# issues with sharpness, d90



## zeppman (Sep 10, 2009)

Hey everyone,

I'm a beginner, and picked up a d90 a few days ago.  I just went out during my lunch break to take a few shots, and was rather disappointed with how washed out, soft and un-sharp they were.  I was using aperture and shutter priority, and it was a sunny day, iso200.  

I can't upload photos at this time since I'm at work and they block that stuff.  Any experts on the d90 have any tips they can provide until I can upload photos?  I haven't really changed anything on the camera except shutter, aperture and iso.  I tried changing the EV a few times, adjusting for what i saw in the lcd.  

Thanks.


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## Big Mike (Sep 10, 2009)

You will have to post some examples, preferably along with the EXIF data.


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## zeppman (Sep 10, 2009)

OK, sorry, I'll do that as soon as I get home.  My other question (while I'm here) was that I chose the option to do jpeg+raw on my computer, yet the camera only gave me doubles in jpeg format.  Why did I not get the NEF files?


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## Big Mike (Sep 10, 2009)

> OK, sorry, I'll do that as soon as I get home. My other question (while I'm here) was that I chose the option to do jpeg+raw on my computer, yet the camera only gave me doubles in jpeg format. Why did I not get the NEF files?


If you choose RAW+JPEG _on the camera_, then that's what you should get.  Are you sure that it's giving you double JPEG files?  (are you actually viewing the file types, not just the icons, which may look alike?)


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## Plato (Sep 10, 2009)

Big Mike said:


> > OK, sorry, I'll do that as soon as I get home. My other question (while I'm here) was that I chose the option to do jpeg+raw on my computer, yet the camera only gave me doubles in jpeg format. Why did I not get the NEF files?
> 
> 
> If you choose RAW+JPEG _on the camera_, then that's what you should get.  Are you sure that it's giving you double JPEG files?  (are you actually viewing the file types, not just the icons, which may look alike?)



Further, if he's looking at unprocessed RAW images, they're going to look flat.


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## zeppman (Sep 10, 2009)

Ok, the raw/jpeg thing, Yes, I'm sure that is what I selected on my camera, and when I view them on my computer, one image under that name is called a jpeg file, and the other does not have a name until I click on it, and that it names itself "File type" jpeg. They are both the exact same size on disk too, (which I know the RAW file would be larger).  I have not been able to view any raw files from this camera.  

On to the pictures.  I haven't done any processing, this is straight from the camera (again, I realize they are not good, that's why I'm here looking for help):  






 1/1600, F5.3, iso 800, EV +.7





1/200, F20, iso 800, EV-.7 





1/10, f36, iso 200 ev -.3 





1/400 f4.8, iso 200, ev +.3 





1/200 F8, ISO 200, +.3


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## max3k (Sep 10, 2009)

f20 f36 ISO800 in the middle of the day.....thats definitely not helping


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## zeppman (Sep 10, 2009)

yeah, i forgot that i left it on iso800.....   I switched as I took more photos.  

Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought large "F" number =  physically smaller aperture opening, greater depth of field, less light in? ...  no?


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## Plato (Sep 10, 2009)

zeppman said:


> yeah, i forgot that i left it on iso800.....   I switched as I took more photos.
> 
> Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought large "F" number =  physically smaller aperture opening, greater depth of field, less light in? ...  no?



Yes, you are correct.


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## UUilliam (Sep 10, 2009)

yes but too high of a f number (smaller opening) will cause diffraction

You should keep at a maximum of f 16 - f 18
also the EV should be set to 0

The only time you really change EV is if it is a tricky metering situation e.g. when photographing the moon, there is only a small portion of bright light so i spot meter, then dial my EV to -1.5


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## lvcrtrs (Sep 10, 2009)

Pg 108 in your manual - Picture Controls
Make sure you are not set on Neutral. Try Standard or Vivid.

Also change your sharpness setting to 7 for starters and see how you like that. It goes up to 9 but that can really be a bit much especially for people shots. You can always up it later or tweak in a photo program.

Below is a blip from a full DPReview.
Nikon D90 Review: 36. Conclusion: Digital Photography Review
The image quality, whether at base ISO or the higher settings, is excellent even if it can need a bit of tweaking of the internal settings to tailor the output to specific needs. While it's understandable that Nikon would want to try to bring the processing settings into line with its more expensive cameras, it's questionable how well the rather under-sharpened default output will serve the buyers of this camera. A little more contrast and saturation improve things, without any ill effects.


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## Dao (Sep 10, 2009)

Maybe take the photos again at a different time.   Using a circular polarizer filter may help as well.


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## zeppman (Sep 10, 2009)

Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far.  Can someone tell me how to set sharpness?  I've looked at the manual, googled, and can't find how.. only that people do it....


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## Plato (Sep 10, 2009)

zeppman said:


> Ok, the raw/jpeg thing, Yes, I'm sure that is what I selected on my camera, and when I view them on my computer, one image under that name is called a jpeg file, and the other does not have a name until I click on it, and that it names itself "File type" jpeg. They are both the exact same size on disk too, (which I know the RAW file would be larger).  I have not been able to view any raw files from this camera.
> 
> On to the pictures.  I haven't done any processing, this is straight from the camera (again, I realize they are not good, that's why I'm here looking for help):
> 
> ...



What lens did you use?  Did you use a filter?  If so, brand and model?


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## zeppman (Sep 10, 2009)

No filter, lens:  Afs nikkor 18-105 1:3.5-5.6G


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## shortpballer (Sep 10, 2009)

you should be using iso100 in direct sunlight.


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## Plato (Sep 10, 2009)

zeppman said:


> No filter, lens:  Afs nikkor 18-105 1:3.5-5.6G



Well, scratch my ideas.


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## lvcrtrs (Sep 10, 2009)

zeppman said:


> Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far. Can someone tell me how to set sharpness? I've looked at the manual, googled, and can't find how.. only that people do it....


 
Menu
Shooting Menu
Set Picture Control
Next to the OK button push the controller to the right
Pick the Picture Control you want to use (Standard, Vivid etc)
Next to the OK button push the controller to the right
You will see the options that you can adjust
Press the OK button

Don't worry about the default settings. You can always come back and click on RESET


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## KmH (Sep 10, 2009)

Read the users manual *carefully* from cover to cover, twice. The quicker you get comfortable with how the manual is organised, the quicker you'll be getting killer pics out of your D90.

If you skip reading the manual carefully several times, your learnig curve will be much longer and you'll not know about many of the nice features the D90 has.

A google search of 'sharpness' only returns 11,800,000 hits, so that dog quit barking..


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## zeppman (Sep 10, 2009)

Got the sharpness thing, thank you.  Yeah, I'm working my way through the book, and I know I have a lot to learn.  Thank you all for you input.  

I found that if I do go to "RAW" mode only, I do get .nef files.  So I don't know why I don't get them when I do "Raw + jpeg"...

I went down to the lake (in chicago) and were taking a few dusk pictures which I think turned out decent.  I found though that I get two strange white vertical lines that seem to be 1 pixel wide on my lcd screen.  This is the first that I noticed it.  They don't appear on the picture, only when I'm viewing the picture on the lcd after taking it.  Anyone know why this is?  Should I bother trying to find out and getting it fixed?  

Here is a shot from tonight.


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## bazpaul (Sep 11, 2009)

KmH said:


> Read the users manual *carefully* from cover to cover, twice. The quicker you get comfortable with how the manual is organised, the quicker you'll be getting killer pics out of your D90.



sound advice


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## lvcrtrs (Sep 11, 2009)

Book mark this link. Nikon support (free) is very helpful with anything and everything if you get stuck.
Nikon Support Contact Information

As far as the white line. I will see that if there is a very bright spot on the scene. I wonder if it was right around the building with the light on the top of it.

The D90 seems to really rock in darker situations. That flat lack of contrast daytime issue was the first thing I noticed too.


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## zeppman (Sep 11, 2009)

lcvtrs, how did you get around the lack of contrast during the day time?


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## mariusz (Sep 11, 2009)

the images look sharp to me.


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## KmH (Sep 11, 2009)

zeppman said:


> lcvtrs, how did you get around the lack of contrast during the day time?


CPL, Circular Polarizing Filter.


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## Sw1tchFX (Sep 11, 2009)

of course images that have been resized to 500 pixels wide are going to look sharp, we'd need to see 100% blowups.


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## zeppman (Sep 11, 2009)

I'm not sure if this is frowned upon, but all of these images can be seen at full size here:

Flickr: jallgeyer514's Photostream


Ignore the ones of the woman and the kitten, that was taken over a year ago on another camera, and I just didn't get around to deleting them yet.


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## lvcrtrs (Sep 11, 2009)

zeppman said:


> lcvtrs, how did you get around the lack of contrast during the day time?


 

Sorry I can't help there. Most of my pics are critters with big crops. Not too much in the way of landscapes. I've posted for some help on post processing. I've noticed that the run of the mill outside scenery shots are just kinda flat. Wait til you try to shoot in the winter - ick.

However, that being said, you can try the following. I tried a bunch of things and went back to the defaults but you should try too. You may like what you find. You can adjust the CONTRAST yourself. BUT you must turn off the ACTIVE D LIGHTING first.

Menu
Shooting Menu
Active D Lighting
Push controller to the right of the OK button
Turn ADL off
Now go back into your picture controls and you will see that you can adjust the contrast yourself (+/-3).

Another thing to try is to just set the ADL to other than AUTO (try LOW). It will push less light into your shadows maybe.

I get lost and frustrated when I try to many things, but give it a go. Maybe it will be the answer to your problems.

I've come to the conclusion that I must learn to PP and am trying. But I think I still want to get a zippy P-n-S for the landscape stuff. If that Canon SX10 had the propriatary lithium (I'm in that camp, I figure if you have 2 and you are not a Pro that should be all you ever need till you get back to a charger) I'd probably get it. They just released an SX20. Same AAs though.


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