New D90 Taking Surprisingly Average Pics

[No Crust Racing]

Bought the missus a D90 for her birthday, got the kit with the 18-55 and the 55-200mm VR lenses. Now while we are both very much amatuers I expected that the pics we have snapped would be a bit better than what we're seeing, even on auto. She started mentioning that the iage quality wasn't that good so I've been taking a closer look.

I'll post up some examples from home tonight but the big issue is image blur/lack of shaprness/soft edges on subject matter of photo regardless of focus.

The most recent example was on the weekend at a car show, taking photos of static cars on a bright sunny day the camera still managed to generate blur in the image, we're not talking super motion blue as if the car was moving but the edges of subject are surprisingly soft given how much light is about.

This is with the standard 18-55 lense, with auto focus and VR both enabled. Half hold to get focus then take a photo. Sure I concede that I might move a touch but I dont have parkinsons and a standard digital camera takes cripser pics ( using a 12mp panasonic lumic as a comparison)

At first I thought it was because lots of pics we took were inside in low light conditions, here i was surprised by the image clarity but just assumed the standard flash wasn't throwing out enough light. So I made sure to do some testing of well lit static items to compare.

I've used the in camera clean image sensor option and reset the camera to factory defaults, no change. The camera and the lenses are always stored properly in a bag and handled carefully, nothing has been dropped.

I know it's hard to comment without pics (I will put some up) but any ideas?

[FST513]

It's because its Nikon

But seriously. Changing camera settings and cleaning the sensor won't help.

I need to see example photos as well. Hard to help you out without them, but you said you'll post them up later tonight.

I need settings of each photo as well.

Low-light conditions, depending how dark, this will mainly be because of camera shake. E.g. Camera setting the shutter at 1/30th or something, ISO 800, flash at full power.

The lens could potentially be soft around the edges but it still shouldn't matter if the entire image is blurry.

Could be the aperture is set wide open and its soft and you need to stop down to f/5.6.

Are you using a UV Filter? Could be the cause. Take it off. See if it gets better. Have you cleaned the lens? Is it dirty? Did you use cleaning solution on the lens? Always only use a microfibre cloth to clean.

So many variables.

I'd try shooting in AV/TV/M to eliminate user error.

E.g. Today is extremely bright and sunny. Shoot in manual. I'd guess the light today would be around 1/400th, f/8, ISO 100.

But still.. Need example photos and settings to go along with them

[No Crust Racing]

Lens has not been cleaned as it didn't appear to be dirty. There is a UV filter in place.

Can't tell you specific settings off hand.

Examples will go up tonight.

Cheers

[MaTBoY]

Like Kory said with out a shot or two it's like telling your Dr you don't feel well and asking whats wrong with out any extra info.

Make sure you post up full size and straight from camera. We will need the Exif data embedded in the shot, it contains all relevant camera settings. Hopeflly it's just something simple like user error, user error is really quick and fairly cheap to fix

I shoot with a D90 and had a lot of practice with the 18-55. It's a great lens in terms of bang for buck. I'll check back this evening for these shots.

post up at least one from LOW Light and one of these shots you took out in the sun.

[No Crust Racing]

Well do

Cheers

[siddr20]

Need pics and leave EXIF info in place so we can see what settings were used.

Thanks

[FST513]

Before you post up photos, make sure to take a photo with the UV filter off and see if it makes a difference. Shoot the SAME thing, on a tripod/somewhere you can rest the camera so there is no camera shake.

E.g. Kitchen Bench, put something in front and focus on it, 2/10 second timer and do not bounce/vibrate the camera.

Do the same thing with and without the UV filter. I suspect it might be the UV filter and user error

[Jay019]

I shoot with a D90 and had a lot of practice with the 18-55. It's a great lens in terms of bang for buck. I'll check back this evening for these shots.

agreed. i had shots taken with a d90 and the stock 18-55 that were published in this months Fast Fours (page 70-75 *plugplug*) so yeah, the lens does its job well.

[No Crust Racing]

OK here we go.

1 - UV Filter, no timer - just press botton

2 - UV Filter with timer

3 - No UV Filter and timer

4 - No UV Filter, no timer, no steady base (I'm holding the camera)

5 - Random shot of the dog, clarity here is quite good even at "actual size" when viewing on the PC. Camera is just being held in hand, set to auto with UV in place.

6 - Random shot from the Hot Rod Run - Camera held in hand, UV in place, on Auto - Clarift of the engine bay/components is average at actual size.

All in all though, clarity isn't stellar though the Dog shot isn't bad, the first four shots that were on a solid base look like they could use some extra lighting or something and the hot rod shot seems like maybe the reflecting light from all the shiney stuff is upsetting the camera maybe?

Thoughts?

Edited November 8, 2010 by ActionDan

[MaTBoY]

First off, your white balance looks really blue. This makes shots look a bit murky. Read up on White Balance adjustment, and don't be afraid to mess with settings. You can change stff back or reset it later on. My WB is usually Auto A3 (which gives a little bit of warmth)

Secondly, you're metering mode is set on pattern. Try Matrix, or shift it around. Look at your screen to see which focus points are active.

The good news is you're camera is fine. Lens is fine too. Those shots are ok. You might need to bump up your ISO if your shutter speed is creeping up in the light you have.

Go into your menu.

Set Picture Control. There's a bunch of modes in here. Experiment.

Enjoyu!

[bnr#@]

For the shot of the book, the camera is just chosing a large aperture (small f number) which gives a shallow depth of field so the background is blured out a bit, helps enthesise the book

[funkymonkey]

Before you do anything, do a reset. Hold down all the buttons with a green dot next to it to do a reset. It'll revert any custom exposure, white balance etc settings to factory default.

you're shooting on 5.6 aperture and low ISO (220-250ish). Try changing the Exposure Mode Selector to P (Program mode), then use the front dial to change to the highest aperture ratio your lens will support (from the looks of it your VR lens goes to 3.6). The camera will then automatically choose an exposure and shutter speed for you to suit. Also try switching to RAW mode when shooting. This will allow you to fine tune your exposure settings in post processing.

[No Crust Racing]

First off, your white balance looks really blue. This makes shots look a bit murky. Read up on White Balance adjustment, and don't be afraid to mess with settings. You can change stff back or reset it later on. My WB is usually Auto A3 (which gives a little bit of warmth)

Secondly, you're metering mode is set on pattern. Try Matrix, or shift it around. Look at your screen to see which focus points are active.

The good news is you're camera is fine. Lens is fine too. Those shots are ok. You might need to bump up your ISO if your shutter speed is creeping up in the light you have.

Go into your menu.

Set Picture Control. There's a bunch of modes in here. Experiment.

Enjoyu!

I'll give both of these things a try but to compare, the shot of the dog was also on auto, it came out much clearer, granted it was out in the sunshine. The book shots just lack crispness. TBH I thought that given I can put the lumix on auto and get arguably better shots that Auto on the Nikkon would do a decent job =\

For the shot of the book, the camera is just chosing a large aperture (small f number) which gives a shallow depth of field so the background is blured out a bit, helps enthesise the book

I expected the BG to be blurred as I've played with the A mode doing some test shots for that arty background blurred effect, what I'm talking about is the lack of clarity on the actual subject matter.

Before you do anything, do a reset. Hold down all the buttons with a green dot next to it to do a reset. It'll revert any custom exposure, white balance etc settings to factory default.

you're shooting on 5.6 aperture and low ISO (220-250ish). Try changing the Exposure Mode Selector to P (Program mode), then use the front dial to change to the highest aperture ratio your lens will support (from the looks of it your VR lens goes to 3.6). The camera will then automatically choose an exposure and shutter speed for you to suit. Also try switching to RAW mode when shooting. This will allow you to fine tune your exposure settings in post processing.

I'll try the reset tonight and see if it helps. At this stage I'm trying to get the best shot out of the cam before going to post processing, once I understand how to do that properly I can assist the missus (it's her camera) she is planning on doing a course on it but in the mean time I'd like to skill up a bit and get some better snaps out of the camera without having to go all crazy on the settings.

Thanks for the input so far guys.

[ZENNON]

Photo's look fine to me.. I suspect you were expecting too much (they are only kit lenses after all)

Agree with others about your white balance being weird.. (not sure why its looks so bad - normally auto isn't that bad)

Also you might find photo's to be a little sharper when you are shooting in the lens's sweet spot

Shooting wide open (F3.5 at 18mm or f5.6 at 55mm) or very closed (f22 etc) wont yield the best results

(ie all your book shots for example are at 5.6, dog is at f11 and looks perfect, and car one might just have the focus off a little)

Edited November 9, 2010 by ZENNON

[No Crust Racing]

I might do some back to back testing with my little canon point and shoot. I dont think it's that unreasonable to expect that the D90 should take better pics than a $200 camera when both are on auto.

Best tips for ensuring crisp photos?

Using the photo of the engine bay as an example, how could that have been made clearer. At actual size there's a fair bit of detail lost due to blur in the engine bay components especially. Is this caused by the random light scattering around?

Also do other D90 users find that the standard flash lacks a little fill sometimes?

Edited November 9, 2010 by ActionDan

[ZENNON]

Best tips for ensuring crisp photos?

assuming subject is not moving:

non moving camera (tripod/ledge, timer etc)

right aperture (ie sweet spot)

iso 100

(if either subject or camera is moving rules change)

[ZENNON]

I dont think it's that unreasonable to expect that the D90 should take better pics than a $200 camera when both are on auto.

FWIW my D80 takes HEAPS better pics than my $200 camera (which is a Canon S5 IS)

[No Crust Racing]

Some back to back testing will show up just how much better that is. (Auto for Auto battle) My Canon is just an ixus 85.

I guess I was hoping that I could stick it on Auto and have some decent pics come out, pretty much every point and shoot will take decent snaps on auto so I hoped that the D90 might be a bit better when also on Auto. Sometimes it's just not practical to change the settings for every pic you take.

Edited November 9, 2010 by ActionDan

[funkymonkey]

Oh another thing that just came to mind. Noise correction. Usually it's on and results in dull photos. Turn it off. You can do that in post processing. Also make sure you're not shaking the camera while pressing the shutter

I use a D90 (granted all my lenses are 2.8's or thereabouts) and my photos aren't as dull (dunno any other way to describe the difference). Fairly sure it's just a matter of resetting the settings.

[ZENNON]

nah he doesn't have noise reduction on

ps the thing letting you down is your lenses mate - not the camera

but even on auto with crappy kit lenses it will still be better i think