Beginner Why are these pics not sharp?

PatrickO

PatrickO

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Patrick
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Taken with a Nikon D300 and 50mm f/1.8. Both at f/2 so obviously shallow DOF.
I was aiming for focus on the eye nearest camera. Both pics seem OOF and grainy at the eyes
Missed the focus point? Camera shake?
I know neither are great shots (blown highlights etc) so not asking for general crit.

#1 ISO400 50mm f/2 1/100
XiUFMjz.jpg


#2 ISO400 50mm f/2 1/250
L2pNrGw.jpg
 
For the top one it looks like a good old missed focus. If you look at his shirt just to the right of the cheek we can see and below the ear, it's the sharpest point. Looks to be a couple of inches in front of his eyes/nose so either you or he moved when the shutter went or the camera/lens missed the focus.

Took me a bit longer to decide on number two but again the focus looks to have come up a little short, the strings of the guitar being in reasonable sharpness whereas his face being a few inches further back is just a tad soft.

it's either an issue of technique or the equipment is failing you. looks to be a bit of chromatic aberration (colour fringing) but considering it's a fairly contrasty image the lens will naturally be challenged. Stop down a touch perhaps, and experiment in different light.
 
Look at the shirt : it looks like front-focus to me. Only an inch on the top one, but still, also the possibility of his face moving to further unsharpen his eye?
If you're going for a pin-sharp check on his shoulder you really nailed it!
 
Thanks guys. Just user error then.
I'd be fine if only it was fashionable to have sharp focus on the shoulder instead of the eyes :)
 
I'd agree with the front focus comments but as a last resort read up on the D300s micro adjustment, I've had a few lenses where I've had to put in some small adjustments (I would not recommend just randomly changing the settings but if you find that after setting up your camera on your tripod & using a shutter release, etc, that you're still missing focus more often than not, it may be something to look into)
 
PatrickO said:
Thanks guys. Just user error then.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily.
If your particular body + lens is autofocusing on the bloke's eye yet front-focusing so much it really needs sorting out,
sometimes that isn't user-error at all.
Do the angled tape measure thing (or the cards/charts y'know) and find out.
 
Ulfric M Douglas said:
Not necessarily.
If your particular body + lens is autofocusing on the bloke's eye yet front-focusing so much it really needs sorting out,
sometimes that isn't user-error at all.
Do the angled tape measure thing (or the cards/charts y'know) and find out.
Click to expand...

Hope I did this right. This is a 1:1 crop. 200ISO, f/1.8, 1/125. Focus should be on the 30cm, 1' mark

wMyFmJ8.jpg
 
It'd be worth downloading and printing a focus chart, if the camera was supported securely for that last shot I'd say it's actually sharper on the 8 and 9 behind the 30 mark, which would eliminate front focusing and put the original picture defects back to user error.....which I suppose is preferable as your improvements in technique will solve it.
 
c-m said:
How could it be user error? If your focus point is on the eye (assuming you use single point focus) and the camera doesn't focus on that spot, then it's definitely not user's fault.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, plenty of ways to get it wrong. At f/2 even small movements of camera of subject can put the focus out. Or a bit of camera shake. I also tend to focus lock then recompose which gives extra room for error.
 
I suppose forwards or backwards movement or recomposing would do it. Camera shake wouldn't change the plane of the focus, though of course would effect overall sharpness at the shutter speed he is using.
 
looks sharper from about 4-9 it looks like some noise in the photo to
 
Patrick I looked at your crop, magnified and I see it sharpest at about 9cm, that's just 1cm back from the focus point, less 'cos of the angle : which I'd guess is within manufacturer's tolerances so no front-focus with this camera+lens. One thing though, is the sharpest point sharp enough? What's it like at F2.8?
So ... maybe something about the way you took the guitarist picture doesn't suit your setup, I can't be more helpful, sorry.
 
check the sharpening setting i recently sold a d300 and my boy in his wisdom turned it all the way down
 
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