D7100 lens question--from Denver: I have several lenses for my D7100, but none are very sharp. Can do digital sharpening via LR, but any suggestions on great, everyday lenses for...

Acrandell7100

I have several lenses for my D7100, but none are very sharp. Can do digital sharpening via LR, but any suggestions on great, everyday lenses for D7100? I have the original kit lens 18-105, a Tamron 18-50 (non VR, regrettably), 35 MM Nikkor prime lens, and a Nikon 18-55 VR. My 70-300 is great for longer distances and as sharp as any. Thanks.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Sigma 18-35 Art, IMHO the best Dx lens currently available.

Acrandell7100

Thanks. Not being VR is not limiting?

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

VR only helps with your movement, not your subjects and isn't really as needed with wider angle lenses. My D7100 has an older manual focus 105mm macro lens mounted on it. No VR of course & no issues with sharpness either as my Flickr stream images will attest to. I only own one lens with VR &
that was the 1st on that Nikon made, the original 80-400mm. VR is more beneficial with telephoto length lenses.

Acrandell7100 wrote:

Thanks. Not being VR is not limiting?

GPS Phil Loc: Dayton Ohio

Acrandell7100 wrote:

Thanks. Not being VR is not limiting?

I have had the 18-35mm 1.8 Sigma lens since it was first available, the lack of VR has never been a problem. This lens is one of the sharpest lenses in my bag, including all my FX lenses. Another good choice is the Nikon 16-85mm 1:3.5-5.6 GED DX VR. Very low distortion and very sharp. Being small and light, it is my favorite daylight walk around lens.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Acrandell7100 wrote:

I have several lenses for my D7100, but none are very sharp. Can do digital sharpening via LR, but any suggestions on great, everyday lenses for D7100? I have the original kit lens 18-105, a Tamron 18-50 (non VR, regrettably), 35 MM Nikkor prime lens, and a Nikon 18-55 VR. My 70-300 is great for longer distances and as sharp as any. Thanks.

Your lenses are all capable of very sharp images. Sounds like you need to work on technique and to understand lighting more.

CO

MT Shooter is correct. There's something else going on. It could be your technique or camera settings.

Are you shooting at very small apertures? Lenses are usually their best when stopped down a couple of stops from maximum.

Some AF fine tuning might be needed

Are you using the .jpeg files out of the camera? If so, go through all of the picture controls - standard, neutral, vivid, monochrome and increase the sharpening to level 6. Nikon sets the default sharpening low at level 3.

LensTip.com does extensive lens testing. I downloaded the charts from their image resolution testing for the Nikon 18-105mm. It can resolve about 47 line pairs per millimeter at 18mm to 35mm (f/3.5 to f/5.6) at the lens center. That's incredible performance. The best Leica lenses can resolve about 50 line pairs per millimeter.

Image resolution for Nikon 18-105mm at lens center

Bill_de Loc: US

Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8

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CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

So, you can take the suggestions to buy more equipment, including ideas for a $1700 f/2.8 lens ... Or, you can take the suggestions to investigate your technique that costs nothing more than posting some examples and asking for help. Which will it be?

WessoJPEG Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

Acrandell7100 wrote:

I have several lenses for my D7100, but none are very sharp. Can do digital sharpening via LR, but any suggestions on great, everyday lenses for D7100? I have the original kit lens 18-105, a Tamron 18-50 (non VR, regrettably), 35 MM Nikkor prime lens, and a Nikon 18-55 VR. My 70-300 is great for longer distances and as sharp as any. Thanks.

I have a D7000 and a D7200 and these same lenses. They all are sharp.Must be doing something wrong.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Acrandell7100 wrote:

I have several lenses for my D7100, but none are very sharp. Can do digital sharpening via LR, but any suggestions on great, everyday lenses for D7100? I have the original kit lens 18-105, a Tamron 18-50 (non VR, regrettably), 35 MM Nikkor prime lens, and a Nikon 18-55 VR. My 70-300 is great for longer distances and as sharp as any. Thanks.

I have found the new Nikon 16-80 to be a really nice lens. But, that said, sharpness is more a matter of technique than the lens. Remember, 99% of all lenses are better than 98% of all photographers. If your not getting a sharp image with the 35 either I would have to say it's technique.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Acrandell7100 wrote:

I have several lenses for my D7100, but none are very sharp. Can do digital sharpening via LR, but any suggestions on great, everyday lenses for D7100? I have the original kit lens 18-105, a Tamron 18-50 (non VR, regrettably), 35 MM Nikkor prime lens, and a Nikon 18-55 VR. My 70-300 is great for longer distances and as sharp as any. Thanks.

Test them on a tripod with a good subject and good lighting, both manual and auto focus.

jccash Loc: Longwood, Florida

Any of the older Nikon f2.8 lenses would be sharp with your D7100.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

Acrandell7100 wrote:

I have several lenses for my D7100, but none are very sharp. Can do digital sharpening via LR, but any suggestions on great, everyday lenses for D7100? I have the original kit lens 18-105, a Tamron 18-50 (non VR, regrettably), 35 MM Nikkor prime lens, and a Nikon 18-55 VR. My 70-300 is great for longer distances and as sharp as any. Thanks.

Those lenses should be fine. Your ISO may be too low, or your aperture is closing too much (towards f/16 rather than wide open). I have a D7100 and it performs well but if my ISO is too low or aperture is too small it forces the shutter speed to be too long for hand holding and makes for blurry photos. I especially have this difficulty at sunrise and sunset (as night photos I am smart enough to either add light or adjust ISO, shutter speed and aperture). I have several sunset photos that have blurry buildings, bridges etc. because my shutter speed was too slow for hand holding. Your camera and lenses are probably fine.

pistolpete

I would send the body in to have the mirror/focusing mechanism recalibrated by Nikon. The 35mm prime should be very sharp. I did the realignment on my D7000 and it made a world of difference. All the technique suggestions listed here are equally important