A friend has a Cannon SLR and she shoots anything and everything mostly hand held. Without fail her pictures are crystal clear sharp. She uses the cheap kit lens that came with the camera and seldom even cleans the dust off of it! I noticed she doesn't use a UV filter at all.
Should I remove my UV filter? Or can you offer up any other suggestions besides using a tripod? Is it possible that my sensor is getting foggy or something?
Quite often when you want to take a photo you know the viewpoint’s very important. You may be in the middle of a field. If so, you must be the support for your camera. You must stand, or kneel, but make yourself a really solid base. Stand with your feet apart. You must hold the camera as steady as you can – certainly not waving it around with one hand. If you can, bring the camera to your eye if it has a viewfinder. If you have a strap, you can wrap the strap around your neck and use it keep the camera steady. and when the time comes to actually take the photograph, remember to press the shutter release very,very gently. If you jerk it, you will shake the camera.
Tip 2 – Take several photos of the same subject
Don’t forget, if your subject is not changing all the time take several photos – 10 – or so at the same settings. You’ll find that one or two are sharper than the others.
Tip 3 – Use a fast shutter speed
If your shutter speed is too slow the shake will show. It’s not easy to judge with modern digital cameras but the old photographers’ rule might help you: Always use a shutter speed related to the focal length of the lens. for a 50mm lens use a minimum of 1/50th sec. For a 300mm lens use a minimum of 1/300 sec. Get the picture? Long lenses will magnify the shake.
Tip 4 – Find a support
As I said, viewpoint is very important but perhaps you can change your viewpoint a little bit. If you do not have a tripod, look around you and you might see a tree, a wall, a bench, a table, a lamp post, something like this which is absolutely solid, unmoving, unshaking.
If something like this is in the right the place, then use it to brace your camera. When you do this, make sure the camera itself makes contact. In other words, if you’re using the branch of a tree, hold the camera on the tree branch directly, not just your hand or your arm but the camera itself. This will make the camera rock solid.
Of course, you might find that the horizon is not quite straight or something of that kind. You can change this by moving the camera a little bit or using your hand to help though that’s not ideal. You can correct it later in a computer if you use one. This technique will provide a rock solid support and stop you shaking the camera.
Tip 5 – Use the Self Timer
If you have a solid support like a wall, and you have the exact viewpoint you want you can use the self timer. The self timer is normally used to take pictures of yourself but if you switch the self timer on and press the shutter release gently there will be a delay of a few seconds before the shutter fires. This will kill any vibration or camera shake. Use these techniques and your pictures should be sharper. If you want to be more sophisticated you will have to take some more equipment to support your camera. But that’s for another day.
By looking at your pictures it seems to me it's sharp as can be. Her pictures are crystal clear sharp it could be on the high f stops, and she might choose correct lighting for her shot. I'm assuming you're using UV filter for protection of your front element, which most of people do. However, I'm using Haze filters for this purpose, and I don't see any different in picture quality with or without the filter.
Also, most of the time I'm using NIK software to sharpen my picture if my picture is not containing a lot of noise. On other hand, I don't think your sensor is getting foggy. If she doesn't change lens often, then she seldom cleans or dust off of it.
The most common filter used in photography is designed simply for protection. There are three kinds of protective filters on the market-- UV, skylight and haze.
While there are small differences between the UV, skylight and haze filters, their main purpose is the same-- protecting the investment in your lens. In essence, these filters are a clear piece of glass designed to cover the front element of your lens, acting as a shield against the dangers of the outside world.
As you clean your lens over time, you may damage the glass and coatings. While dirt particles and other contaminants can certainly scratch the glass itself during the cleaning process, the lens coatings are even more fragile and susceptible to damage.
Lens manufacturers put coatings on the lens to control reflected light so the camera can gather more color and light information for better images. Often, the coatings are actually evaporated onto the lens which means that it does not take a lot to damage them.
By placing a filter on the lens, the lens always remains free of dirt and contaminants. While the filter will need to be cleaned and, eventually, replaced; it is easier and cheaper to get a $20 filter than it is to replace a $$$$ lens.
In addition, these filters can protect your lens against impact damage and other mishaps. Filters are designed to absorb the force of an impact to protect the lens in much the same way a car is designed with crumple zones to protect the occupants in a crash. If you bump up against something or drop your camera, the filter ring will bend and the glass in the filter will break. Often, this is enough impact absorption to save the lens and camera.
Functionally, UV, skylight and haze filters share more in common than not. However, there are several minute differences between them.
The most important of these differences is the color of the filter. UV filters will eliminate some of the blue tones inherent in UV light as a result of the way they process the light rays, but the filter itself is clear. Skylight filters have a mild pink cast which has a slightly greater warming effect than a UV filter. Finally, haze filters have a yellow cast which tends to cancel the blue tones produced by UV light.
Thank you Q! You have touched on a number of things that I didn't know and some things that I'd forgotten. One technique I do use is to take a burst of 2 or 3 pictures of the same thing. Often as you said, one comes out clearer than the others.
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An upfront and close view into the world of the insects. Nice!
ReplyDeleteGreat macro (or micro as Nikon calls it) shots. I have to ask, what lens were you using?
ReplyDelete105mm f/2.8.
DeleteThanks Q! I thought it might have been. I'll be getting one of those next year.
Deletethe 3rd shot w/ the 3-in-one is impressive.
ReplyDeleteLove that first bee shot.
ReplyDeleteWow, nice group of macro photos! I really like the last photo in this group.
ReplyDeleteQ a question about how to get good sharp shots.
ReplyDeleteA friend has a Cannon SLR and she shoots anything and everything mostly hand held. Without fail her pictures are crystal clear sharp. She uses the cheap kit lens that came with the camera and seldom even cleans the dust off of it! I noticed she doesn't use a UV filter at all.
Should I remove my UV filter? Or can you offer up any other suggestions besides using a tripod? Is it possible that my sensor is getting foggy or something?
Tip 1 - Hold your camera steady.
DeleteQuite often when you want to take a photo you know the viewpoint’s very important. You may be in the middle of a field. If so, you must be the support for your camera. You must stand, or kneel, but make yourself a really solid base. Stand with your feet apart. You must hold the camera as steady as you can – certainly not waving it around with one hand. If you can, bring the camera to your eye if it has a viewfinder. If you have a strap, you can wrap the strap around your neck and use it keep the camera steady. and when the time comes to actually take the photograph, remember to press the shutter release very,very gently. If you jerk it, you will shake the camera.
Tip 2 – Take several photos of the same subject
Don’t forget, if your subject is not changing all the time take several photos – 10 – or so at the same settings. You’ll find that one or two are sharper than the others.
Tip 3 – Use a fast shutter speed
If your shutter speed is too slow the shake will show. It’s not easy to judge with modern digital cameras but the old photographers’ rule might help you: Always use a shutter speed related to the focal length of the lens. for a 50mm lens use a minimum of 1/50th sec. For a 300mm lens use a minimum of 1/300 sec. Get the picture? Long lenses will magnify the shake.
Tip 4 – Find a support
As I said, viewpoint is very important but perhaps you can change your viewpoint a little bit. If you do not have a tripod, look around you and you might see a tree, a wall, a bench, a table, a lamp post, something like this which is absolutely solid, unmoving, unshaking.
If something like this is in the right the place, then use it to brace your camera. When you do this, make sure the camera itself makes contact. In other words, if you’re using the branch of a tree, hold the camera on the tree branch directly, not just your hand or your arm but the camera itself. This will make the camera rock solid.
Of course, you might find that the horizon is not quite straight or something of that kind. You can change this by moving the camera a little bit or using your hand to help though that’s not ideal. You can correct it later in a computer if you use one. This technique will provide a rock solid support and stop you shaking the camera.
Tip 5 – Use the Self Timer
If you have a solid support like a wall, and you have the exact viewpoint you want you can use the self timer. The self timer is normally used to take pictures of yourself but if you switch the self timer on and press the shutter release gently there will be a delay of a few seconds before the shutter fires. This will kill any vibration or camera shake. Use these techniques and your pictures should be sharper. If you want to be more sophisticated you will have to take some more equipment to support your camera. But that’s for another day.
By looking at your pictures it seems to me it's sharp as can be. Her pictures are crystal clear sharp it could be on the high f stops, and she might choose correct lighting for her shot. I'm assuming you're using UV filter for protection of your front element, which most of people do. However, I'm using Haze filters for this purpose, and I don't see any different in picture quality with or without the filter.
ReplyDeleteAlso, most of the time I'm using NIK software to sharpen my picture if my picture is not containing a lot of noise. On other hand, I don't think your sensor is getting foggy. If she doesn't change lens often, then she seldom cleans or dust off of it.
The most common filter used in photography is designed simply for protection. There are three kinds of protective filters on the market-- UV, skylight and haze.
While there are small differences between the UV, skylight and haze filters, their main purpose is the same-- protecting the investment in your lens. In essence, these filters are a clear piece of glass designed to cover the front element of your lens, acting as a shield against the dangers of the outside world.
As you clean your lens over time, you may damage the glass and coatings. While dirt particles and other contaminants can certainly scratch the glass itself during the cleaning process, the lens coatings are even more fragile and susceptible to damage.
Lens manufacturers put coatings on the lens to control reflected light so the camera can gather more color and light information for better images. Often, the coatings are actually evaporated onto the lens which means that it does not take a lot to damage them.
By placing a filter on the lens, the lens always remains free of dirt and contaminants. While the filter will need to be cleaned and, eventually, replaced; it is easier and cheaper to get a $20 filter than it is to replace a $$$$ lens.
In addition, these filters can protect your lens against impact damage and other mishaps. Filters are designed to absorb the force of an impact to protect the lens in much the same way a car is designed with crumple zones to protect the occupants in a crash. If you bump up against something or drop your camera, the filter ring will bend and the glass in the filter will break. Often, this is enough impact absorption to save the lens and camera.
Functionally, UV, skylight and haze filters share more in common than not. However, there are several minute differences between them.
The most important of these differences is the color of the filter. UV filters will eliminate some of the blue tones inherent in UV light as a result of the way they process the light rays, but the filter itself is clear. Skylight filters have a mild pink cast which has a slightly greater warming effect than a UV filter. Finally, haze filters have a yellow cast which tends to cancel the blue tones produced by UV light.
Thank you Q!
DeleteYou have touched on a number of things that I didn't know and some things that I'd forgotten.
One technique I do use is to take a burst of 2 or 3 pictures of the same thing. Often as you said, one comes out clearer than the others.