dannac Loc: 60 miles SW of New Orleans

Nikon D5200
Tamron 70-300 with AF on and VC on.
Shot at 300mm
Shutter priorty 1000
Aperture f5.6
Auto iso 1250

Magnified to 1:1 it is not sharp.

Is this a combination of camera shake and too high iso ?

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St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Magnified there is a bit of grain, but camera shake is a problem too. Zoom in and look at the name on his face mask.

dannac Loc: 60 miles SW of New Orleans

Is that the correct way to check image sharpness ... magnify to 1:1 or 100% ?

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

I am not convinced the problem is camera shake. None of the other text shows the same blur nor does anything else. I wonder if that artifact and what you think is lack of sharpness might be due to having VC on. At 1/1000, I cannot believe you can have camera shake. From what I have seen, image stabilization introduces artifacts at faster shutter speeds.

Since this is not an action shot, you could have just as well shot this at ISO 100 and 1/125. In any event, you should try to shoot baseball on sunny days at ISO 800 and 1/500. Experiment and see what works for you.

Have you considered using a monopod for that big lens?

dannac Loc: 60 miles SW of New Orleans

Thanks for the advice ... I need lots of practice.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Just remember that Murphy's Law applies here. When you set the camera for action, you will not have any so you will shoot something with less depth of field, more focusing error and more noise than you want. And when you set the camera something not moving very much, action will suddenly happen and you know the rest of the story....

Don't worry about it. It happens to all of us.