50mm 1.4 sharpness

[jazman77]

Hi,

Finally bought my Nikkor 50mm 1.4d lens few days ago. Been fooling around with it ever since. I tried taking pictures of my 9mth old son but only managed to get a few good ones that I like. Most of the pics I took came out blur as he moves alot.

Some of the pics that appears sharp and nice on the camera LCD but when I zoom in using the images doesn't seem very sharp. Is there any way to test to see if my lens is working properly (sharpness)? Still can go for one to one exchange up till 7 days. Pls advice. Thanks.

[Kit]

How can you blame the lens if you know the blur is caused by movement??? Use a higher shutter speed.

[Parchiao]

Use bounce flash if indoors. Stop down to get better sharpness. Make sure shutter speeds are faster, relative to the speed of your kid. Higher ISO can help too.

[mylau]

u judge a lens sharpness using the camera LCD? i suggest u load it up to a PC.

[Squid]

Originally Posted by jazman77 Is there any way to test to see if my (Nikon 50mm F1.4) lens is working properly (sharpness)?

Refer to comments from users posting using this lens at web page of SLR Gear. It is a good prime lens.

Originally Posted by jazman77 Finally bought my Nikkor 50mm 1.4d lens few days ago. Been fooling around with it ever since. I tried taking pictures of my 9mth old son but only managed to get a few good ones that I like. Most of the pics I took came out blur as he moves alot.

Digital SLR Guide provides advice on capturing children by freezing their motion. Another lead on freezing motion is at this Clubsnap thread. Alternative to freezing motion by higher shutter speed is to do panning.

[scenar]

to really test the sharpness of the lens. Shoot a fixed stastionary target and shoot fr a tripod. the DOF is very shallow @ f1.4, softness can easily be attributed to the camera shifting after the lens has focused.

Don't be too quick to blame the equipment.

[The Real Kal]

Perhaps if you tune up the default sharpening to +1 you might see some improvements. Some Nikons tend to be a little conservative when it come to sharpening.

[brian]

Take picture of an object that's stationary, camera on a sturdy tripod, and set the 50mm at say f5.6-f8 (I dont have this lens, but I assume thats where the peak sharpness is at). Preferably at a scene with not too much exposure differences in the same scene so you can see the edges. Load the picture to your PC and check sharpness. If its sharp enough, then its a technique problem.

Then again, if its not sharp enough for you, it could be subjective, and unless its really really blur (which is unlikely) its difficult in singapore to go to back to the shop and tell them you want it changed, because its not as sharp as you expected....

[AJ23]

P mode?

The so call not sharp pics that you've got, most likely due to slow shutter speed, indequate ISO, or your hand shaking the cam while taking the pictures. Check the shooting details on ur "blurred" pictues.

Ruling out lemon or faulty lense cuz u said some pics sharp while some aren't.

If 50mm f/1.4 is not sharp (though not at all apertures tact sharp), I dunno what other lenses are sharp.

[Lumiere]

my 50mm f1.8 is pretty sharp...u can try mine and we can exchange...i top up $100 for urs hahahah

[sophiandy]

The lens that you'd bought is a very good lens indeed. I don't think it's the lens' fault. It could be your camera settings or perhaps, ... your shooting technique. Try experimenting with those tips that were suggested by other CS-ers. It may help improve your photo sharpness.

Originally Posted by jazman77 Some of the pics that appears sharp and nice on the camera LCD but when I zoom in using the images doesn't seem very sharp. Is there any way to test to see if my lens is working properly (sharpness)? Still can go for one to one exchange up till 7 days. Pls advice. Thanks.

[blowblue]

Post your pictures (unmodified), both sharp and not sharp, to a website so that we can view it....a picture is worth a thousand words...plus we can view the exif data (detailing what settings you used) to figure out your problem.

I just shot this recently with 50mm f/1.8 D nikkor, picture was not sharpened, only colour and WB adjustments.
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?p...079016&size=lg

How does this compare to your lenses? If still not happy with your lenses..can exchange with mine, I can top up with some money..lol

[huggable]

What f/stop did you use? You're likely to get motion blur if the shutter speed is anything slower than 1/50sec. In addition, is your cam set to AF-S or AF-C? IIRC the camera will still fire off even if it can't focus at AF-C mode.

If you shoot at f/1.4, the focus point is very important, due to the shallow DOF. Typically I'd make sure the eyeballs are in focus.

The 50mm 1.4 is a great lens. You might need a little practice to make the best out of it!

Originally Posted by jazman77 Hi, Finally bought my Nikkor 50mm 1.4d lens few days ago. Been fooling around with it ever since. I tried taking pictures of my 9mth old son but only managed to get a few good ones that I like. Most of the pics I took came out blur as he moves alot. Some of the pics that appears sharp and nice on the camera LCD but when I zoom in using the images doesn't seem very sharp. Is there any way to test to see if my lens is working properly (sharpness)? Still can go for one to one exchange up till 7 days. Pls advice. Thanks.

[fotoudavid]

1 advice, practice, cos owning a good lens does not sure make ur pics good.

[sgguy022]

Originally Posted by jazman77 Hi, Finally bought my Nikkor 50mm 1.4d lens few days ago. Been fooling around with it ever since. I tried taking pictures of my 9mth old son but only managed to get a few good ones that I like. Most of the pics I took came out blur as he moves alot. Some of the pics that appears sharp and nice on the camera LCD but when I zoom in using the images doesn't seem very sharp. Is there any way to test to see if my lens is working properly (sharpness)? Still can go for one to one exchange up till 7 days. Pls advice. Thanks.

The following is what I do with my 50mm 1.4 as a strictly amateur photographer of my own children - the more professional guys on this forum would probably flip at some of my suggestions My philosophy is that the expression/action I miss will never come back, given the pace at which the kids grow up, so I'd rather take more shots than sitting and waiting for the 'perfect shot' and perhaps miss some.

Many of these hints are derived from Ken Rockwell's D80 guide.

Try setting your camera to Auto-ISO with max ISO of 1600. Make sure you set the minimum shutter speed to something suitable to your lens, say 1/60. This lets you take decently exposed pictures in almost any light, at the cost of noise at high ISO/low light conditions. My preference is to turn off noise reduction in the camera and use NoiseNinja.

I set AF-Area mode to Dynamic AF Area (11 tiny crosses with one tiny rectangle for preferred focus point) so that moving objects stay in focus

I use AF-C autofocus mode when I know I'm going to take pictures of moving objects.

I set shutter mode to take multiple shots when I hold the shutter button, usually when the kids are running. I'd snap of 3 or 4 shots at a go, and maybe 1 or 2 turn out ok (GPMG school of photography!). Pressing and releasing takes just one shot, so this setting is a no-brainer.

Stop down to F4 if you still think shots are not sharp enough.

Then I pick and choose my favourites, deleting out of focus or simply undesirable shots. Good luck!

[huggable]

You reminds me so much on why I got a D2H, to operate the machine gun. On the contrary, I found that setting AF-C, with priority to frame rate instead of focus, would end up with more blurred pictures. I've since learnt to compose and anticipate my baby's moments instead.

jazman: What camera are you using?

[lsisaxon]

Originally Posted by sgguy022 The following is what I do with my 50mm 1.4 as a strictly amateur photographer of my own children - the more professional guys on this forum would probably flip at some of my suggestions My philosophy is that the expression/action I miss will never come back, given the pace at which the kids grow up, so I'd rather take more shots than sitting and waiting for the 'perfect shot' and perhaps miss some. Many of these hints are derived from Ken Rockwell's D80 guide. Try setting your camera to Auto-ISO with max ISO of 1600. Make sure you set the minimum shutter speed to something suitable to your lens, say 1/60. This lets you take decently exposed pictures in almost any light, at the cost of noise at high ISO/low light conditions. My preference is to turn off noise reduction in the camera and use NoiseNinja. I set AF-Area mode to Dynamic AF Area (11 tiny crosses with one tiny rectangle for preferred focus point) so that moving objects stay in focus I use AF-C autofocus mode when I know I'm going to take pictures of moving objects. I set shutter mode to take multiple shots when I hold the shutter button, usually when the kids are running. I'd snap of 3 or 4 shots at a go, and maybe 1 or 2 turn out ok (GPMG school of photography!). Pressing and releasing takes just one shot, so this setting is a no-brainer. Stop down to F4 if you still think shots are not sharp enough. Then I pick and choose my favourites, deleting out of focus or simply undesirable shots. Good luck!

You might as well buy a camcorder.

[fv18m]

Originally Posted by Lumiere my 50mm f1.8 is pretty sharp...u can try mine and we can exchange...i top up $100 for urs hahahah

Try Brudder... Trying to "con" our budding Photog/ FATHER is it??

Originally Posted by sgguy022 The following is what I do with my 50mm 1.4 as a strictly amateur photographer of my own children - the more professional guys on this forum would probably flip at some of my suggestions My philosophy is that the expression/action I miss will never come back, given the pace at which the kids grow up, so I'd rather take more shots than sitting and waiting for the 'perfect shot' and perhaps miss some. Many of these hints are derived from Ken Rockwell's D80 guide. Try setting your camera to Auto-ISO with max ISO of 1600. Make sure you set the minimum shutter speed to something suitable to your lens, say 1/60. This lets you take decently exposed pictures in almost any light, at the cost of noise at high ISO/low light conditions. My preference is to turn off noise reduction in the camera and use NoiseNinja. I set AF-Area mode to Dynamic AF Area (11 tiny crosses with one tiny rectangle for preferred focus point) so that moving objects stay in focus I use AF-C autofocus mode when I know I'm going to take pictures of moving objects. I set shutter mode to take multiple shots when I hold the shutter button, usually when the kids are running. I'd snap of 3 or 4 shots at a go, and maybe 1 or 2 turn out ok (GPMG school of photography!). Pressing and releasing takes just one shot, so this setting is a no-brainer. Stop down to F4 if you still think shots are not sharp enough. Then I pick and choose my favourites, deleting out of focus or simply undesirable shots. Good luck!

Bro,

if I'm not wrong, when you set to AF-C, you should be moving around (as your kid moves around), and not stay rooted in 1 spot. If you're staying rooted in 1 spot, the pics may (like you mentioned) turn out blurrish.

ALternatively, like what some says, use a FLASH to FREEZE movements... Time to BBB - SB800 $$$

[jazman77]

Originally Posted by huggable You reminds me so much on why I got a D2H, to operate the machine gun. On the contrary, I found that setting AF-C, with priority to frame rate instead of focus, would end up with more blurred pictures. I've since learnt to compose and anticipate my baby's moments instead. jazman: What camera are you using?

I'm using D200 leh.

[blowblue]

Originally Posted by jazman77 I'm using D200 leh.

just put up your pics so that we can see what cam you are using and settings you use....otherwise this topic is gonna drag... like the game of win lose or draw...people have to keep guessing here and there.