lyndacast

I shot this late yesterday afternoon with my d500 and my 17-70mm Sigma lens.
Settings were:
F/4; 1/800; ISO 320; 105mm
I shot it in Aperture Priority and AF/S. I shot it in RAW…(transferred to my IPad as JPEG). My focus point was the middle of the flower, but I seem to have missed it. I shot it handheld…

Any advice would be great appreciated. TIA.

(Download)

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

Focus and camera movement?

Brokenland

You did force focus on the center of the flower, but didn't enlarge or readjust the green square to the proper size. Assuming your camera is equipped with this type of option.

cedymock Loc: Irmo, South Carolina

Were you using autofocus or manual focus? Maybe to close to focus, check minimum focus distance.

bamfordr Loc: Campbell CA

For depth of field, the online calculators need distance to subject. And the focal length you were using. I’m not sure what the “105 mm” you provided is since it exceeds the lens range. I played around with different combinations of distance and focal length and you MIGHT have had a reasonable depth of field or you might have had something around an inch and a half, which would mean even a little camera motion could throw you off. We’re you using back- button focus or shutter-button focus? In the case of back-button, if the depth of field is tiny, a small motion toward or away from the flower could have been enough to soften the image. Good luck!

Or minimum focus distance as lyndacast suggests.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

1/800 rules out most but maybe not all movements .....there is no 105mm setting on the Sigma 17-70 lens ! ? ...... f4 is wide open - focus is critical ! There is very little contrast for the AF to focus on in the this lower softer lighting ....

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

My guess is too close to focus. Usually the camera signals this somehow, red square vs green square, flashing focus square, something like that. Also if the lens is at full zoom, some cameras have trouble focusing. I know zip about your camera or lens, so just wildly guessing.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

The most impressive thing is how you got a lens with a max of 70mm to shoot at 105mm. 😜🤪

Brokenland

HA! I totally missed that..

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I'll guess that the camera reports the effective focal length from the crop factor.
70*1.5=105

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Exactly right. You win! Exif confirms the 105 is "35 mm film equivalent."

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

home brewer Loc: Fort Wayne, Indiana

nothing is in focus, did the review show the focus point? at 3' the dof would be about 1/2" per photopills app for the d500 at f4 and 105 m. Closer and it gets smaller.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Look at the subtly sharper details of the white flower petal behind the red center. It seems you probably didn't hold the camera exactly where focused while shooting. Then, the f/4 aperture is extremely shallow for this focal length (70mm) and the nearness to the subject. Given the lowish ISO and the fast shutter, it would seem you had options to use a smaller aperture in the same light.

Consider taking multiple images of a given subject. You could have 'walked' the aperture for a series of shots, say this f/4 through f/11. Then, when you get home, you might have this one soft image, but also several others for comparison and 'lesson learning' such that you have experience with your abilities to handhold and knowledge of the performance of this lens on this camera in your hands.

Another in-the-field technique is to review the image. What did you see on the camera's display?

Another in-the-field technique is to refocus and shoot again. In addition to walking the aperture mentioned above, where there's time / interest, I focus once and shoot, then refocus and shoot again with the same parameters. Sometimes the first is better, sometimes the second is better.

Another in-the-field technique is to shoot in short bursts, particularly difficult handholding angles / situations. Sometimes they're all the same, most times one is markedly better in the sharp details vs the other versions in the burst 2 or 3 images.

Other ideas similar to above: How to obtain sharp images in digital photography

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I just checked data from my old Canon T1i and my Sony H-1. The '35mm Equivalent' field is null for both cameras. 'Focal Length' is populated though.
Oh well. Not that I use that info much anyway.