Sharpness Question
Oct 7, 2013 10:45:26 #
I've been looking at an old photo from Myanmar and wonder why the top edge is a bit blurred. The attached uncropped, unshopped photo was shot Raw, standing in a small boat, at 1/1000 exposure, f4.5, ISO 200, with a nikon 24-85 at 35mm on a nikon D300s (that is DX only). I wanted to capture the reflection as well as the shadow of the man in hat. I got the reflection pretty well, and the man is reasonably sharp also. BUT look at the bottom of the window edge versus the top. The top is very fuzzy. What has caused this? Why is it worse at the top edge than the bottom or middle of the photo? Lens issue? Camera movement from standing in a boat? Depth of field? Can't be that much difference in distance between top and bottom of the window. Advice from any experts would be appreciated. Lightroom sharpening has little effect. John Howard
Sharpness Question / Problem
Oct 7, 2013 10:49:03 #
Because you shot at F4.5 you got a shallower depth of field. If you had used F8 and up, the whole image would have been sharper.
Oct 7, 2013 11:01:28 #
What she said. F8 and above would be better this type of shot. On a Bright day such as this the shutter speed and ISO settings would still give you plenty of wiggle room for adjustments as you saw fit.
Oct 7, 2013 11:18:39 #
Eustace2
Loc: Cincinnati
When I download the picture and look at it at 100%, I'm not seeing a fuzziness. Are you talking about the blur around the window?
Oct 7, 2013 11:30:07 #
Yes, the blur above and not below the window. Does depth of field fall off proportional to distance, or all of a sudden outside a certain distance range. It does not appear to me that the top of the window is much farther than the bottom of the window, yet the sharpness is much less.
Oct 7, 2013 11:31:55 #
Thanks and yes I know the F8 rule of thumb, but was trying to speed up the shot because I was standing in a small boat and moving. And still, the DoF requirement is not that different from the top to bottom of window. I had thought because the wall was behind the man, there was no "infinity" issue and it would all be in focus.
Oct 7, 2013 11:36:28 #
The blur along the top edge of the top window (looks like paint spray) and the "edge" around the window on the left look to be different kinds of blur. The Wood panel is much sharper.
According to DoFMaster, all should be within the DoF at a distance of between 15 and 30 feet (and greater). How close were you?
According to DoFMaster, all should be within the DoF at a distance of between 15 and 30 feet (and greater). How close were you?
Oct 7, 2013 11:37:22 #
Eustace2
Loc: Cincinnati
The blur above and below the window looks almost like reflective glare to me and not a focus issue. The siding is consistently in focus from the top to the bottom of the picture. It is really only the window framing that is blurry. The siding is behind the window frame and the subject is in front of the window frame, so if they are in focus the window frame is also within the plane of focus. That's why I am thinking it is a brightness issue and not a focus issue. [OK, Searcher beat me to the punch with the same conclusion.]
Oct 7, 2013 11:40:04 #
Your aperture setting would have nothing to do with why the window is sharper at the bottom than it is on the top of the frame since the whole window frame would be on the same focal plane top to bottom, unless the building was tilted backwards slightly.
The reason the top of the frame is blurring is because of the sun glare/reflection paired with the slight rocking of the boat you were in. The glare bounced back at you and resulted in blown highlights and your sensor didnt know how to record it.
The reason the top of the frame is blurring is because of the sun glare/reflection paired with the slight rocking of the boat you were in. The glare bounced back at you and resulted in blown highlights and your sensor didnt know how to record it.
Oct 7, 2013 11:45:21 #
I too thought the top of the window looked like a white spray on the brown wood wall. But that does not explain the blur of the top of the open window. That just looks blurry. And if the man, and the water reflection are focused okay, and the wood joints in the wall are reasonably sharp why is the top edge of the window blurred? It almost looks like the white of the window was so bright it bounced around in the lens.
Oct 7, 2013 11:47:02 #
Annie_Girl wrote:
Your aperture setting would have nothing to do wit... (show quote)
Sounds good. :thumbup:
Oct 7, 2013 11:47:32 #
This makes the most sense to me, but what should I have, could I have done differently? Less exposure? That would have made the water black. Stop the boat from rocking?
Oct 7, 2013 12:05:48 #
John Howard wrote:
I've been looking at an old photo from Myanmar and... (show quote)
John, the small depth a field is a minor issue. There is a bigger one and that I would hesitate to attribute to the lens. It can be a simple lens aberration or something worse that may imply a need for adjustment or repairs.
The bur that disturbs you is in the light area on top of the light area of the pictures and not really visible anywhere else. Magnify the image and see it all over on the bright areas, always OUTWARD: on the chair on the left, on the water reflections at the bottom of the image. The blur diminishes when you look in the the center are of you picture.
Focusing is on the wall and the small DOF explains only the overall softness of the image. Speed is 1000/th of a second so motion is almost frozen, especially in a slow scene like this one. ISO is low (200) and there is no noise so...
Since the blur is outward all over the image you can definitively eliminate motion DOF and ISO as a reason. Only the optical part of the camera is left: Lens, filter, possible adapter...
Just noticed the 35mm THAT alone would do it so check for possible aberrations in other pictures. A wide angle exposes all the lens flaws...
Oct 7, 2013 12:08:10 #
John Howard wrote:
This makes the most sense to me, but what should I have, could I have done differently? Less exposure? That would have made the water black. Stop the boat from rocking?
I have often shot from a boat and the rocking does tend to interfere with the photograph taking. According to the crew, I often yell "Stop rocking the B????y boat" but that does tend to make things worse. If I'm on the helm, my camera is taken below by the mutinous crew.
Oct 7, 2013 12:14:56 #
Searcher wrote:
I have often shot from a boat and the rocking does tend to interfere with the photograph taking. According to the crew, I often yell "Stop rocking the B????y boat" but that does tend to make things worse. If I'm on the helm, my camera is taken below by the mutinous crew.
:shock: :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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