Sharp Photos

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melaniew2000

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Name
Melanie
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Dont know if anyone can help me with this query - i took some pics recently at a friend of mines son's 1st birthday party and quite a few of the photos I took were in focus but didnt look sharp enough and im trying to work out why.

The lens i was using was a Nikon 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S

The photo ive put on here was taken at ISO 200, 80mm, f 6.3 and 1/200 sec

The photo is unedited apart from it being cropped a bit.

http://daisyphotography.smugmug.com/KidsPhotos/Alfie/17827897_BgwRfQ#1362938089_B8BWJ6k-A-LB

Any suggestions why it might not be sharp?
 
Hiya,

I guess the first question is are your photographs usually sharp with that lens? Some of the consumer level zooms just aren't that sharp. Another thing to note with these type of zooms is there is often a sweet spot in terms of focal length and aperture. It could simply be that the lens has poor sharpness @ 80mm f6.3.

Sometimes even with my decent primes I have to bounce the flash a little to get the sharpness I'm after i.e. the quality of light seems to impact sharpness.

I do agree however that the photo you posted is probably in focus and sharpness is lacking. It reminds me of my first lens - a Sigma 18-200 - HORRIBLE lens for sharpness (and in general - didn't know any better!!!). If you have the money pick up a 35mm f1.8 Nikon prime (cheapish). Sharp as a tack @ f1.8 and great bokeh.

Try playing around with the lens using different focal length's & apertures to find that sweet spot.. then write this down and hopefully this will help!

EDIT: Actually I've just noticed catch lights so perhaps you did use flash? In that case what it could well be is ambient light blurring with the flash (shouldn't really happen @ 1/200.. but it could!).
 
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Looks to me like motion blurr these little critters move quick.
If you have flash that is not on board try it, it will freeze the action some.
Also have you tried to test the lens to see if it is sharp. Use a tripod and timer so nothing can intefer and shot something with contrast too. Then check the edges, you could use a camera box as target.
 
I agree with ukcyberboy, it looks like a very small amount of motion blur. Although, if you look closely at the ear/hair area, it looks sharper. Perhaps you were a little too close to him and has he was crawling past you, the point of focus may have caught the ear - not the eyes.

Only my thoughts.
 
(From the original size) It looks like his face is out of focus somewhat, and like there is also a small amount of motion blur. The hair below his ear seems to be the part that's in focus, and some parts of his shirt. But I'm sure more should be in focus at f6.3... Just my opinion though.

Edit - basically what Gilly B said. Sorry, didn't see that post.
 
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thanks all of you for your responses. I did use a flashgun with diffuser on it as the photo was taken inside a bouncy castle so limited light in there as it was covered over the top so motion blur sounds likely to be the problem.
I do have my focusing on spot focusing (in the centre) and the pic has been cropped slightly as there was another body to the left of Alfie - which would tie in with the hair by the ear being in focus - as that would then be about the centre of the photo.
Am i best to have the focusing on spot focusing or the other one with like a matrix logo?
 
I'm not familiar with your camera, but with my Canon, I can either set the focus to static - focusses when I press the shutter and the focus stays at that point, or dynamic - the focus follows the movement of the subject. The latter is best on moving subjects. The static will miss the important point of focus if the subject is moving.
 
You missed focus on the face/eyes. The child's left shoulder looks to be in sharp focus.

And why use f/6.3? I would have opened up the aperture, upped the ISO to 400 to get a higher shutter speed and manually selected an off-center focus point placed on the child's eye. The white balance is a little on the warmer side as well.

Cheers
 
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