Focus problems with Nikon D50 - please help!

merrisweel

The past three shoots I've done have looked incredibly sharp through the lens, but as soon as I load them on to the computer, my heart sinks with disapointment. They're all soft-focus! Nothing I try gets them sharp again. This just started happening, and I've shot with both manual, and automatic, auto-focus as well as manual focus, and I cannot see to remedy the problem. My thoughts are that the image sensor may be dirty or something of the like, but before I spend the money to take it somewhere to get it fixed professionally, I thought I'd give asking the masses a try. So if you have any idea how to fix this problem, I'd greatfully appreciate any tips!! Thanks so much! (my business thanks you too!)

ziggy53

What lenses did you use and can you post sample images, preferably with links to the full sized images and with full EXIF?

NikonsandVstroms

Could you have accidentally moved the diopter adjustment?

jonh68

Can you duplicate this with more than 3 shots. You need to shoot more than that and use other lenses too.

ian408

NikonsandVstroms wrote:

Could you have accidentally moved the diopter adjustment?

This shouldn't matter with the final product. Remember, the diopter is for the shooter to adjust for his/her eyesight (or lack thereof ).

merrisweel

The Photos
First, let me clairfy - it wasn't just 3 shots - it was three shoots - as in multiple days, multiple situations. I know its not the diopter... I was using 2 nikkor lenses, one 25-80, the other a 125. Sorry it's taken me a couple days. I'm still working on setting up my smugmug pro, so every time I sign in to upload the pictures, I get sucked into html - I blame the a.d.d.

Okay, here are some random shots from my neices birthday party on the 9th, which is where I first noticed the problem, and then from her 3 yr old photo shoot where I tried different settings, lenses to try and fix the problem to no avail...

at the birthday party I used both lenses, and did it mostly manual. The outdoor shoot I tried using the automatic setting to see if it was something I was all of a sudden doing wrong.


f 5.6 - exposure 1/200, 80mm focal length, of 120mm lense


f 5.6 exposure 1/100, 70 mm

f 5.6, 1/125, 170mm

f 4.8, 1/320, 56mm


f 5.6, 1/60, 80mm (80 mm lense)


If this is human error, I'd glady take a lesson in what I'm doing wrong!

Scott_Quier

Here's what I see:

1. Focus appears to be beyond her eyes - on her hair tie
2. You have camera and/or subject motion blur - look at her teeth and the top/right edge of the box in her right hand for the signs.
3. I can't tell what's going on here - not enough depth to the photo
4. Looks like the focal plane is through the top of her head. Then again, her right elbow looks sharp as well.
5. Focus is in front of her

My first thought would be, what with the focus being "all over the place", that the problem is techique-based rather than hardware-based.

But, that's just my take on it and and Ziggy is much more qualified than am I to proffer an opinion.

It's much easier to correct human error if that human were to describe the technique being used to acquire focus.:D What focus point(s) are you using? Are you focusing and then re-composing the shot? Camera distance from the subject may play a part in the problem as well.

Oh, wait! I just noticed that you're shooting with a Nikon ..... (just couldn't help myself)

ziggy53

Scott is pretty much right on with the exception of the last image which I think is almost where focus should be.

In the last image especially, the light is fairly subdued but you did use flash which helped.

Here is my interpretation of the last image:

I found that the exposure was correct but the tonality was subdued. I used Levels to expand the tones and create real black points and highlights. I also used a mid-tone sharpener and a little bit of additional USM sharpening, both localized and global. The greens were not quite where I would like them so I boosted them a bit in both saturation and brightness.

I also cropped in just a little and used a 6 x 4 aspect ratio which I think is a little more intimate.

I also added a larger catch light in the eyes to simulate a larger light source, and I made it slightly higher in the eyes (to the right in the image).

I will remove the image if you wish.

ziggy53

MerrisWheel,

I do think it's time to move up to better lenses. The lenses used in this series do not have enough sharpness at the apertures used and in the lighting conditions.

A constant aperture "standard" zoom, like the Tamron SP AF 17-50mm, f/2.8 XR DI-II LD Aspherical (IF) would probably make a good choice and the Nikkor ED 17-55mm, f/2.8G AF-S IF DX would be better (but considerably more expensive.)

An external flash is probably a must for many of these types of images as is an appropriate modifier.

merrisweel

to clarify
okay - just to clarify then - it's not the hardware (besides the fact I need better lenses) It's more or less that I need to pay proper attention to where I am focusing, and not just to allow the auto focus to do it anymore? Because to be honest - and I know, it's lazy and stupid-that's what I've been doing.. And that is obviously not working.

I do have an external flash I plan on using for upcoming events, so is that going to help the focusing problem?

And is the other guy I asked saying I should get my image sensor cleaned, wrong? Or would you recommend that too?

ziggy53

merrisweel wrote:

okay - just to clarify then - it's not the hardware (besides the fact I need better lenses) It's more or less that I need to pay proper attention to where I am focusing, and not just to allow the auto focus to do it anymore? Because to be honest - and I know, it's lazy and stupid-that's what I've been doing.. And that is obviously not working.

I do have an external flash I plan on using for upcoming events, so is that going to help the focusing problem?

And is the other guy I asked saying I should get my image sensor cleaned, wrong? Or would you recommend that too?

I think that better procedures and some more experience plus a better lens will produce consistantly better results than you are getting.

Selecting an appropriate single autofocus point may help.

Depending upon the flash, it may help or it may not. If it is a flash that has a focus assist light, then it will probably help in dim light at close distances. It will at least help with exposure when you need fill light and it will improve your results as you learn how to use it properly and if you use the appropriate flash modifiers.

If you want to see if your imager needs cleaning, see this tutorial by Scott:

http://www.dgrin.com/printthread.php?t=8350&page=5&pp=40