5 Tips for Sharp Images
Derek Smith • 22 May 2020
5 Tips for Sharp Images
1. Shutter speed. Keep an eye on the shutter speed when taking your photo. Ideally the shutter speed should be at least the focal length of the lens, to avoid camera shake, so, a 50mm lens would require a minimum shutter speed of 1/50, and a 200mm lens 1/200. To maintain shutter speed, in Aperture priority keep the ISO as low as possible and adjust the aperture to balance. My Sony A7II has caught me out a couple of times, when using Auto ISO, as the shutter speed seems to remain at 1/60 no matter what lens was attached to the camera!!
2. Focusing, use a small focusing point, and position exactly onto the subject. Remember that there is roughly double the depth of field behind a focal point than there is in front. For portraits focus on the eyes, thus ensuring the nose is in focus, with the ears just beginning to soften focus. For landscape shots, focus a third of the way into the shot, rather than infinity (or horizon). For manual focusing use an in-camera aid such as magnification, or focus peaking to ensure pin sharp focusing.
3. Stop down the aperture. Most lenses have a “sweet spot” of sharpness, usually between f/4 – f/10. On a wide aperture lens of say f/1.8 stop down to f/2.8 for a sharper image, because the image corners may be soft, acceptable perhaps for a portrait, less so for landscapes which should use an aperture of between f/5.6 – f/14 for maximum sharpness corner to corner. Where possible avoid f/22 as most lenses are less sharp above f/16 because of diffraction of the light within the lens. Beware of using a lens at the extremities of performance, especially with zoom lenses, both with focal length, and aperture. As an example my Sony 18-135mm lens used at 18mm has severe vignetting, which is not seen with a JPEG straight from camera, as the in-camera correction worked well, however with processing RAW files, this would need to be corrected in the editing software on the computer.
4. Support. Hold the camera in both hands, with the eye pressed to the viewfinder, tuck both elbows in, and hold your breath as you press the shutter. Use a tripod, a bean bag on the ground, a lamppost, or a tree to steady the camera.
5. Camera settings. Turn off any noise reduction systems in the camera menus. Ensure that camera stabilisation is working. Some cameras have “In Body Image Stabilisation”, (IBIS), and other camera manufacturers stabilise the lenses, some manufacturers use a dual stabilised system, with stabilised lenses, and the body stabilisation working together. In practice IBIS tends to work well to a lens focal length of 100mm, and stabilised lenses are more effective at longer focal lengths. When hand holding the camera the difference when stabilisation is switched on is almost magical, gone are the jitters in the viewfinder, the steadiness is incredible, allowing slower shutter speeds in low light situations. When using the camera on a tripod, I would in general advise turning off the stabilisation.
The attached photo taken in an Australia winery was taken on a crop sensor camera, with a 35mm (equivalent) f/1.8 lens. I stopped down to f/2, 1/60, with ISO 1000 for a good shot in the low lighting conditions.
1. Shutter speed. Keep an eye on the shutter speed when taking your photo. Ideally the shutter speed should be at least the focal length of the lens, to avoid camera shake, so, a 50mm lens would require a minimum shutter speed of 1/50, and a 200mm lens 1/200. To maintain shutter speed, in Aperture priority keep the ISO as low as possible and adjust the aperture to balance. My Sony A7II has caught me out a couple of times, when using Auto ISO, as the shutter speed seems to remain at 1/60 no matter what lens was attached to the camera!!
2. Focusing, use a small focusing point, and position exactly onto the subject. Remember that there is roughly double the depth of field behind a focal point than there is in front. For portraits focus on the eyes, thus ensuring the nose is in focus, with the ears just beginning to soften focus. For landscape shots, focus a third of the way into the shot, rather than infinity (or horizon). For manual focusing use an in-camera aid such as magnification, or focus peaking to ensure pin sharp focusing.
3. Stop down the aperture. Most lenses have a “sweet spot” of sharpness, usually between f/4 – f/10. On a wide aperture lens of say f/1.8 stop down to f/2.8 for a sharper image, because the image corners may be soft, acceptable perhaps for a portrait, less so for landscapes which should use an aperture of between f/5.6 – f/14 for maximum sharpness corner to corner. Where possible avoid f/22 as most lenses are less sharp above f/16 because of diffraction of the light within the lens. Beware of using a lens at the extremities of performance, especially with zoom lenses, both with focal length, and aperture. As an example my Sony 18-135mm lens used at 18mm has severe vignetting, which is not seen with a JPEG straight from camera, as the in-camera correction worked well, however with processing RAW files, this would need to be corrected in the editing software on the computer.
4. Support. Hold the camera in both hands, with the eye pressed to the viewfinder, tuck both elbows in, and hold your breath as you press the shutter. Use a tripod, a bean bag on the ground, a lamppost, or a tree to steady the camera.
5. Camera settings. Turn off any noise reduction systems in the camera menus. Ensure that camera stabilisation is working. Some cameras have “In Body Image Stabilisation”, (IBIS), and other camera manufacturers stabilise the lenses, some manufacturers use a dual stabilised system, with stabilised lenses, and the body stabilisation working together. In practice IBIS tends to work well to a lens focal length of 100mm, and stabilised lenses are more effective at longer focal lengths. When hand holding the camera the difference when stabilisation is switched on is almost magical, gone are the jitters in the viewfinder, the steadiness is incredible, allowing slower shutter speeds in low light situations. When using the camera on a tripod, I would in general advise turning off the stabilisation.
The attached photo taken in an Australia winery was taken on a crop sensor camera, with a 35mm (equivalent) f/1.8 lens. I stopped down to f/2, 1/60, with ISO 1000 for a good shot in the low lighting conditions.
Louth Photographic Society
We held a print competition at our meeting last night with the categories of "Curves" and "Open". Our judge for the evening was the very competent, and accomplished Diane Seddon. Diane gave excellent critique of the prints, and one of the main themes that Diane highlighted was the presentation of the prints, siting print sizes, mount sizes, mount colours, and more thoughtful cropping of images selected for printing. Definitely food for thought, and addressing those issues will improve members points scoring in future competitions. All the prints submitted into this competition were of a very high standard, however, it was Dave Turner who swept the board with 1st, and 2nd placing in the "Open" category, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placing in the "Curves" category, it was a well deserved placing with some stunning prints. The Competition page of our website has been updated with the full results. Thanks to Diane Seddon for judging the competition, and Dave Mann for the refreshments.
Dave Turner, and I attended the LPA Fosters Challenge at Nettleham. The judge for the competition was Sue Wilson from Clay Cross. Axholme took first place with 19 points, Grimsby 2nd, and Cleethorpes 3rd. Louth was awarded 13 points, consisting of: Damselflies Mating – Graham Harrison 4pt Saltwick Bay – Tony Gaskins 4pt The Thinker – Keith Rossington 3pt Muted Swan – Harry Kerman 1pt Pier Number 9 – Dave Turner 1pt It was an interesting competition with some amazing images, a big thank you to Dave Turner for selecting the prints and submitting our entry into the competition.
Good Morning All Last week at the club member Chris Birchmore took us back in time with old photographs and a very interesting talk on one of Louth's old shops Platts stores. Platts stayed traditional for many years but as like most of the old shops eventually disappeared along with it's upside down sign. There is a blog on our website as well to look at. This week, Wednesday 16th April, we will hold our Print competition with the categories of "Curves" and "Open" to be judged by Diane Seddon of Cleethorpes. Harry is also now taking entries for the local PDI competition, with the categories of "Local Events" and "Open". Regards Graham
Our member Chris Birchmore gave an illustrated talk last night titled "The Shopkeeper and his Assistant". Chris related details of his family origins, and family history in Louth, in particular his connection with Platts Provision Store in Eastgate. It was a very interesting talk which evoked many memories with those members who had themselves been raised in Louth. Many thanks Chris, the preparation, and talk was excellent.
Good Morning All With all this warm weather some insects are out and about to photograph, I took this photograph in our garden with a Sigma 105mm lens to get close in on the bee. It is another month now, so you need to think about your "Prime Time" project, if you are taking part. Last week at the club Brian McCarthy FRPS showed us his personal journey in photography, Brian takes most of his photographs in his shed building models with lighting and creating photographs that most of us would never think of. This week, Wednesday 9th April, our member Chris Birchmore who will be presenting a historical talk entitled "The Shopkeeper and His Assistant" specifically talking about a relatives memories of working for Mr. Platt the Shopkeeper. For those who have prints for the next competition, with the categories of "Curves and Open", you need to send Dave Turner a list of your entries and bring the prints in this week. Regards Graham
Good morning, All Last week we held our spring committee meeting, we discussed many topics including the new program which will be available to you all soon and did some preparation for the AGM. This week, Wednesday 2nd April, Brian McCarthy FRPS will be coming along to show us some more of his work. Brian is an ex-member of our club but has more recently been a member of Grimsby Photographic Society. You can also now start sending your print titles for the Curves and Open competition to Dave Turner. Regards Graham
This year’s project is “Prime Time”, simply one photo taken each month with the same prime lens. The resulting 12 images will be shown to members on our “Project Night” next January. Why a prime lens? Well, a lens with a single focal length, a prime lens, provides a photographer with creative options. Composition of the image when using a lens such as this is essential, a photographer must choose a subject and move around that subject to obtain the photo. Every photographer should have a prime lens in their bag, and it doesn't need to be expensive. I recently switched from Fuji cameras to the Olympus / OM Systems camera ecosystem. Now, I use the OM Systems OM-1 camera with two zoom lenses and three f/1.8 prime lenses. For the “Prime Time” project, I'll creatively use the Olympus 45mm (90mm full-frame equivalent) f/1.8 lens, this lens is typically employed for portraits. This tiny, sharp lens, which captures beautiful portraits, was bought used for £149 from a reputable dealer.
Good Morning All Last week at the club we held our PDI competition for March, with the categories of "Including the Moon" and "Open" judged by Mike Bennett. It was a very good night with some excellent photographs entered in the competitions, especially the Open. There were three twenty points awarded out of twenty photographs in each subject, Tony Gaskins had a very good night winning both the subject and the Open. All the results are on our website under competitions. The NEMPF PDI Inter - club competition went ahead recently, not so many clubs entered this year, I think there were only three LPA clubs who had entered, Louth came 11th, I'll leave it there. Thank you to Harry for organising our entry. This week, Wednesday 26th March it is a committee meeting for committee members only to attend. To keep you busy though you could prepare your prints for the next print competition, with the categories of "Curves" and "Open". Regards Graham
At our meeting last night we held our Projected Digital Image (PDI) competition with the categories of "Including the Moon", and "Open". The judge for the evening was Mike Bennett. Mike skillfully judged the 33 submitted entries in the "Open" category, providing excellent feedback on the various images. After the break Mike appraised the 18 images in the "Including the Moon" category, this had been a difficult subject for members to photograph, and was also challenging for the judge. Congratulations to Tony Gaskins for his first placements with "Moonbell, Mablethorpe" in the "Including the Moon" category, and "Dawn, Whitby" in the "Open" category. As is usual, the Competition page of the website has been updated with the top three placements in each category, and full results. Many thanks to Mike Bennett for judging the competition, and Dave Mann for providing the refreshments.
This morning I took my used OM Systems OM-1 camera, and the used Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 75-300mm, f/4.8 -f/6.7 lens, recently purchased for £249, with me for a photographic walk around the nature reserve at Gibraltar Point. The weather was excellent, and I'm pleased with the resulting images of the various birds to be seen. I believe the bird reflected drinking from the pool is a Common Chaffinch, and the other bird perched on a log appears to be a Dunnock.
