After one year with D7000 and service poitn check-up, still having problems with sharpness!

[morel22]

Hello,

so I owned my D7000 for over a year now. And recently sent to a Nikon service point to do a check-up and all I got is a long report explaining how phase detection AF works!

Previously I always thought it was me who is doing mistakes. Although I wasn't new to photography when I got the D7000 at all! But was new such a DSLR, and only then started using RAW, real manual setting, and a real viewfinder.

After all that time now, I'm still suffering inconsistencies with sharpness.

And in the cases I'm talking about it's obvious the camera focused right, but still the end result and the area/subject in focus is sharp enough.

I considered fine tuning, but haven't did it yet since it's the 16-85 mm lens I primarily use, and the widest aperture is already big! And even photos with F5.6 are suffering from this problem. So it's not probable to be a slight shift in AF!

Here are some examples. I appreciate any input from the more experienced on DPreview.. And any suggestion to to test the camera+lens correctly. I also own the 35mm F1.8 lens at the moment as well.

These were shot in



JPEG..

 

[morel22]

Here is the text one more time as I can't edit the typing mistakes anymore, sorry for the inconvenience: (the edited parts are underlined)

Hello,

so I owned my D7000 for over a year now. And recently sent to a Nikon service point to do a check-up and all I got is a long report explaining how phase detection AF works!

Previously I always thought it was me who is doing mistakes. Although I wasn't new to photography when I got the D7000 at all! But was new to such a DSLR, and only then started using RAW, real manual setting, and a real viewfinder.

After all that time now, I'm still suffering inconsistencies with sharpness.

And in the cases I'm talking about it's obvious the camera focused right, but still the end result and the area/subject in focus are not sharp enough.

I considered fine tuning, but haven't done it yet since it's the 16-85 mm lens I primarily use, and the biggest aperture is relatively small! And even photos with F5.6 are suffering from this problem. So it's not probable to be a slight shift in AF!

Here are some examples. I appreciate any input from the more experienced on DPreview.. And any suggestion to test the camera+lens correctly. I also own the 35mm F1.8 lens at the moment as well.

These were shot in JPEG.

 

[pavi1]

The pictures are really not that bad considering:

You are using a consumer lens wide open that is not going to be at its best wide open

VR on is not going to make your picture sharper at the used shutter speeds, very well may make it not as sharp when not needed.

Maybe use Standard or Portrait picture control unless you are doing lots of post processing.

All in all, using a consumer lens or most any lens for that matter is going to be sharper at least stopped down a little.

I downloaded the pics and looked at them in ViewNX 2 and they are not that bad for what you are doing.

 

[Mako2011]

morel22 wrote:

These were shot in



JPEG..

In the first pic focus is locked but the image is still soft. In the last two pics focus never locked. That is because you have your menu a2 set to "release" when you need it set to "focus". While you're there, set menu a3 to "off" and a1 to "release" or "focus". OK to leave a1 set to "focus" for now while you work this out.

You said these are out of camera Jpegs. You have your picture control set for "neutral" and sharpening set to "2". That will give you soft photos and slightly bland colors. Fine for shooting RAW but not JPEG. Try "standard" and set sharpening to 5 or 6. Re-shoot and you should see a huge improvement.

Once you change those settings then we can see if focus is OK. Just compare Liveview with Viewfinder focus at 50mm and a target 15 feet away. Make sure the target is big and flat and the light on it is real good. make sure your shutter speed is faster that 1/200s also. Good Luck


--
My opinions are my own and not those of DPR or its administration. They carry no 'special' value (except to me and Lacie of course)

 

[vzlnc]

Try with a smaller aperture. The photos are typical of wide aperture on consumer lenses, though I have seen sharper results from my 18-55 kit lens wide open at 55mm. I think its just the copy variation. Post some results with ur lens stopped down or with the 35mmf1.8.

 

[Bajerunner]

As others have said, those photos per se seem fine. I am an amateur, but here goes:

- JPEG as others have said, Nikon standard JPEG is softer than Canon or Olympus for example. Increase settings accordingly, sharpness, contrast particularly.

- perceived sharpness is also a function of contrast, both general and lens microconrast. Thus, a prime lens will be sharper than a consumer zoom, by far. The difference can be very marked.

- Post processing, even just for sharpness and contrast, will make the images much sharper, even those you already posted, you can add PP. One thing, over sharpening in PP can give artifact halos around edges, so you can sharpen, but don't overdo, the contrast slider helps here as welll. Also, a marginal increase in blacks in post processing, can give an extra edge to photos, similar to increasing contrast, but another step, once you balance it with exposure.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Reilly Diefenbach]

Many veterans have found the following settings to produce consistently razor sharp shots with the D7000:

AF C 9 points, AF On, Menu item a3 to off.

Shoot raw. You cannot come on here complaining about sharpness if you won't shoot raw, period.

If you shoot raw and keep your in camera sharpness at 3, you will get sharp without artifacts.

Convert with a click from raw to jpg in ViewNX2 or Lightroom.

There is nothing wrong with your lenses. f5.6 is extremely sharp with the 16-85VR.

Try to stay as low ISO as possible.

Use your fill flash.

 

[morel22]

Thanks for the replies; highly appreciate it.

A few points/questions before I post more photos.

I actually shoot in RAW. Photokina 2012 in Cologne, the event which the photos above taken at, is one of the very few events I shot in JPEG.

I will shortly post photos in RAW as well. But the thing is I'm getting the same thing with RAW. Same inconsistency. And thought that by processing Lightroom would automatically apply some post processing even if I tell it not to.

As to the picture control and sharpness, isn't this option only for JPEGs or did I get it wrong? And isn't it better to let the camera do minimal sharpness and let Lightroom do the job?

As to setting to neutral that is how I prefer my photos to look like except for portraits. But since I decided to shoot only in raw I give it too little attention thinking it plays no role. Even if I shot some events in JPEG like the one above.

Anyway, some points mentioned so far I never thought of. Like the fact that the 16-85 won't deliver its best wide open. I will try to get Viewfinder vs Live View photos soon. And will look for some smaller aperture photos in RAW in similar conditions and same unsharp results.

Meanwhile I was requested to post an F1.8 photo by the 35 mm and here is one from the same event and day as well:


This one is shot at F1.8, not sure whether the AF locked on the model really, but this is the only photo I didn't like coming from the 35mm lens.

---

These two shot at 2.8, both focused wrong, didn't hit the subject/area I wanted in mind, but the parts in focus are pretty sharp.

---

This one was shot at F5.6 (by mistake) and also delivered a sharp image specially given the conditions)


This was the set-up Nokia had to showcase the Lumia 920's PureView capabilities. Subjects were placed inside an extremely dark area. Also a very sharp image given it was shot at F1.8 and ISO 6400!

 

[morel22]

A little point I forgot to mention as well, I always leave a1 and a2 at focus priority. I know for moving object that would mean missing the moment but I still prefer it like this.

 

[PasD50]

do you use a protective filter in front of your lens? make sure to use the lens hood all the time!

 

[morel22]

PasD50 wrote:

do you use a protective filter in front of your lens? make sure to use the lens hood all the time!

 

[Mako2011]

morel22 wrote:

I will shortly post photos in RAW as well. But the thing is I'm getting the same thing with RAW. Same inconsistency. And thought that by processing Lightroom would automatically apply some post processing even if I tell it not to.

Not correct. Only ViewNX2 or CaptureNX2 applies the processing as set by camera and Lightroom may apply none at all depending on your settings. In fact...if your not doing any sharpening in light room then your pictures may be exceedingly soft for that reason. If you shoot RAW you have to PP or let Nikon software at least do some.

As to the picture control and sharpness, isn't this option only for JPEGs or did I get it wrong? And isn't it better to let the camera do minimal sharpness and let Lightroom do the job?

As I said earlier, If you're shooting RAW your picture control settings are less important as you can apply your own in PP...in this case though you seem to be applying none at all to your final picture so they seem dull and soft.

As to setting to neutral that is how I prefer my photos to look like except for portraits. But since I decided to shoot only in raw I give it too little attention thinking it plays no role. Even if I shot some events in JPEG like the one above.

It plays almost no role when shooting RAW, but if your not applying sharpening and contrast, etc. in LightRoom then you getting the worse case results. Also, you taking no control in what the camera focuses on....often it will focus on something other than the subject so expect out of focus subjects often.

 

[Mako2011]

morel22 wrote:

A little point I forgot to mention as well, I always leave a1 and a2 at focus priority. I know for moving object that would mean missing the moment but I still prefer it like this.

In every shot you have posted so far, menu a1 is set to "release". That is why most of your shots here were taken without focus lock. IMO, it's contributing to your problems. Combining that with AF-A and AF-Area mode "auto" and you have a "worse possible settings" situation.

 

[Mako2011]

morel22 wrote:

PasD50 wrote:

do you use a protective filter in front of your lens? make sure to use the lens hood all the time!

 

[morel22]

Mako2011 wrote:

Not correct. Only ViewNX2 or CaptureNX2 applies the processing as set by camera and Lightroom may apply none at all depending on your settings. In fact...if your not doing any sharpening in light room then your pictures may be exceedingly soft for that reason. If you shoot RAW you have to PP or let Nikon software at least do some.

Good to know. As to PP, I definitely do it myself. I know RAW always needs post processing. And I know PP quite well. No problems here. But what I meant is the initial results are not sharp enough in some cases. Like the ones I posted above. And sharpening them would usually induce noise even if done minimally.

It plays almost no role when shooting RAW, but if your not applying sharpening and contrast, etc. in LightRoom then you getting the worse case results. Also, you taking no control in what the camera focuses on....often it will focus on something other than the subject so expect out of focus subjects often.

What do you mean exactly by playing almost no role?

Is it because one could overwrite/correct everything in PP with RAW or is it because these settings only apply to the in-camera PP applied to develop the JPEGs?

Another technical question as well, when one uses the term "focus lock", is it meant literally when the camera locks the focus (the green point in the viewfinder) or the focus itself is locked and ultimately correct?

Like could it be that the camera locks the focus but the end result turns bad?

Elaborating more: Taking that eagle example (first photo above), could it be that despite the lock by the camera that it could sill be a focus problem or is it then ruled out and down to PP issues? Since there are no other objects in the photo in focus than eagle itself. If the AF point illuminated were on the correct spot, and the camera locked, would there be still room to have wrong focus?


PS: Off-topic, but is there an option to multi-quote posts?

 

[morel22]

Mako2011 wrote:

morel22 wrote:

A little point I forgot to mention as well, I always leave a1 and a2 at focus priority. I know for moving object that would mean missing the moment but I still prefer it like this.

In every shot you have posted so far, menu a1 is set to "release". That is why most of your shots here were taken without focus lock. IMO, it's contributing to your problems. Combining that with AF-A and AF-Area mode "auto" and you have a "worse possible settings" situation.

 

[morel22]

Mako2011 wrote:

morel22 wrote:

PasD50 wrote:

do you use a protective filter in front of your lens? make sure to use the lens hood all the time!

 

[Mako2011]

morel22 wrote:

Mako2011 wrote:

Not correct. Only ViewNX2 or CaptureNX2 applies the processing as set by camera and Lightroom may apply none at all depending on your settings. In fact...if your not doing any sharpening in light room then your pictures may be exceedingly soft for that reason. If you shoot RAW you have to PP or let Nikon software at least do some.

... But what I meant is the initial results are not sharp enough in some cases. Like the ones I posted above.

The ones above seem to have next to no sharpening applied so look like RAW files converted with sharpening set to zero or JPEG's done with the sharpening setting set to very low. That is what I would expect them to look like...soft almost blurred. That is normal for the settings you used.

It plays almost no role when shooting RAW, but if your not applying sharpening and contrast, etc. in LightRoom then you getting the worse case results. Also, you taking no control in what the camera focuses on....often it will focus on something other than the subject so expect out of focus subjects often.

What do you mean exactly by playing almost no role?

Is it because one could overwrite/correct everything in PP with RAW or is it because these settings only apply to the in-camera PP applied to develop the JPEGs?

Because the sharpening setting instruction in a RAW file is not applied by some RAW convertors. In some case it is. So it may play a role and it may not. Depends on the software you are using to convert and the way you have it setup.

Another technical question as well, when one uses the term "focus lock", is it meant literally when the camera locks the focus (the green point in the viewfinder) or the focus itself is locked and ultimately correct?

In this case when I say "focus lock" I mean the green light and the red box in ViewNX2. The focus plane can still be where you want it without the camera having obtained "focus lock" ...but with your settings of AF-A and AF-Area mode auto...that won't often be the case.

Like could it be that the camera locks the focus but the end result turns bad?

no

Elaborating more: Taking that eagle example (first photo above), could it be that despite the lock by the camera that it could sill be a focus problem or is it then ruled out and down to PP issues? Since there are no other objects in the photo in focus than eagle itself. If the AF point illuminated were on the correct spot, and the camera locked, would there be still room to have wrong focus?

Possible but can't tell as the picture looks about right for a setting of "neutral" and sharpening set to "2". A comparison using Liveview and Viewfinder focus would show if focus was off and needed fine tuning even with your settings.

PS: Off-topic, but is there an option to multi-quote posts?

Not sure, don't think so in the way you want.

 

[Locrian]

Try to calibrate your camera + lens with Focus Tune

http://michaeltapesdesign.com/focustune.html

It's impossible to find a camera/lens combination that doesn't back focuses or front focuses. This anomaly is present in one form or another in your shots. You need to use the micro-adjustment feature of your camera

 

[Mako2011]

morel22 wrote:

Mako2011 wrote:

morel22 wrote:

A little point I forgot to mention as well, I always leave a1 and a2 at focus priority. I know for moving object that would mean missing the moment but I still prefer it like this.

In every shot you have posted so far, menu a1 is set to "release". That is why most of your shots here were taken without focus lock. IMO, it's contributing to your problems. Combining that with AF-A and AF-Area mode "auto" and you have a "worse possible settings" situation.