Anyone have any Nikon D7000 tips for getting sharp and very focused images?

A

aushia_alive

New member
I've had the D7000 for several months now and although I'm a very amateur photographer, I'm very FRUSTRATED with my lack of crispness and focus in my images. I have used a D90 in before and those images turned out incredible compared to anything I can get in my camera...that was with the lens that comes with it too.
I'm using a Nikkor 50mm/1.4, shoot in manual and raw. I have taken a few workshops, but still am not loving what I'm getting.

Any help???
 
To get sharp images you need to eliminate:

1) Camera shake.
Shoot at 1/125th of a second or faster. At 100mm focal length or longer shoot at 1/(focal length x 1.5). Invest in a cheap tripod and an Infra red remote shutter release...I think it's an ML-L3.

2) Depth of field and lens sharpness issues.
Shoot at F5.6, 8, or 11. Most lenses are sharpest at those stops.
At F1.4 you have no depth of field. That may be your issue.

3) Technical issues -- make sure your lens autofocus is turned ON. Verify your camera settings. Try the automatic setting and see what kind of results you get. There are few people that can compete manually against "auto" in 90% of cases...

That 50mm 1.4 is a fast sharp lens. It is doubtful that there's a problem with lens quality.
 
Could you upload a sample shot e.g. on www.tinypic.com, and tell us where exactly you had focused?

Like i did in this shot, very similar to the newspaper test that rjbatc suggested:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17267323/Posted/DSC_3824.NEF-1000.jpg

There i had focused on the word "had", and the autofocus worked nicely.

If you are using your lens wide open, then the depth of field will be very shallow, and then even a minimal focusing problem can have a huge effect. With such a 45 degree shot you can test if the autofocus hits right on target, or a bit too far or too short.

Also note that most lenses achieve their best sharpness about two stops down from their maximum aperture...but the 50mm/1.4 already should be perfectly sharp at f/2 and very usable wide open at f/1.4.
 
Higher F-stop will get you more depth of field, so it will be easier for you to focus, but that is not a real solution.
Practice focusing, and maybe try the "newspaper test" - take a newspaper, point your camera at it at about a 45 degree angle, go as close as possible and try to focus the line of text in the middle.
Then take a photo. Is it sharp?
 
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