describes clarity of detail, the perceived combination of resolution and acutance.
32
votes
6answers
3k views
What is a “diffraction limit”?
I've seen the term used, but what is a "diffraction limit", when should I worry about it, and what undesirable effects are a result of it ?
17
votes
5answers
4k views
How can I determine the minimum shutter speed to avoid blur from camera shake?
How can I determine the minimum shutter speed at which I can effectively avoid camera shake while hand-holding the camera?
17
votes
4answers
2k views
How do you find out the “sweet spot” of a lens?
I've tried googling this, but have never found a satisfactory answer.
I've heard the term "sweet spot" thrown around by some photographers to mean the f-stop of a lens which results in the highest ...
18
votes
4answers
1k views
Why should my last post-processing step be sharpening?
I've seen a number of people recommend that you apply sharpening as the last step in post-processing, and some seem to imply you should always do that.
Why? I tend to discard pictures that either are ...
8
votes
4answers
662 views
Why buy an intentionally soft lens?
While reading some reviews of older lenses, I keep reading "It's soft wide open, but that's not always a problem with portraits." Over my rather short time in photography thus far, I've come to ...
13
votes
8answers
2k views
How I could take crisp sharp shots without expensive lens?
Recently I bought my first DSLR camera. It is a beginner's one, a Sony alpha 230 kit. To tell the truth, my shots are not more crisp than those I used to take with my old Point and Shoot Nikon ...
21
votes
3answers
2k views
With all other things equal, in a DSLR, will a larger sensor produce a sharper image?
I asked a question a while ago here about the "sweet spot" of a lens, which led to a really interesting discussion of "sharpness", the physics of light, and general image quality.
1st Question
In ...
17
votes
4answers
5k views
What is the shutter speed needed to stop motion?
I find that taking pictures where the subject is in motion (people, pets, toy helicopters)
I get a blur where there is movement.
On the other hand I see images of a drop of water in free fall in ...
12
votes
10answers
1k views
How can I make a very sharp photograph with a point & shoot camera?
I've taken a picture with my Canon PowerShot SX210 IS and the following settings:
Aperture: F8 (Maximum I have)
Shutter speed: 1/400
ISO: 80
Focal length: 21.1 mm (118mm 35mm-e)
I did increase the ...
15
votes
4answers
1k views
Why do photos look best without any sharpening?
Maybe it's a subjective question, but most of the time my photos look best when I leave the Sharpening slider of Lightroom in a value close or equal to zero.
Which are the benefits of digital ...
31
votes
7answers
4k views
How can I get sharp manual focus despite poor eyesight?
I suffer from astigmatism. It's only mild, though I feel it's affecting what I'm seeing when looking through the viewfinder. Frequently, after shooting a photo with my Canon EOS 7D, I'll load it into ...
7
votes
4answers
759 views
Why are my photos taken at f/11 less sharp than those taken at a wider aperture?
I am new to photography. I have Fujifilm FinePix HS10 camera. Lately I was trying my hands on landscape photography.
I learnt from different tutorials that setting high aperture value gets most of ...
8
votes
2answers
1k views
How can I/should I check the sharpness of my camera lens?
The sharpness of a lens is a major concern for most photographers. This might be because we are worried about a defect in the lens, a problem with our technique or a problem with the camera. Or we ...
20
votes
8answers
2k views
How much “noise” is acceptable in a photograph?
I've been at photography for a little over a year, and I primarily do landscape and wildlife/bird photography. Most of my work has been a learning experience so far, with few shots actually something ...
1
vote
4answers
1k views
What is considered “sharp enough” w.r.t the landscape pictures from a DSLR with F16?
This image was shot with a Canon 5D (the older one) with a EF24-105mm f/4L lens.
The lens was set at 45mm at f/11, and the shutter speed was 1/90 of a second which was +0.5 from the meter at ISO ...
7
votes
4answers
951 views
How to take sharp photos while using maximum optical zoom?
When I shoot with high zoom (above 3X on my point-and-shoot camera), the sharpness of the picture seems to come down. Is it a feature of all cameras or is it due to higher sensitivity to camera shakes ...
13
votes
3answers
335 views
Compensating for poor air quality?
I live in a heavily industrialized part of China. The only time you could fairly describe the air as clean is the 45 minutes immediately after a heavy downpour. As such, photos taken of subjects ...
10
votes
6answers
653 views
Do lenses lose sharpness when they age?
I was reading this answer where it mentions, "..it's a lens that can lose sharpness as it ages.." and was wondering if this is true and if yes, true for all lenses. Reasons as to why this happens and ...
10
votes
2answers
471 views
How to stop a high F number from appearing blurry?
I have been out taking some evening photos (just after sunset) and I have noticed that in a number of instances the higher f numbers ( 14+ ) are appearing more blurred than the lower f numbers ( < ...
8
votes
1answer
163 views
Can the sharpness of the lens be evaluated with no relation to the DSLR?
When I read lens reviews, they all say that one lens is sharp, another is very sharp, another one is not sharp at all, etc.
For me, it doesn't make sense to just say that a lens is sharp or not, with ...
12
votes
9answers
3k views
Is it common to have problems with soft images on a 7D?
I moved from a 20D to 7D recently and moved my EFS 17-85mm to the 7D. The 7D images are soft so I had to program my own sharpness mode. I use both tripod and hand held, and yes I know to turn off ...
11
votes
1answer
2k views
Does image quality of a lens depend on the camera used?
I recently bought a Canon 50mm f1.8 for my Canon 1000d. But, I find that the images are not as sharp as those I saw in the reviews or any other images taken using other cameras like the 550d and ...
7
votes
4answers
394 views
Were lenses for film designed to focus different colors at different depths, and what does that mean for digital?
I was reading the book Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop by Martin Evening & Jeff Schewe (Focal Press. 2011) and read this paragraph about film lenses and DSLRs:
… ...
6
votes
5answers
833 views
Does long exposure affect the sharpness of a picture, assuming no camera shake?
Assuming that the camera does not shake during long exposure photography, How does the sharpness of the image get affected? Would it be more sharp, less sharp, or remain the same?
3
votes
3answers
708 views
Are prime lenses sharper than normal or telephoto zoom lenses?
Example:
The prime lens Nikon 1.4F G is said to be very sharp at F3.5.
So, if I compare that with the normal or telephoto zoom lens's F3.5, will the level of sharpness be same?
If no, then will the ...
