Camera Labs

I have been experimenting with my new Tamron 70-300 lens on my Sony a200 camera.

I quite like this picture but it doesn't seem very sharp. is this the best I can get with camera / lens combination ?

I used the Auto settings for this shot.



any tips advice welcome

hi Ricks, i have the same setup, i used auto when i first got the camera now i use aperture priority i find the tamron works well at f8 and f11 apertures on a clear or sunny day,i thought id always be using the camera in auto mode but just learning from other people on here has helped considerably

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equip/canon50d/55-250 is/ tamron sp 70-300mm vc usd/lowepro aw200 slingshot

Ok, had a little play with photoshop, auto levels and a blue filter...

please let me know what you think, and any tips on how I can improve.

im no expert but the swans head is not as soft as the first one imho
and in the second image the water colour distracts slightly but like i said im no expert this is just my opinion i could be completly wrong in my observation

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equip/canon50d/55-250 is/ tamron sp 70-300mm vc usd/lowepro aw200 slingshot

First one looks like a slight misfocus to me. Note the neck looks a little sharper than the front of the head. Personally I use center point AF on continuous for this. Do note that the ripples in the background are often more interesting to the AF system so gets picked over the head.

Second one has an over-processed feel to me, mainly a touch too much sharpening I think.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I agree with Popo. The first one is a bit misfocus

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Victor
Nikon D300 - Nikkor 16-85 VR - Nikkor 70-200 2.8 VR I
www.victorhoffmann.com

What shutter speed and focal length did u use?

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Nikon D300 / Sigma 500mm F4.5

http://nature-photo.be/

exactly as popo says.

First one looks to be a misfocus - I find it happens to me if the focus is on Auto, sometimes it doesn't seem to register what it is you want to take a picture of.

The second one, although colours are rich, you've used the sharpen filter too much, so you end up with grainey outlines and rough edges.

Post up the originals and I could have a look for you.

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Phil Diggle - Freelance Graphics Designer, Full Time University Student and Novice Photographer!

Camera Kit - Sony A200K 18-70 DT | Minolta 70-210 AF 'Beercan' | Sony 50mm f/1.8 | Jessops Flash Gun

http://www.phildiggle.co.uk | Flickr Photo Portfolio - Working Progress

Thank you for the advice..

I wasn't using center point focus, didn't take much notice of shutter speed or focal length as everything was switched onto auto.

PhilDiggle, the swan neck in the first picture is straight from the camera except for a 25% resize

This is the original from the camera of the whole swan, again 25% reduced size.

Riks, thanks for the original.

Having looked at it some more, something going wrong with the focusing somewhere as the finer details of the swan are lost.

As a side note, you may want to think about composition when taking pictures too. There's a few articles throughout the forum in reference to Rule of Thirds.

Anyway, I've had a quick play, here's my result:


What I've done:
Auto-Levels
Re-opened levels and boost midtones and highlights
Contrast boost using Curves and set to a shallow S shape
Adjust the Reds in the Midtones to produce a warmer feel
Cropped to tighter composition.

Unfortunately if you add any sharpening to the image it just ruins it, becomes too grainey around the head and the detail in the water.

Hope that helps?

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Phil Diggle - Freelance Graphics Designer, Full Time University Student and Novice Photographer!

Camera Kit - Sony A200K 18-70 DT | Minolta 70-210 AF 'Beercan' | Sony 50mm f/1.8 | Jessops Flash Gun

http://www.phildiggle.co.uk | Flickr Photo Portfolio - Working Progress

One thing to watch out for, particularly with swans, is blowing out the white areas. Phil's version loses a huge amount of detail on the swan. For times like these, I do a manual composite blend. Make two layers of the image. On one adjust for everything except the swan, the other only for the swan, then mix them back together so you get the best of both. If you want an example I'll have to do it when I get home later.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Well spotted Popo. Forgot to look out for the highlight on the neck when processing! I'll let you have a crack at that later

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Phil Diggle - Freelance Graphics Designer, Full Time University Student and Novice Photographer!

Camera Kit - Sony A200K 18-70 DT | Minolta 70-210 AF 'Beercan' | Sony 50mm f/1.8 | Jessops Flash Gun

http://www.phildiggle.co.uk | Flickr Photo Portfolio - Working Progress