NIKON D3200 TEST SHOT: Soft Afternoon (Raw to TIFF to JPEG, shot with tripod and timer)

Still soft. I am pretty sure now that the lens is the limitingfactor--or else that neither 18mm nor f/8 represent the sweet spot forit. Comments welcome.

--Lannie

This is another uninspiring 100 percent crop.

 

--Lannie

I had a coffee this afternoon with Len Marriott and he remarked you were having some softness with your Nikon 18-55 and your Nikon dslr.

 

I have been shooting for awhile with the 18-55 and a Nikon D3100.  I have had no issues with soft shots.

 

I have rarely used a tripod for what that is worth.

 

I have set all my options on the D3100 based on suggestions by Ken Rockwell.  He praises the kit 18-55 lens and I llike what I am getting with mine.

All this was meant to be of help, I hope it will be.

Bill, I have yet to break out the 18-55 kit lens.  I was shooting the 18-105, which might or might not be a bit better.  I really do not know.

 

In any case, I have been discussing this on the Nikon forum:

 

http://photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00aj7a

 

I am inclined now to think that the problems were due to user error, specifically that I might have been focusing on something in the foreground but doing 100 percent crops from the background!

 

Thanks for your suggestions.  I hope that you are doing alright.

 

--Lannie

Here is the same tree line shot with a different camera and lens, and from a slightly different angle before the leaves came out:

 

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=15397952&size=md

 

--Lannie

For what its worth, I have an older 50mm f1.4 lens that is crystal sharp on all my cameras including my D70, but on my D80 it doesn't focus sharply, and its too hard to guess where to focus.  Other lenses do fine on both cameras, but this one lens does not.  I know some Nikon cameras such as the D300 can make adjustments for focusing different lenses.