Meives Loc: FORT LAUDERDALE

I was surprised to see the ISO set high, as it should. Most use ISO 100 and don't play with it. One problem is the formula for shutter speed is 1/mm lens. With 70 mm lens the shutter should be about 1/100 to be sharp. Also I would use more light. Flood lamp or something to be able to close the aperture from f 4 to f 11. Good luck. David

MMC Loc: Brooklyn NY

IMHO the 1-st picture is good enough for this aperture. This picture needs post processing. I tried it. If you do not mind I can show my result.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

How many who have commented here have actually taken a picture like this?
How many who have commented here looked at the portraits I provided a link to?

In my linked post, I talk about spending half an hour trying to get one good image, and finally taking a lunch break so both of us could regain our composures {this is with the cat that adopted me and regularly wants to be with me}. The portraits I linked to were taken with a manually focused 50mm lens, handheld in natural light, ISO=3200, f/9.5, shutter speed 1/10 and 1/20. If you pixel peek, you will, of course, see more noise than I would prefer {this was taken with my K-30 - I haven't purchased a K-70 yet, but these portraits are the sort of picture that move me towards wanting a camera that handles higher ISO values gracefully}, but the cats are in focus - I used those "odd" settings because I also wanted the entire cat's head to be within the DOF, subject to my added issues dealing with MF.

Cats are not like dogs. They do what they want to do; they may take a nap, putting head down and closing eyes, just when you are ready to take the picture, or they may go to another, less accessible, location. In short, you need to take the picture when they are available, not taking time to drag lights and other paraphernalia after them. The OP did not complain about the noise in her images, either, so we should not assume that is an issue to her. Her expressed concern was the sharpness of the images, and that is what we also should be focusing on, subject to the constraint of dealing with these fickle, but loveable, subjects.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Who said modern zooms do not produce sharp pictures? A good quality zoom will produce pictures as good as those from a prime lens.
What I see in your shots is most probably a large aperture with limited depth of field. Camera movement also affects the shot but hard for me to tell if that is the case.
The lens is sharp perhaps your technique was not.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

As digitals are practically free take shots at a series of f-stops and let auto ISO take up the exposure slack so you don't have to mess with the shutter.

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

I've never tried it with a cat, but one of the advantages of the a6300 is the Eye-AF. Have you tried it? Of course you'd still only get one or the other, but combined with a slightly bigger DOF, that might work.

I'm going to be trying that with a dog agility contest. (along with the high speed FPS and continuous focusing)

JohnTxNC

I agree with everyone's point regarding
Distance from subject increases DOF
Hand holding at shutter speed 1/30
Increasing the Aperture
......
But I didn't see anything about the ISO.. (Forgiveness requested if I miss someones comment) ....
So. . . . . will the higher ISO produce a softer image? I always struggle with high ISOs and in RAW they often look terrible ...

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

Change your aperture setting to f8 or higher. were you handholding? If so that could also be a problem

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

That depends upon your camera, the sensor and what the processing does with what the sensor provides.

From experience, I try not to push my small-sensor Pentax Q-7 above ISO 400, and my APS-C Pentax K-30 above 800; beyond those values I start seeing more noise than I would like. I'm not sure that higher ISO causes softness per se on those cameras, but noise does get in the way of additional sharpening.

But, ultimately, the question is what image is acceptable to you. As I commented above, my cat portraits had more noise than I would prefer, but I did get the portraits; they are acceptable to me, and much better than having nothing at all. This is one of those places where individual taste comes into play.

alycat Loc: Canton OH

DOF at very close shots is very touchy. use the smallest aperture possible. Focus, for instance the cat pic on the nearest eye and hope for the best