# Opinions Needed



## soligen (Mar 25, 2011)

I've been playing with my photo setup, I think I may just be at the limit of what my cameras can do.  I just cant seem to get anything as clear as some I see posted here.

First pic was taken with my wife's little Canon SD 780 IS at 12 mega pixels.  It wont go completely manual, and wont save TIFF files - JPEG only.  The only post processing is cropping.  Zoomed out so no re-sizing was needed.  I think the camera is doing some internal image processing that I cant turn off.

The second 2 pics are the same, but the first was Unsharped to a lesser degree.  This was taken with my old Nikon coolpix 4300 (4 mega pixel), with just enough zoom applied that I did not have to re-size after cropping. This was totally manual and saved to a tiff with no in camera image processing. All I did was crop and apply 2 different levels of unsharp mask.

So, what do you think looks best?  

Not sure what else I can try for improvement, but open to suggestions. I used GIMP for editing.

Thanks for any feedback


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## broitblat (Mar 25, 2011)

I think the first one looks the most crisp, but they all look pretty good.

  -Barry


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## bobjackson (Mar 26, 2011)

+1 on the first one. They all look good to me.


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## ctubbs (Mar 26, 2011)

I would like to see the original shot of the last two before you PSed them.  Often using the unsharp filter will loose some of the fine detail.  Look at the grain of the front pen by the finial and notice that it is much less distinct than the one shot by the Cannon.  No matter what you do in PS, it will never make up for poor focus or camera shake.  Are you using a tripod?  If you do not have one, you can set up some books to hold the camera and use the timer to release the shutter.  something to stabilize the camera to reduce the slight shake form pressing the release button.  If you must hand hold the camera, brace yourself against something sturdy, bring your elbows close to the body, take a deep breath and let it out, breath once more deep and very slowly let it out while pressing the release button.  I have used this to hand hold a shot acceptably sharp for up to three seconds.  Not reliably but it does work very well for one second shots.
Your exposure looks pretty well set and the lighting is not bad.  Most of the problems seems to be post processing.  There is where less is more.  These suggestions are humbly submitted in an attempt to be helpful and in no way meant to hurt.  The best thing is shoot and share, ask for direction and have a very thick skin.
Charles


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## soligen (Mar 26, 2011)

Yes tripod with timer set. I Shoulda mentioned it.

I agree the first one looks sharper, but with the cannon I just cant get rid of the stair step effect that you see on the clip. The nikon doesnt have the star step, but is not as crisp.

As requested, here is the unprocessed Nikon shot - just cropped and saved as jpeg.

Seems a bit soft - maybe a hair out of focus?  but I just cant do any better.  There is a manual focus setting, but it is impossible to use.


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## soligen (Mar 26, 2011)

ctubbs said:


> These suggestions are humbly submitted in an attempt to be helpful and in no way meant to hurt. The best thing is shoot and share, ask for direction and have a very thick skin.
> Charles


 
Absolutely no issues here - its exactly what I'm looking for.  In all things done by humans, there is room for improvement, which is my goal.


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## soligen (Mar 26, 2011)

Looking at them more closely at 200%, the canon is crisper, but has more artifacts/noise on teh picture.  The nicon seems cleaner, but less crisp.  If I could get the best of both ......


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## simomatra (Mar 26, 2011)

The first gets my vote


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## ctubbs (Mar 26, 2011)

The original is not that sharp either.  I understand now why the effort in PS.
Now I know this is a really stupid question, but here goes anyway.  Have you cleaned the lens?  The Nikon should be much sharper than that.  They are well noted for quality glass and unless there are internal problems, the photo should be much sharper than that.  Use a clean soft, preferably cotton cloth, dampen with distilled water, DO NOT USE ONE OF THE PREMOISTENED CLOTHS FOR CLEANING GLASSES! the solvent in them may well remove the coatings on the lens surface, gently wipe the front of the lens to remove film and dirt.  The cloth must be damp, not dripping.  A dry cloth will drag any dirt across the glass leaving scratches that can not be removed.  Make a loose bunch of the cloth and gently brush across the lens.  If there are stubborn spots after that, with slightly more pressure a gentle swabbing, wiping motion may be used.  do not scrub.  Hope this helps.
Charles


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## MartinPens (Mar 26, 2011)

One way to boost sharpness is to increase the depth of field, which is not controllable usually in auto mode.  More depth of field (more of everything is in focus) requires more shutter time and more shutter time necessitates a tripod and timer.  Also, if you are taking the shot for online use, there is no need for a Tiff file. I shoot in medium or large jpg files. Every time you resize you change pixel data. Cropping is fine in most cases. Remember that you can upload a jpg file at 800x500 up to 500k. They to max out that size with the least amount of resizing and manipulating of data.

Make certain your working in sRGB and NOT AdobeRGB. 

I think your shots look great. Be careful with the "unsharp" function. Less is more in this filter. It's a rather backwards filter. Maybe that's why they named it the unsharp filter!

Keep the photos coming!

Martin

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner


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## soligen (Mar 26, 2011)

LEns didnt look dirty, but I clened it anyway.  And this time I made sure the aperature was closed down - was set at F10.4.

Still seems a hair out of focus to me - not really any different than before.  Here is the latest unprocessed image (except cropped and saved as JPG).


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## Mack C. (Mar 26, 2011)

soligen said:


> LEns didnt look dirty, but I clened it anyway. And this time I made sure the aperature was closed down - was set at F10.4.
> 
> Still seems a hair out of focus to me - not really any different than before. Here is the latest unprocessed image (except cropped and saved as JPG).


It appears to be a little OOF to me as well. I don't recall you mentioning macro. Try a pic at f10.4 on macro. My macro a f8 focuses sharply from 11 - 19". Hope this helps!


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## Lenny (Mar 26, 2011)

I have the Canon SD 850 IS .... very similar camera. That doesn't mean I know how to use it but I'm at least familiar with what you are using. :biggrin:

You are using the self timer and a tripod so that is good.... Are you shooting in macro mode? Are you shooting at the wide end of the focal length. You can get VERY close in macro mode at wide angle but must watch out you aren't too close at the telephoto end! I have also found experimenting with different metering modes can have an effect .... Try taking several shots with the same setting but changing between the different metering modes.


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## soligen (Mar 26, 2011)

Mack,  that seemed to help - moved camera up to 12" from pen and put it in macro mode.  Strill a little soft, but better.  Current results with the nikon attached - pre and post processing.

I think this post processed pic is the best yet.


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## dgelnett (Mar 26, 2011)

It looks to me that the focus is on the stand and the pens are just a little out of the focal point. It could be because the stand is clear and that is why I think it is more focus than the pens.


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## Mack C. (Mar 26, 2011)

soligen said:


> Mack, that seemed to help - moved camera up to 12" from pen and put it in macro mode. Strill a little soft, but better. Current results with the nikon attached - pre and post processing.
> 
> I think this post processed pic is the best yet.


Hi Dennis; The other problem for the camera could be the differences away from the camera each pen is. At f10.4 on macro the D of F is very shallow for want of a better word. 

When I take pics of 2 or more pens, I make certain they are in the same plane. It easier for the camera to focus!




This pic is meant as a clarification of my typed words above, and is no way meant to hi-jack your thread.


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