Portraits with Nikon 18-200mm VR

Why can't I get some at least reasonable sharp portraits with this lens ????

Every time I try I have to delete a few and heavily sharpen the others.

My fault? Lens fault?

What a deception....

You have to understand that no one can answer that question if you aren't telling us how you're actually using the lens.

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1) Handheld, or tripod mounted?

<br>2) VR engaged or not?

<br>3) How are you lighting your subject?

<br>4) How are you metering?

<br>5) How are you focusing (how is the camera set up)

<br>6) What shutter speed?

<br>7) What aperture?

<br>8) What focal length?

<br>9) What ISO setting?

<br>10) What CAMERA are you using?

<br>11) Aperture priority? Shutter priority? Program mode? Manual mode?

<br>12) Shooting RAW, or straight to JPG?

<br>13) What software are you using to work with your output?

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Post a 100% crop of a section of the sort of image you're not happy with. That will help narrow it down.

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Deception? How about you hold off on that conclusion for the moment. The fact that it didn't occur to you to provide just a little more information about how you're actually using your equipment, and didn't provide any examples of what you're talking about for other people to see... that tells me that you may be sort of new to the whole topic, and may need to first deal with some basics.

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While that lens won't be as sharp wide open as a high-end prime lens, it is perfectly capable of producing a satisfyingly sharp portrait. But you have a LOT of other ground to cover before you blame the lens. So, fill in the blanks, and then you'll get some more specific responses.

Deception, in Spanish, means something like disappointment, and that usage may have crept into some varieties of English as well. But maybe Sergio will clarify.

 

Matt is of course correct that no one can tell why portraits aren't coming out the way Sergio wants without knowing how they were made.

I am posting an example, taken with my Nikon D300, handheld, center-weight metering,

dynamic focus, at 200mm with f/5.6 + /1/30s, difuse light (shadow), ISO 800, VR-ON, 8Mb Fine JPEG. no flash.

Yes Hector, you are right about "deception". In portuguese it means disappointment<div></div>

BTW, I use PS CS3 for Macintosh and I had set the camera in Program Mode.

I'd greatly appreciate your feed-back.

Looks like a combination of camera shake and/or subject movement.

 

The usual rule of thumb for _minimum_ shutter speeds for full-frame cameras is the reciprocal of the focal length. For DX sensors, increase the shutter speed by the crop factor. Again, this is the _minimum_ recommended speed and a faster speed is always better for sharpness.

 

Your 1/30 shutter speed is a bit slower than the recommended minimum even after accounting for the 3 stops that VR provides. However, for poor camera holding technique, you should increase the shutter speed even more.

 

Use aperture priority to take this shot at 100mm with the lens open to its maximum aperture and an increased ISO of 1600. That should get the shutter speed fast enough where your example would be sharp. (The D300 will be fine at 1600 and you might not want to use it for aesthetic reasons. Just try it for a while to see the difference in sharpness.) 100mm is also in the middle of the zoom range and is probably optically sharper than the long telephoto end.

 

Proper lens technique means cradling the lens in the palm of your left hand instead of just the thumb below and forefinger on top - something that I see people do a distressing amount of time. Also keep your elbows close in and pressed to your chest as reasonably comfortable as possible. If available, lean against a doorway or other object. Press the shutter in a relaxed manner and avoid jabbing it.

 

Try the above suggestions and let us know how things improve.

Don't use Program mode. Put the camera in Aperture Priority mode, and try stopping down a but more than f/5.6. At 200mm, on a fairly nearby subject, you're not getting much depth of field.

 

Don't use dynamic focus.

 

Single, spot focusing for portraits. That give you control over exactly what part of the frame is in focus. And VR or not, you still need to hold the camera as steadily as possible.

Sergio... I know some of the members here will jump on me BUT you are using a pro model camera with a snap shoot lens. Yeah! Many people love that lens, all in 1! Great! The way I see it is for that lens a D40 will do! Now if you want decent shots from a more that decent camera please use a decent lens! Doesn't have to be a 1,000 USD lens! a simple 50 f1.8 will do the job! That is concerning the equipment! Now we don't know the way you are using it and that is another different world coz if you don't use it right no lens will do the job.

 

You guys! Be nice to me! But too many people want that lens so they don't have to change lenses all the time and then they aren't happy with it! Over and over again! And yet, people still recommend it! Sorry! Thanks! Rene'

I'll try and post it back.

Reading Ken Rockwell's review about the shapness of this particular lens I really felt

dissapointd as he consideres it as good as most of his best lens and (close, macro and

long range) but I can't see that happening to me...

I'll post a better exmple with higher ISO.<div></div>

I have a few good lenses well suited for portrais, includin 105mm, 85mm and 50mm, BUT,

I just putchase it and had to try before using for other matters. I consider myself to have a

very steady hand for camera holding and don't think this is the main problem in my case.

I'm posting another example.

Forgot the photo....<div></div>

Sergio... Ken Rockwell must be right! Coz he is an expert photographer! he knows the limits of the lens and he got the experience to get the most of it! Also he got lenses for every task. for me photography is a hobby and I am not a pro. In my case for me is easier just to change lenses. Yeah! sometimes i miss a shot while changing lenses. So what? I am not loosing any money! The problem I see is that many people go to the store and they are recommend it to buy that lens as kit lens with a camera. for first timers it sounds great! just one lens can do everything but then they are disappointed with it. Are you very advance in photography? Do you have any other lenses? Is this your first DSLR? Please give us some background not only the samples! Rene'

I certainly hope you have stead hands! You are a neurosurgeon!

 

The flip side of steady hands is a steady subject. That does look to be the case here and slow shutter speeds will kill you.

Use ISO AUTO, Soot again at 170 mm and at 1/200 f5.6

Rene I've on the road for more that 30 years.

Back in the fim days I used my F100 and F2A I had good results. I also have a large

colection of Nikon lenses, primes and zooms, for all purposes,

I had had a D70 (great camera and my 1st, DSLR camera) for a few years and than

moved to the D300 (which is also brand new).

Maybe I shoud try my other lens, although I already know what to expect from all of

them.

The only reason I purchased this 18-200mm lens is because I travel a lot and my bag

gets preatty heavy so I thought I could do it with only a 18-200 and a 12-24 lens + SB800 frash when traveling abroad.

It happened that I decided to test my new D300 and new 18-200mm at the sime time

and got disappointed with the lack of sharpness.

I have a few pictures in my portfoilo if you can spare some time and take a look...

http://www.photo.net/photodb/member-photos?user_id=258452

Those taken with this lens were all sharpened.

I already tried ISO auto and Aperture Priority.

How can I be sure my VR is really working?

Any clues?

Well guys, here where I live it's 2:32a.m. and I must get some sleep now.

I'll come to your answers and suggestions as soon as I wake up later, OK ?

Keep posting if possible .......

I just played with my 18-200mm set around 50mm and a a good old fixed 50mm f/1.8 that I got on eBay for ~$50. I have a hard time seeing the differences in the center of the pictures, but the 50mm is *obviously* sharper towards the edges in my quick handheld test.

 

I don't know what people expect. The 18-200mm lens works over a huge zoom range and is small and compact. It's not the sharpest lens in the history of the world, but you have to compromise somewhere.

 

Think about it this way.

18-200: 16 elements in 12 groups

50mm:6 elements in 5 groups

 

The light in the 18-200mm lens is passing through almost 3 times as many elements and they are doing a lot more stuff than the 50mm elements are. That's just one tiny reason it isn't as sharp.

Tom, don't you worry , my hands are steady like a rock! heheheheheheheheeh........

I love the shot of the little girl picking up her nose! :)

 

I don't have any VR lenses. I tried the 18-200 once and didn't like it. I was using it on a tripod so the VR was off. According to what people say here is that when you press the shutter half way you can here the VR spinning around or something like that. Check other threads about it. Some other members will tell you about it here too. Another option would be to go to a store next you and try a different VR lens so you get the feeling of it. Rene'

All the shots that you have posted here are taken at slow shutter speeds, i think it's camera shake. I know VR is supposed to help, but i would suggest turning VR off and trying a shot at 1/200th of a second. Use flash if you have to, just to see if the lens is bad

Hi everyone,

 

I have used the 18-200 extensively and am very happy with it. 70% of my portfolio on photo.net is 18-200. used well one cant tell the difference from the so called pro lenses.

 

As for using it with D300, Nikon itself promotes this camera with this lens as can be seen from many ads.

 

As far as sharpness goes, here I am posting a shot taken with 18-200 just last month. Nikkor 18-200 Dx VR, 70 mm 1/200 sec, f/8, ISO 800, hand held.

P.S. No sharpening used here.

By the way last month I purchased two primes AF-S Micro Nikkor 105 mm 2.8 and AF-D Nikkor 50 mm 1.8. I am now anticipating even more sharpness with these in my planned photography.

The shutter speeds appear to be too low for the selected focal lengths, even for a VR lens.

 

For handheld shots, the general rule of thumb for minimum shutter speed is at least the reciprocal of the focal length to avoid unsharpness. The unsharp samples shown above were shot at 200mm and 170mm respectively at a much lower speed than the recommended minimum of 1/200 and 1/170.

 

Better luck next time,

Mary