Larry, I note that this is a desperate plea for help and support, and that all PDMLers must respond with sympathy. I am often in the same situation as yours, so you are not alone. Your Problem Statement:- 1) Sharpness, 2) Exposure, 3) Technical Quality, 4) Photo Equipment / Upgrades / Changing Gear, 5) Poor Focus, 6) Camera Motion / Shake, 7) Photo Situation. Some honest Solution from a "Not so No All":- 1) As some one said, a tripod or monopod, a table, wall or other support. Control breathing at the time you press the shutter. Press the shutter gently in two pushes, where the first one sets focus & exposure, hold then the second push takes the photo. Give a chance for shake reduction to activate. 2) Use multiple exposure with EV variation. Play with Spot and Matrix metering. Recognize every Lens's variation for exposure, color and contrast and set these on your camera body. Use PP software - dark and bright area improvement. 3) Technical Quality is a very difficult approach. Request Expert PDMLers for HELP. 4) No gear produced today are bad, except for Bad Photographers. Most DSLR and Lenses are very good, including many P&S cameras. Larry there is no need to change gear. Just learn the idiosyncrasies of your camera and lens, make notes and experiment with setting changes - vow so many parameters in today's cameras. Perhaps you may consider one good sharp "Star" lens like the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 - cheap and better than Pentax's. 5) Most Auto Focus system are damn good. With failing eyesight I have given up Manual Focusing. Just remember to check for Body + Lens combo for Back / Front Focusing and make the appropriate setting to your DSLR body. Also wait for the Shake Reduction to Kick-in before you take the photo. 6) As said earlier breathing control, monopod / tripod, etc is your best friend to prevent camera motion / shake. Larry read up the plethora of help topics on this issue on the net. Just Google. 7) Photo Situations are too vast a topic to be covered here. Can some PDMLers help Larry or point us to some great site on the internet? Regards. Bipin - from a far away enchanting land.
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