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Is it me or the camera?
Jul 22, 2017 20:31:35 #
My friend an I just rented a Nikon 7500 (from LensProToGo) and started using it today. I was disappointed in some of the results so I thought I would post a couple of pictures and see if the UHH community can figure out what is going on. Caveats: it was a mostly overcast day; we were using the camera for the first time (although my friend is a Nikon user); we tried different settings. My concern - the images look soft/undefined. It doesn't appear to be a focus issue (except last one?) - to me they don't look as crisp as I expected.
I was considering the camera for bird picts and frankly, I expected better resolution. We first uploaded the JPEGs into Apple Photos (we saved in both RAW and JPEG) and that's when I noticed the lack of definition. So I uploaded the RAW into Affinity, clicked Develop, and then exported the JPEGs for upload here (not cropped or other PP). We used a Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 lens. I've included the camera setting for each photo.
Am I wrong to expect better resolution? If not, what we do differently?
I was considering the camera for bird picts and frankly, I expected better resolution. We first uploaded the JPEGs into Apple Photos (we saved in both RAW and JPEG) and that's when I noticed the lack of definition. So I uploaded the RAW into Affinity, clicked Develop, and then exported the JPEGs for upload here (not cropped or other PP). We used a Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 lens. I've included the camera setting for each photo.
Am I wrong to expect better resolution? If not, what we do differently?
1/800 f/18 ISO800 @270mm. Shutter Speed Priority AE
(Download)
1/800 f/11 ISO800 @270mm. Shutter Speed Priority AE
(Download)
1/800 f/5.6 ISO800 @230mm. Shutter Speed Priority AE
(Download)
This one pretty good. 1/800 f/9 ISO800 @75mm. Shutter Speed Priority AE
(Download)
1/200 f/14 ISO800 @300mm. Shutter Speed Priority AE
(Download)
Jul 22, 2017 20:51:13 #
Jul 22, 2017 20:52:15 #
Jim Bob wrote:
I vote you.
Thanks for the quick response, but could you be a bit more specific? What could I do differently?
Mike
Jul 22, 2017 21:14:34 #
Jul 22, 2017 21:16:24 #
First off, 300mm is not enough reach for what you were trying to do in low light conditions. 1/800 was too fast for the light conditions at that ISO. Did you try auto ISO. I think the camera is fine, you just need practice with it.
Jul 22, 2017 21:19:12 #
Though the lens is not the greatest in creation the main problem is you are too far away. Telephotos are to allow you to fill the frame from farther away, but you still need to be close enough to fill the frame. Plus for Birds In Flight 1/800 a bit on the slow side. They are moving faster than you think.
Jul 22, 2017 22:04:37 #
What was driving your decision for shutter priority? Are you familiar with exposure compensation? What was driving your ISO selection?
Take the first bird in the examples. The image is dark, the aperture at f/18 and ISO-800. Your lens is too short, even if it had been extended to 300mm, to capture 'detail' of this bird at this distance. But, the aperture and ISO settings didn't do anything to help things. I wonder too about the effectiveness of your RAW conversion given the resulting dark exposure even after processing.
You should look at shooting in manual or aperture priority for your 70-300 lens adjusting other exposure settings to enable f/8 when shooting for sharp(er) results from this lens. Is this an old model or VR enabled? Also, you need to look at continuous focus with a single point set on the birds eye if you can get that close.
For your original question: you with multiple areas / actions to consider for improvement
Take the first bird in the examples. The image is dark, the aperture at f/18 and ISO-800. Your lens is too short, even if it had been extended to 300mm, to capture 'detail' of this bird at this distance. But, the aperture and ISO settings didn't do anything to help things. I wonder too about the effectiveness of your RAW conversion given the resulting dark exposure even after processing.
You should look at shooting in manual or aperture priority for your 70-300 lens adjusting other exposure settings to enable f/8 when shooting for sharp(er) results from this lens. Is this an old model or VR enabled? Also, you need to look at continuous focus with a single point set on the birds eye if you can get that close.
For your original question: you with multiple areas / actions to consider for improvement
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Jul 23, 2017 00:30:11 #
MikWar wrote:
My friend an I just rented a Nikon 7500 (from Lens... (show quote)
To me, all the photos look very soft and I would have expected a lot better. I do not know if it is you or the lens or some camera settings that are wrong or maybe a mix of all of this. The aperture settings you are using are normally not a recipe for very sharp photos. It is best to be around f8 for sharpness. Then the ISO is also rather high. But I think the main problem is either that the lens is generally soft or you are not keeping the camera steady when shooting. At least with the pics of the birds standing on the ground. Those pics are just as soft as the others and there you would have had the possibility to keep the camera steady.
Do you have some other lens to test on the camera?
Hope this is of some help.
Jul 23, 2017 01:14:14 #
One thing, the aperture controls mostly Depth of Field, not sharpness as such. Most lens get their sharpest images 2-4 stops from wide open. So while say F/22 will get more DOF, it is a deeper but less sharp field while the same lens at say f/8 has a shallower DOF but what is in it is sharper. If that DOF includes the main subject then most perceive the whole image as being sharper.
I have a 180mm macro that is extremely sharp and have gotten away with single flowers at f/20 that looked pretty good, but a shot of the same flower at f/8 made the f/20 shot look like finger painting-for the parts of the flower that were in the DOF at f/8.
I have a 180mm macro that is extremely sharp and have gotten away with single flowers at f/20 that looked pretty good, but a shot of the same flower at f/8 made the f/20 shot look like finger painting-for the parts of the flower that were in the DOF at f/8.
Jul 23, 2017 01:47:54 #
mwsilvers
Loc: Central New Jersey
MikWar wrote:
My friend an I just rented a Nikon 7500 (from Lens... (show quote)
I think its mostly you. Shutter speed too slow, especially for BIF, Aperture is too small. Why did you select f/18 for the first shot? I'm not familiar with the lens so that may be part of the problem. and the reach of the lens is too short for what you were shooting. Additionally, I'm not familiar with the AF settings of your camera, but I'm guessing there are better focus options for BIF.
Jul 23, 2017 01:59:52 #
I do not think you have given the camera a fair test. You were shooting the 70-300 lens pretty far out from its sharpest focal length, the photos were by and large under exposed, the ISO was pretty high and shutter speed was slow for BIF. I believe that the 70-300 can do a credible job under the right circumstances and the D7500 appears to be a good camera. I recommend you do another test but give the camera/lens combo a fair chance. Do your test on a bright day, set the lens at about 250mm, shoot at f8, ISO 100-800 in 100 point increments varying the shutter speed to suit proper exposure. Above all use a tripod with remote release and turn off the VR on the lens. I expect that you will find a much better outcome. You can go from there in finding the limits of this lens/camera combo and your abilities. Please know that bird photography is very challenging even in perfect circumstances, so don't be too hard on yourself or the equipment and keep at it.
MikWar wrote:
My friend an I just rented a Nikon 7500 (from Lens... (show quote)
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Jul 23, 2017 06:04:12 #
billnikon
Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont
MikWar wrote:
My friend an I just rented a Nikon 7500 (from Lens... (show quote)
You need to isolate your subject from the background, get closer to your subjects and don't stop down so much. A nikon 200-500 would help. But you really need to get much closer to your subjects and ISOLATE them from the backgrounds, your subjects blend in. On the bike rider you could get on the ground and shoot up to isolate, you could also shoot at 1/15 sec. and pan with the rider to blur the background, and get closer. Your robin gets lost in the back ground, same in the fog and bird against a very bright water reflection. ISOLATE, ISOLATE, ISOLATE Your welcome, enjoy and keep on shooting until the end.
Jul 23, 2017 06:57:52 #
kpmac wrote:
First off, 300mm is not enough reach for what you were trying to do in low light conditions. 1/800 was too fast for the light conditions at that ISO. Did you try auto ISO. I think the camera is fine, you just need practice with it.
Thanks for the specific suggestions. Although 300mm didn't fill the frame with the birds, I was hoping that the sensor size would be large enough to capture more details. I usually set the ISO to 800 and then use Aperture Priority. I don't use Auto ISO to limit the upper end and avoid noise. I will continue to practice more with the camera.
Mike
Jul 23, 2017 06:59:36 #
robertjerl wrote:
Though the lens is not the greatest in creation the main problem is you are too far away. Telephotos are to allow you to fill the frame from farther away, but you still need to be close enough to fill the frame. Plus for Birds In Flight 1/800 a bit on the slow side. They are moving faster than you think.
Thanks for the useful information. We were a quite a distance from the birds so it wasn't possible to fill the frame with them. I'll try a faster shutter speed next time, too.
Mike
Jul 23, 2017 07:05:29 #
CHG_CANON wrote:
What was driving your decision for shutter priorit... (show quote)
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I typically use Aperture Priority and set the ISO at 800. That being said, we were experimenting/learning how to use the camera and were trying different settings. I didn't figure out how to change the Exposure Compensation till the end, but would have set it at +1 in those conditions. Next time I take out the camera I'll try your suggestions.
Mike
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