Why do my Nikon 55-300mm photos look hazy, and why is the background soft even at f/18?
Asked 3/10/2018
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I’m using a Nikon D5600 with the Nikon 55-300mm VR lens. On bright sunny days, some of my telephoto photos look hazy, and in some images the background appears soft even when I stop down to a high f-number like f/18. One example was shot with Auto-area AF, and other examples also show haze. What causes this, and how can I improve sharpness?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
1
the haze consists of particles in the air. there is moisture, in case of the airport exhaust fumes, mist and sometimes smoke. when you are taking photos over a large distance with a long focal length, it's like looking through a very long cone of air/ atmosphere.
try again in the desert, you will find the effect there is minimised and colours much more expressive.
Originally by user72678. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user72678
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Two different things are likely happening:
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Atmospheric haze: At long focal lengths you’re shooting through a lot of air, so moisture, heat shimmer, exhaust, mist, smoke, and other particles can reduce contrast and make distant backgrounds look hazy and soft. This is common on bright sunny days and gets worse over longer distances.
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Diffraction and possibly camera shake: On a Nikon D5600, stopping down to f/18 is well past the point where diffraction starts to soften fine detail. Even f/8–f/10 are affected to a lesser extent. Also, at a slow shutter speed like 1/100s with a telephoto lens, some blur from camera movement is possible.
To improve results, try using a wider aperture than f/18, keep shutter speeds higher for telephoto shots, and shoot when the air is clearer/cooler if possible. Don’t expect distant backgrounds to become crisp if the atmosphere itself is reducing clarity.
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