the shot.

 

[sumx4182]

While the Pentax shot does indeed look way sharper, are you able to post full size files on both so we can see a bit better? As it stands, the Sony lens looks soft.

Yes, I can. Let me upload them. I agree though, I felt like the Sony isn't sharp but I didn't know if it was typical of the lens or a bad sample.

 

[The Davinator]

While the Pentax shot does indeed look way sharper, are you able to post full size files on both so we can see a bit better? As it stands, the Sony lens looks soft.

Yes, I can. Let me upload them. I agree though, I felt like the Sony isn't sharp but I didn't know if it was typical of the lens or a bad sample.

It loos a little softer than I would expect....so it may be not focussing quite on plane, or it could be an off sample.

 

[sumx4182]

While the Pentax shot does indeed look way sharper, are you able to post full size files on both so we can see a bit better? As it stands, the Sony lens looks soft.

Yes, I can. Let me upload them. I agree though, I felt like the Sony isn't sharp but I didn't know if it was typical of the lens or a bad sample.

It loos a little softer than I would expect....so it may be not focussing quite on plane, or it could be an off sample.

I'm at work so I don't have the camera in front of me but it looks like the export from the camera to playmemories was actually 1616 x 1080. I'm guessing something is wrong even though I shot in uncompressed RAW. I must be in a lower quality setting somehow. Let me check that at home and see if it was a problem with the capture or a problem with the file transfer.

 

[Stonedhouse]

The first thing I noticed is that the Sony really wants to keep ISO low at the expense of the shutter.

if you don't like how any camera behaves, change the settings.

I know it is stabilized but the first shot indoors at f1.8 was only 1/50s at ISO500. I was a bit surprised it didn't bump up the shutter and the ISO a bit on it's own.

see above.

The next shot is outdoors and stopped down (better light, more DoF...). I think I had the ISO set manual on this one and that doesn't help sharpness, I know, but it's only ISO 500, nothing crazy. Why do I feel it's not sharp for f6.3???

we can't tell you why you feel any specific way about anything.

if you want opinions about the sharpness of a photo, post full-size pics.

The last is a shot from my previous camera, a Pentax K-30 with admittedly a much better lens, the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and a higher shutter speed and lower ISO. (I know I'm not comparing apples to apples here, but it's not a scientific test.)

My gut reaction is that the last shot is sharper at f1.8 and 16MP ASP-C than the Sony is a f6.3 and 24MP FF.

Am I wrong?

look at the glasses, your pentax shot is totally back-focused, it's a fail.

I didn't ask your opinion on the photo itself.

you put it in the thread with false claims about the sharpness.

The plane of focus is on the upper lip in that photo.

no, that is wrong, the plane of focus is over the left eyeball, you can clearly see that in the glasses, as I stated... it's a totally mis-focused shot.

it's also a bigger picture than the two sony pics, with the subject much bigger in the shot.

The first four words of his original post were "First off, be kind".......

 

[The Davinator]

While the Pentax shot does indeed look way sharper, are you able to post full size files on both so we can see a bit better? As it stands, the Sony lens looks soft.

Yes, I can. Let me upload them. I agree though, I felt like the Sony isn't sharp but I didn't know if it was typical of the lens or a bad sample.

It loos a little softer than I would expect....so it may be not focussing quite on plane, or it could be an off sample.

I'm at work so I don't have the camera in front of me but it looks like the export from the camera to playmemories was actually 1616 x 1080. I'm guessing something is wrong even though I shot in uncompressed RAW. I must be in a lower quality setting somehow. Let me check that at home and see if it was a problem with the capture or a problem with the file transfer.

Sounds good.

 

[sumx4182]

The first thing I noticed is that the Sony really wants to keep ISO low at the expense of the shutter.

if you don't like how any camera behaves, change the settings.

I know it is stabilized but the first shot indoors at f1.8 was only 1/50s at ISO500. I was a bit surprised it didn't bump up the shutter and the ISO a bit on it's own.

see above.

The next shot is outdoors and stopped down (better light, more DoF...). I think I had the ISO set manual on this one and that doesn't help sharpness, I know, but it's only ISO 500, nothing crazy. Why do I feel it's not sharp for f6.3???

we can't tell you why you feel any specific way about anything.

if you want opinions about the sharpness of a photo, post full-size pics.

The last is a shot from my previous camera, a Pentax K-30 with admittedly a much better lens, the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and a higher shutter speed and lower ISO. (I know I'm not comparing apples to apples here, but it's not a scientific test.)

My gut reaction is that the last shot is sharper at f1.8 and 16MP ASP-C than the Sony is a f6.3 and 24MP FF.

Am I wrong?

look at the glasses, your pentax shot is totally back-focused, it's a fail.

I didn't ask your opinion on the photo itself.

you put it in the thread with false claims about the sharpness.

The plane of focus is on the upper lip in that photo.

no, that is wrong, the plane of focus is over the left eyeball, you can clearly see that in the glasses, as I stated... it's a totally mis-focused shot.

it's also a bigger picture than the two sony pics, with the subject much bigger in the shot.

The first four words of his original post were "First off, be kind".......

I already blocked that douche. I knew I would get a response like that. People seem to only want to judge sharpness if you posted side by side of a brick wall, with the exact same settings on a tripod in a sterile room ....you get the idea. I knew it wasn't the most scientific test in the world but I was hoping that someone could have an idea of the problem with real world samples.

 

[Zefah]

Why are you posting comparisons of 1.7MP images vs. 16MP images? Post the full-sized shots from the Sony camera.

If you are shooting people or moving subjects with otherwise automated settings, go into aperture priority mode and set auto ISO with a minimum shutter speed (probably 1/250 or higher for people just to be safe).

Finally, when shooting people, are you using continuous auto focus? Have your tried eye autofocus?

 

[MILC man]

The first thing I noticed is that the Sony really wants to keep ISO low at the expense of the shutter.

if you don't like how any camera behaves, change the settings.

I know it is stabilized but the first shot indoors at f1.8 was only 1/50s at ISO500. I was a bit surprised it didn't bump up the shutter and the ISO a bit on it's own.

see above.

The next shot is outdoors and stopped down (better light, more DoF...). I think I had the ISO set manual on this one and that doesn't help sharpness, I know, but it's only ISO 500, nothing crazy. Why do I feel it's not sharp for f6.3???

we can't tell you why you feel any specific way about anything.

if you want opinions about the sharpness of a photo, post full-size pics.

The last is a shot from my previous camera, a Pentax K-30 with admittedly a much better lens, the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and a higher shutter speed and lower ISO. (I know I'm not comparing apples to apples here, but it's not a scientific test.)

My gut reaction is that the last shot is sharper at f1.8 and 16MP ASP-C than the Sony is a f6.3 and 24MP FF.

Am I wrong?

look at the glasses, your pentax shot is totally back-focused, it's a fail.

I didn't ask your opinion on the photo itself.

you put it in the thread with false claims about the sharpness.

The plane of focus is on the upper lip in that photo.

no, that is wrong, the plane of focus is over the left eyeball, you can clearly see that in the glasses, as I stated... it's a totally mis-focused shot.

it's also a bigger picture than the two sony pics, with the subject much bigger in the shot.

The first four words of his original post were "First off, be kind".......

if you have a nicer way of telling him that he can't see the plane of focus in his own pics, feel free to post it.

I thought that I was being pretty reasonable.

 

[sumx4182]

While the Pentax shot does indeed look way sharper, are you able to post full size files on both so we can see a bit better? As it stands, the Sony lens looks soft.

Yes, I can. Let me upload them. I agree though, I felt like the Sony isn't sharp but I didn't know if it was typical of the lens or a bad sample.

It loos a little softer than I would expect....so it may be not focussing quite on plane, or it could be an off sample.

I'm at work so I don't have the camera in front of me but it looks like the export from the camera to playmemories was actually 1616 x 1080. I'm guessing something is wrong even though I shot in uncompressed RAW. I must be in a lower quality setting somehow. Let me check that at home and see if it was a problem with the capture or a problem with the file transfer.

Sounds good.

I checked the Playmemories app and it was set to 2MP by default. Why is that a thing!? Who would want that to be the default? Lol. I'll re-import later and see what happens. 1/12 the resolution would definitely cause issues!

 

[sumx4182]

Why are you posting comparisons of 1.7MP images vs. 16MP images? Post the full-sized shots from the Sony camera.

If you are shooting people or moving subjects with otherwise automated settings, go into aperture priority mode and set auto ISO with a minimum shutter speed (probably 1/250 or higher for people just to be safe).

i JUST realized the app wasn't importing at full size. I assumed it did that by default and it never asked me to pick a file size. I'm going to re-import the files when I'm home tonight and update the results. Easy mistake to make on a new system with all new apps and controls, I guess

I'll have to check the manual for that setting, my Pentax had TAv mode which was awesome. I'm gonna miss that.

 

[Stonedhouse]

The first thing I noticed is that the Sony really wants to keep ISO low at the expense of the shutter.

if you don't like how any camera behaves, change the settings.

I know it is stabilized but the first shot indoors at f1.8 was only 1/50s at ISO500. I was a bit surprised it didn't bump up the shutter and the ISO a bit on it's own.

see above.

The next shot is outdoors and stopped down (better light, more DoF...). I think I had the ISO set manual on this one and that doesn't help sharpness, I know, but it's only ISO 500, nothing crazy. Why do I feel it's not sharp for f6.3???

we can't tell you why you feel any specific way about anything.

if you want opinions about the sharpness of a photo, post full-size pics.

The last is a shot from my previous camera, a Pentax K-30 with admittedly a much better lens, the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and a higher shutter speed and lower ISO. (I know I'm not comparing apples to apples here, but it's not a scientific test.)

My gut reaction is that the last shot is sharper at f1.8 and 16MP ASP-C than the Sony is a f6.3 and 24MP FF.

Am I wrong?

look at the glasses, your pentax shot is totally back-focused, it's a fail.

I didn't ask your opinion on the photo itself.

you put it in the thread with false claims about the sharpness.

The plane of focus is on the upper lip in that photo.

no, that is wrong, the plane of focus is over the left eyeball, you can clearly see that in the glasses, as I stated... it's a totally mis-focused shot.

it's also a bigger picture than the two sony pics, with the subject much bigger in the shot.

The first four words of his original post were "First off, be kind".......

if you have a nicer way of telling him that he can't see the plane of focus in his own pics, feel free to post it.

I thought that I was being pretty reasonable.

I absolutely couldn't advise him as I am new to photography as well and therefore come to forums hoping for helpful assistance rather then being made to feel small.

 

[Zefah]

While the Pentax shot does indeed look way sharper, are you able to post full size files on both so we can see a bit better? As it stands, the Sony lens looks soft.

Yes, I can. Let me upload them. I agree though, I felt like the Sony isn't sharp but I didn't know if it was typical of the lens or a bad sample.

It loos a little softer than I would expect....so it may be not focussing quite on plane, or it could be an off sample.

I'm at work so I don't have the camera in front of me but it looks like the export from the camera to playmemories was actually 1616 x 1080. I'm guessing something is wrong even though I shot in uncompressed RAW. I must be in a lower quality setting somehow. Let me check that at home and see if it was a problem with the capture or a problem with the file transfer.

Sounds good.

I checked the Playmemories app and it was set to 2MP by default. Why is that a thing!? Who would want that to be the default? Lol. I'll re-import later and see what happens. 1/12 the resolution would definitely cause issues!

Yeah, I think they default it to that because they expect most people will just be transferring photos to their phone for the sole purpose of sharing on social media like Instagram.

 

[sumx4182]

The first thing I noticed is that the Sony really wants to keep ISO low at the expense of the shutter.

if you don't like how any camera behaves, change the settings.

I know it is stabilized but the first shot indoors at f1.8 was only 1/50s at ISO500. I was a bit surprised it didn't bump up the shutter and the ISO a bit on it's own.

see above.

The next shot is outdoors and stopped down (better light, more DoF...). I think I had the ISO set manual on this one and that doesn't help sharpness, I know, but it's only ISO 500, nothing crazy. Why do I feel it's not sharp for f6.3???

we can't tell you why you feel any specific way about anything.

if you want opinions about the sharpness of a photo, post full-size pics.

The last is a shot from my previous camera, a Pentax K-30 with admittedly a much better lens, the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and a higher shutter speed and lower ISO. (I know I'm not comparing apples to apples here, but it's not a scientific test.)

My gut reaction is that the last shot is sharper at f1.8 and 16MP ASP-C than the Sony is a f6.3 and 24MP FF.

Am I wrong?

look at the glasses, your pentax shot is totally back-focused, it's a fail.

I didn't ask your opinion on the photo itself.

you put it in the thread with false claims about the sharpness.

The plane of focus is on the upper lip in that photo.

no, that is wrong, the plane of focus is over the left eyeball, you can clearly see that in the glasses, as I stated... it's a totally mis-focused shot.

it's also a bigger picture than the two sony pics, with the subject much bigger in the shot.

The first four words of his original post were "First off, be kind".......

if you have a nicer way of telling him that he can't see the plane of focus in his own pics, feel free to post it.

I thought that I was being pretty reasonable.

I absolutely couldn't advise him as I am new to photography as well and therefore come to forums hoping for helpful assistance rather then being made to feel small.

I can absolutely see that the back half of the chin is in focus, along with part of the upper lip, the left eye, and part of her hair on the left side of the frame because her face is at an angle to the plane...she moved after I locked focus and the Pentax is slow to recover, which is one reason I left to Sony. It wasn't back focus from the camera. It was trying to shoot a moving toddler with a slow AF camera.
But that doesn't negate the fact that what is sharp in that photo appears sharper than any thing else in any of the other ones. That was the intent of my question, not whether or not my photo sucked. What an ass....but i've ignored him on here, so whatever.

 

[MILC man]

The first thing I noticed is that the Sony really wants to keep ISO low at the expense of the shutter.

if you don't like how any camera behaves, change the settings.

I know it is stabilized but the first shot indoors at f1.8 was only 1/50s at ISO500. I was a bit surprised it didn't bump up the shutter and the ISO a bit on it's own.

see above.

The next shot is outdoors and stopped down (better light, more DoF...). I think I had the ISO set manual on this one and that doesn't help sharpness, I know, but it's only ISO 500, nothing crazy. Why do I feel it's not sharp for f6.3???

we can't tell you why you feel any specific way about anything.

if you want opinions about the sharpness of a photo, post full-size pics.

The last is a shot from my previous camera, a Pentax K-30 with admittedly a much better lens, the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and a higher shutter speed and lower ISO. (I know I'm not comparing apples to apples here, but it's not a scientific test.)

My gut reaction is that the last shot is sharper at f1.8 and 16MP ASP-C than the Sony is a f6.3 and 24MP FF.

Am I wrong?

look at the glasses, your pentax shot is totally back-focused, it's a fail.

I didn't ask your opinion on the photo itself.

you put it in the thread with false claims about the sharpness.

The plane of focus is on the upper lip in that photo.

no, that is wrong, the plane of focus is over the left eyeball, you can clearly see that in the glasses, as I stated... it's a totally mis-focused shot.

it's also a bigger picture than the two sony pics, with the subject much bigger in the shot.

The first four words of his original post were "First off, be kind".......

if you have a nicer way of telling him that he can't see the plane of focus in his own pics, feel free to post it.

I thought that I was being pretty reasonable.

I absolutely couldn't advise him as I am new to photography as well

do you see how his pentax photo is backfocused? look for the plane of focus on the glasses.

his claim that a mis-focused photo is sharper is not logical.

and therefore come to forums hoping for helpful assistance rather then being made to feel small.

that's not a nicer way of telling him what he did wrong.

 

[sumx4182]

The first thing I noticed is that the Sony really wants to keep ISO low at the expense of the shutter.

if you don't like how any camera behaves, change the settings.

I know it is stabilized but the first shot indoors at f1.8 was only 1/50s at ISO500. I was a bit surprised it didn't bump up the shutter and the ISO a bit on it's own.

see above.

The next shot is outdoors and stopped down (better light, more DoF...). I think I had the ISO set manual on this one and that doesn't help sharpness, I know, but it's only ISO 500, nothing crazy. Why do I feel it's not sharp for f6.3???

we can't tell you why you feel any specific way about anything.

if you want opinions about the sharpness of a photo, post full-size pics.

The last is a shot from my previous camera, a Pentax K-30 with admittedly a much better lens, the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and a higher shutter speed and lower ISO. (I know I'm not comparing apples to apples here, but it's not a scientific test.)

My gut reaction is that the last shot is sharper at f1.8 and 16MP ASP-C than the Sony is a f6.3 and 24MP FF.

Am I wrong?

look at the glasses, your pentax shot is totally back-focused, it's a fail.

I didn't ask your opinion on the photo itself.

you put it in the thread with false claims about the sharpness.

The plane of focus is on the upper lip in that photo.

no, that is wrong, the plane of focus is over the left eyeball, you can clearly see that in the glasses, as I stated... it's a totally mis-focused shot.

it's also a bigger picture than the two sony pics, with the subject much bigger in the shot.

The first four words of his original post were "First off, be kind".......

if you have a nicer way of telling him that he can't see the plane of focus in his own pics, feel free to post it.

I thought that I was being pretty reasonable.

I absolutely couldn't advise him as I am new to photography as well

do you see how his pentax photo is backfocused? look for the plane of focus on the glasses.

his claim that a mis-focused photo is sharper is not logical.

and therefore come to forums hoping for helpful assistance rather then being made to feel small.

that's not a nicer way of telling him what he did wrong.

Missed focus doesn't mean "no focus"...what is actually in focus in that photo is sharper than ANYTHING in the Sony photos. That's the point. Forget that the plane of focus isn't where YOU think it should be. That's irrelevant. But the hair that's in focus, the part of the chin and the glasses that are in focus, are sharper than ANY SINGLE POINT in the Sony photo at f6.3. That's the point. You don't have to be a **** about it. If you don't have anything more constructive and helpful without arrogance, move the f on.