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A6000 not as sharp as RX100??

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Hans vdC

Hans vdC

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I've been using my a6000 for a few weeks now, coupled with both the 1650 and the Zeiss 24mm and Zeiss 16-70 (so not exactly crap lenses). Way too often, I find the pictures are not that sharp especially when photographing people (kids).

Mind, I'm using the exact same technique as on the RX100. I put the AF on either center or automatic, with face detect enabled. When the square around faces appear, I take the picture. Easy as that. Same aperture (usually work with fixed aperture).

A lot of times (way too often) on the a6000, the pictures tend to come out pretty soft. Not oof, just soft. When taking the exact same picture with the rx100 (tested them side by side), with the same technique, the faces (and eyes) are tack sharp, even sharper than what I'm getting with the 24Z (sometimes the 24Z 'nails' it, and then I get very sharp images, but 9/10 they're not).

You might suspect this is user error, but I've owned both the NEX5n and a NEX6 before, so I guess I can say I know my way around the system. I also own the Canon 5D3 with some L glass so I can also say I know a thing or two about photography (being a paid wedding photographer).

I'm not dissing the a6000 nor the lenses, but I wonder what could be the reason for this. Do I have a faulty a6000 AF system? Or anything else that could be missing? The pictures I got from my NEX6 with the 24Z were WAY sharper. But strange thing is, the a6000 sometimes is VERY sharp so it's not a sensor defect.

Btw, I always made sure that shutter speed was high enough to avoid camera shake. Any help appreciated.

ps: this is bugging me so much that I'm even thinking about selling the a6000 with all the lenses and get the rx100m3 coupled with my 5D3.
 
The RX100 might be a better fit for you and your style of shooting. I assume you don't shoot in full manual mode but let the camera do the heavy work for you. If you shoot better with the RX100 in Auto or Scene mode, and rarely use Manual mode, then go for the RX100. But I seriously doubt the RX100 can hold a candle up to the a6000 when both are placed in the hands of a professional. There is no way a little P$S can compete against the well critiqued a6000. I guess what I'm saying is that it sounds like the results you are getting are user induced rather than camera induced issues. Practice with the a6000 and eventually I bet you will want to throw rocks at the RX100.
 
I know why you ask but there's little use. It is not like I scientifically test this stuff out. I take pictures and then check the results. I just notice the a6000 missing (face) af a lot compared to the rx100 with comparable shutter speeds and aperture settings (and I know the rx100 has a larger focal plane due to sensor size)
 
Electronic first curtain on?

Is the softness appearing with equal frequency across all of your lenses or does it favor the stabilized (or non-stabilized) more?

For long lenses I have observed that I have to get a shutter speed of 3X the focal length to assure sharpness (same with the NEX-7).
 
Hans von der Crone said:
I've been using my a6000 for a few weeks now, coupled with both the 1650 and the Zeiss 24mm and Zeiss 16-70 (so not exactly crap lenses). Way too often, I find the pictures are not that sharp especially when photographing people (kids).

Mind, I'm using the exact same technique as on the RX100. I put the AF on either center or automatic, with face detect enabled. When the square around faces appear, I take the picture. Easy as that. Same aperture (usually work with fixed aperture).

A lot of times (way too often) on the a6000, the pictures tend to come out pretty soft. Not oof, just soft. When taking the exact same picture with the rx100 (tested them side by side), with the same technique, the faces (and eyes) are tack sharp, even sharper than what I'm getting with the 24Z (sometimes the 24Z 'nails' it, and then I get very sharp images, but 9/10 they're not).

You might suspect this is user error, but I've owned both the NEX5n and a NEX6 before, so I guess I can say I know my way around the system. I also own the Canon 5D3 with some L glass so I can also say I know a thing or two about photography (being a paid wedding photographer).

I'm not dissing the a6000 nor the lenses, but I wonder what could be the reason for this. Do I have a faulty a6000 AF system? Or anything else that could be missing? The pictures I got from my NEX6 with the 24Z were WAY sharper. But strange thing is, the a6000 sometimes is VERY sharp so it's not a sensor defect.

Btw, I always made sure that shutter speed was high enough to avoid camera shake. Any help appreciated.

ps: this is bugging me so much that I'm even thinking about selling the a6000 with all the lenses and get the rx100m3 coupled with my 5D3.
Click to expand...
I think the Zeiss 24mm is sharpest around F6.


Have you tried some comparison shots at that aperture?
 
Hans von der Crone said:
A lot of times (way too often) on the a6000, the pictures tend to come out pretty soft. Not oof, just soft. When taking the exact same picture with the rx100 (tested them side by side), with the same technique, the faces (and eyes) are tack sharp, even sharper than what I'm getting with the 24Z (sometimes the 24Z 'nails' it, and then I get very sharp images, but 9/10 they're not).

You might suspect this is user error, but I've owned both the NEX5n and a NEX6 before, so I guess I can say I know my way around the system. I also own the Canon 5D3 with some L glass so I can also say I know a thing or two about photography (being a paid wedding photographer).
Click to expand...
Since the faces are at or near the center of the frame, they would only be "soft" (as opposed to oof) if the lens was smudged or dirty. The only other reason would be if the lens in question was of extraordinary poor quality, as "softness" in bad lenses rarely are soft in the center. The lenses you use are clearly not bad quality lenses.

No, I'm afraid you are seeing is slightly out of focus faces. Often, with a shallow depth of field, the camera may focus on a nose, which is sharp, and the eyes are slightly oof. Or the camera focused on something nearby. When doing people shots, especially if they are not posing and you are not using flash, use an aperture of at least f5.6 or even f8.0. Make sure your shutter speed is amply fast enough to freeze action, as motion blur is often mistaken for softness. Choose a focus pattern that suits the situation - if you are confident you can get your desired subject (faces, eyes) in the center, use a medium flexible spot. If not, the zone focus on the A6000 is quite good.

I own an A7 and an A6000. I have also owned an RX100i and RX100ii. I can assure you that, as good as the RX100 is, it isn't nearly the complete camera of the A6000. The sharpness, dynamic range and contrast are much improved. I can also assure you the autofocus on the A6000 is world class.
 
Thanks for your reply. I know to take into account what you say. Just know that I used the nex5n and the nex6 with the same lenses before without issue, yet somehow I get way more 'soft' (or slightly oof) shots with the a6000. Really cant find out why, very frustrating.
 
MarsObserver said:
Hans von der Crone said:
A lot of times (way too often) on the a6000, the pictures tend to come out pretty soft. Not oof, just soft. When taking the exact same picture with the rx100 (tested them side by side), with the same technique, the faces (and eyes) are tack sharp, even sharper than what I'm getting with the 24Z (sometimes the 24Z 'nails' it, and then I get very sharp images, but 9/10 they're not).
Click to expand...
I think the Zeiss 24mm is sharpest around F6.

Have you tried some comparison shots at that aperture?
Click to expand...
I have found that a good copy of the Sony Zeiss 24 can be very sharp, even wide open. This SLR Gear review also finds, "sharpness is excellent even wide open . . ."
 
Hans von der Crone said:
Thanks for your reply. I know to take into account what you say. Just know that I used the nex5n and the nex6 with the same lenses before without issue, yet somehow I get way more 'soft' (or slightly oof) shots with the a6000. Really cant find out why, very frustrating.
Click to expand...
There is always the (remote) possibility that you have a defect in the sensor. The only way to identify this is to take test shots on a tripod.
 
I see movement blur in the A6000 shot, and the face is slightly OOF and/or also suffering the same motion blur. I assume this is OOC JPEG, and if so, you're doubly damned with the camera processing fighting the blur.

Then there's the fact that the A6000 is at ISO-1600 here, vs. the ISO-320 of the RX100, which alone would account for a big JPEG clarity discrepancy even considering the sensor size difference... Depending on your OOC settings.
 
You're shooting JPEG? What are your settings? Do you have smooth skin setting on? NR setting? WB? You resized in post? What procedure?

Finally, I think it's been mentioned but f4 might be not tack sharp with some lenses. Letting the camera pick focus from a wide area could also contribute.

Many factors here that could be reducing sharpness.
 
pixelpushing said:
You're shooting JPEG? What are your settings? Do you have smooth skin setting on? NR setting? WB? You resized in post? What procedure?

Finally, I think it's been mentioned but f4 might be not tack sharp with some lenses. Letting the camera pick focus from a wide area could also contribute.

Many factors here that could be reducing sharpness.
Click to expand...
JPEG, standard settings. Smooth skin off, NR to low. Auto WB. No resize. Like I posted before, I got way better/sharper shots with my 5N + NEX6 at same settings and same use. At the exact same settings, the rx100 gives me sharp and in focus shots 99% of the time.

I just snapped over 200 pictures of my daughter, outside in bright daylight. Shutter speed above 1/400sec, AF-S, with face recognition on. Asked her to sit still and snapped away. Then took shots from the same angle/position with the rx100. The rx100 shots are amazingly sharp, the ones from the a6000 (with 3 different lenses) not so much. They're not blurry and not 'bad' when viewing at normal viewing size, but when pixel peeping the difference in sharpness is night and day.
 
Hans von der Crone said:
pixelpushing said:
You're shooting JPEG? What are your settings? Do you have smooth skin setting on? NR setting? WB? You resized in post? What procedure?

Finally, I think it's been mentioned but f4 might be not tack sharp with some lenses. Letting the camera pick focus from a wide area could also contribute.

Many factors here that could be reducing sharpness.
Click to expand...
JPEG, standard settings. Smooth skin off, NR to low. Auto WB. No resize. Like I posted before, I got way better/sharper shots with my 5N + NEX6 at same settings and same use. At the exact same settings, the rx100 gives me sharp and in focus shots 99% of the time.

I just snapped over 200 pictures of my daughter, outside in bright daylight. Shutter speed above 1/400sec, AF-S, with face recognition on. Asked her to sit still and snapped away. Then took shots from the same angle/position with the rx100. The rx100 shots are amazingly sharp, the ones from the a6000 (with 3 different lenses) not so much. They're not blurry and not 'bad' when viewing at normal viewing size, but when pixel peeping the difference in sharpness is night and day.
Click to expand...
I agree with you. If my NEX-7 gave consistently soft images with my SEL50, I wouldn't be too happy either. It does require pixel peeping to notice, but it seems to me that AF is slightly off.

F4 is certainly sufficiently stopped down on the SEL50 to give very sharp results, so I'd be very surprised if the same wasn't the case with your Zeiss lenses, although I'm not lucky enough to own any of the lenses you're shooting with.

I wonder if you would get better results with a little fine-tuning using DMF? That's not a suggested solution for you, rather a way of ascertaining whether it is the AF calibration could be at fault here.

What happens if you adjust the camera's sharpness setting to +3 (assuming you have it set to zero)?

Judging by some samples I've seen, the A6000 is clearly capable of pixel-level sharpness so it could be that your camera has a minor fault. Is it possible for you to return it or to shoot with another unit in a shop to do a comparison?
 
Better ?

edf84f93a474431e8f6ae342eb413a53.jpg

Better at 100% ?

resized down, slight adjust



Try some sets in MF only to see it's really a slight focus problem ?
 
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