Why do my Nikon D7000 photos look soft with both a 70-200mm and 18-70mm lens?
Asked 3/10/2013
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My Nikon D7000 images seem softer than I expect, and I see the same result with both a 70-200mm lens and an 18-70mm lens. I tested AF Fine Tune with a focus chart, but a setting of 0 seemed best. I also tried shooting with and without a UV filter, and with VR on and off, but it didn’t make a noticeable difference.
The sample images were shot at shutter speeds around 1/1600s and 1/800s. Some were taken around f/4.5–f/5, and one was at f/16. Is this likely to be a focus problem with the camera, or could aperture, depth of field, or technique be making the images look soft?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
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I see four main things based on the samples you posted:
- Diffraction
- Widest Aperture was used
- No post sharpening applied
- All subjects seem to be in uncontrolled potentially windy environments
One of the images you posted(with the most branches) was shot at f/16. I wouldn't expect this to be that sharp as it probably is way over the diffraction limit.
The others were on the other end of the spectrum, f/4.5 and f/5. I don't know exactly what lens you were using but I am guessing that is basically wide open for the lens. Usually shooting with the maximum possible aperture or "wide open" will result in less then optimal sharpness, especially with telephoto zooms like this. See this for more info: Will using a lens at max aperture ("wide open") result in poor images?
Finally the third item would be that your camera might not be applying any sharpening if you are shooting in JPEG, or if you are shooting RAW you are not applying any in post production. Typically images do need some type of sharpening applied, whether in camera or in post(but probably not both!). Some discussion around that is here: Why do photos look best without any sharpening?
This is what the shot at f/4.5 looks like with some simple sharpening in Lightroom at 100%:
Originally by user4892. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4892
13y ago
0
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It probably isn’t a camera fault. Based on the samples and settings, several normal factors can make the images look less sharp:
- At f/16, diffraction can reduce fine detail, especially on a high-resolution APS-C body like the D7000.
- At f/4.5–f/5 on a telephoto zoom, you’re near wide open, where zoom lenses are often a bit softer than when stopped down.
- Depth of field may be thinner than expected, so areas just in front of or behind the focus point can look soft even when focus is correct.
- Outdoor subjects like branches can move slightly in wind, which affects apparent sharpness.
- Lack of post-processing sharpening can also make files look softer than expected straight from camera.
Your AF Fine Tune result of 0 suggests autofocus calibration is probably not the main issue. Also, fine-tuning zooms is harder than primes because focus can vary with focal length and distance.
Try controlled tests on a tripod, with a static subject, good light, and compare apertures around f/5.6 to f/8. That should give a better sense of the lens/camera’s true sharpness.
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