iamkatia Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 I just bought my first DSLR camera - a Nikon D80 with Sigma 28-70mm and 70mm-300mm lenses. Most of the images I've made with the 70mm-300mm are sharp but not so with the 28mm-70mm. I recall someone months ago commenting that I should be prepared to have focusing issues, at least initially, with a DSLR. Is that true? I'm using the automatic focus setting and I just don't understand why the photos are blurry. I've been using a digital Canon Powershot Pro1 for the last 2 years without any focusing issues so I know it's not a question of unsteady hands. What's to be done? Thanks in advance for any and all input. Katia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik_loza Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 What is this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamkatia Posted April 19, 2007 Author Share Posted April 19, 2007 Erik, I don't understand your question 'What is this?'. What is what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik_loza Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Oh, I'm sorry. There was some sort of spam message selling electronics when I opened this thread. Mods must have removed it. Sorry, please disregard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony_bez Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 "I should be prepared to have focusing issues, at least initially, with a DSLR. Is that true?" Katia, No it is not true. You need to post a sample picture, or explain your specific problem to get a useful answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamkatia Posted April 19, 2007 Author Share Posted April 19, 2007 Anthony, they all look like this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon_hickie1 Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Looks like a lens problem to me. The girl in the centre looks OK, but there are some serious issues away from the centre, even though the those parts of the image a similar distance away. Cannot see any metadata - what shutter speed / f stop was it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvtol Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 If you have no problems with the 70-300 it sure looks like the 28-70 is bad, for there is a very strange round circle of sharpness in this picture (only the centre is sharp). I think you should have it checked. regards, Martijn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_petley2 Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 yes you have a lens problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik_loza Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Wow, it almost looks like there is some sort of cheap magnifying filter in use from that photo. What happens if you take a picture of a static subject that is parallel to your film plane? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamkatia Posted April 19, 2007 Author Share Posted April 19, 2007 f4, 1/160 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamkatia Posted April 19, 2007 Author Share Posted April 19, 2007 Erik, you ask, "What happens if you take a picture of a static subject that is parallel to your film plane?" Can you word this differently for me please? I don't understand 'Parallel to your film plane' but I would like to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay_chiang Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 I think what Erik means is to shoot static subjects that are all same distance away from your camera. It's a good way to debug the problem. If you place all the subjects the same distance away and the off center ones are out of focus, you can confirm you have lens problem and that the blur isn't caused by depth of field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamkatia Posted April 19, 2007 Author Share Posted April 19, 2007 Jay, thank you for explaining! Erik, excellent idea - I will try that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik_loza Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 It's the almost fisheye-like distortion that grabs me. Never seen anything like that. For sure, test it out on a tripod and house, brick wall, etc. Curious to know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjt Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Katia ... a good idea would be to take a photo of the flat side of a building made out of red brick with white mortar, shooting straight on to the wall, the camera/lens parallel to the ground and the wall on the same plane as the shutter.<br><br> ========================== <-- wall<br> <br>   +=+<br>   | |<br>   +-----+ <-- camera<br>   | |<br>   +-----+<br> <br> post the samples, please regards, michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photo5 Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Just my two cents. I had a Canon Pro1, it's a wonderful camera for sure. I have the D80 now. Stepping into a dSLR from the Pro1 or any other high quality fixed lens digital camera, you're going to experience some major differences in the internal processing of images. dSLR's tend not to sharpen nearly as much as the Pro1 type cameras do. This was a bit of a shock to me as well. I find applying some unsharp masking to my D80 images will make them appear sharper onscreen. You'll also find a lot more detail from the D80 than you got from the Pro1. I don't miss my Pro1 at all compared to the D80. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony_bez Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 "I just bought my first DSLR camera - a Nikon D80 with Sigma 28-70mm and 70mm-300mm" Katia, If you have a warranty on the lens I would return it. And you may want to consider exchanging for the Nikon version if they give you the option. If you can not exchange it, the advise given to photograph a brick wall will confirm the fault. It would also be useful to take the same shot with your other lens for comparison. If you have a tripod use it, and it is best to be 20 or 30 feet away from the wall. Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony_bez Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Kaia, "Nikon version" Ideally the 18-70mm AFS, it is an excellent good value lens, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjt Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 hi Dave ... i find that THE reason for a photo to not be sharp relates all back to the lens (given that the subject is in focus). personally, that's why i shoot all top-notch Nikkors. regards, michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertdarmali Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 I don't know why but so many camera shops no matter where I see (even from different countries) always try to push in this package of third party lenses combo of 28-70mm-ish followed with 70-300mm-ish range along with the DLSR. Must be the commission thing. I think there are many people who are caught with this 'gotta-cover-all-focal-length' syndrome without even knowing whether they even need that particular focal length or not. Katia, my advice to you is try to find out what kind of shooting you mainly do, and then decide the lens from that point. If you are still able to return the lenses to the shop, just do so, and get just one "proper" lens that suits your purpose instead of having 2 sub-par lenses to cover all focal length. If your shooting style is more like street photography style (based from your sample image), as mentioned above, you'll probably be happier with something like Nikon 18-70mm, or if you have the fund, get the 17-55mm, or you can even settle with something like a second-hand 35-70mm 2.8 if you don't desperately need the 18mm coverage. There are so many choices, you just need to do a bit of research and get the one that is right for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john falkenstine Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 The reason that lenses are pushed is because profit margins on camera sales for smaller shops are very, very small. Sell more lenses/make more money. A cheap lens sold at a good markup is good for the shop. This is why so many people end up with zooms that they really don't need. Before taking this lens back I would check the camera out with another lens and make sure that ALL of the camera settings are "to default" In this it almost appears as if the camera is set to aperture priority. What you really need here is a simple primary lens to work with, a decent zoom later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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