On Dec 27, 2010, at 6:24 PM, steve harley wrote: > after reading through this thread it seems like working with Lightroom may be > distracting you from finding out why your images aren't sharp; Lightroom > can't really fix this; the sharpening effect essentially emphasizes the edges > of shapes, it doesn't really "fix" blurry images > > if your images are blurry i'd suspect > > 1) you are shooting handheld at slow speed and the camera is not steady enough > 2) your subjects are moving too fast for the speed of your exposure > 3) you've got a problem with the focus and/or the lens
Thanks, Larry. I'm glad you commented on this. I wasn't expecting much from Lightroom in this connection, though noise reduction did improve one poor image I'd selected to experiment with. You're right about the hand-held part. I have yet to put that ball head I got from Adorama to work. And sometimes I have had to resort to slow shutter speeds. But mostly I'm at least at 125, mostly 180 or 250. Most of my subjects to date have been stationary or moving slowly if at all. One of the sharpest images from the Pittsburgh trip, though, was of a mural on the end of a row of buildings shot from a moving car. So I guess it's at least possible. Not sure exactly what you mean by "problem with focus," but I suspect the problem is somewhere in #3. If by "problems with focus" you mean "not focusing well," that may be it. All my lenses are manual focus, and I want to keep it that way, at least for a while, at least till I get this problem solved. A lot of the time I'm shooting in situations that require quick set-up, and in those situations focusing may not be done as carefully as it might be. What disappoints me is when I am "focusing on" focus, trying to get it sharp, and the image still turns out soft. I don't think the problem is eyesight. I do wear glasses, but my eyesight is pretty good, and I mostly wear the glass while driving at night. I don't need them for reading, working at the computer, or most of the things for which others require them. My K1000 SE had a split image view finder. I looked into a KatzEye for my *ist DS, but I'm uncertain about it. I wonder about lenses. I haven't attempted to evaluate any of them in this connection -- and how would I know, in any given instance, that the problem was with the lens? -- but I've tried to pick lenses that have a reputation for producing sharp images and avoiding those that do not. My collection: A 28/2.8, M 50/1.7, A 50/2.0, M 100/4.0 macro, 2 M 135/3.5s, and one A 70-210/4.0. I've been going about this slowly. I am not shooting regularly. I tend to go long times without shooting with occasional intense bursts, like the trip to Pittsburgh. I'm really just getting comfortable holding the camera, and at making adjustments quickly. I'm getting better at exposure but have more to learn there. Composition has been pretty could all along. It may just be that things are still coming together for me. I know this is the main thing that bothers me right now. Maybe I'm getting to the place where I can make a little progress with it. The shot that occasioned my first post to the list, and that led eventually to my getting the camera with which it was made, is this. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1604247/PESO/PESO%20--%20%20prayerserviceatstmichaels.html It is certainly sharp. I can't come close to that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Eric Weir Decatur, GA USA [email protected] -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
