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Archive 2014 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough

  
 
techie2
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


Feedback please. Bought a Tamron SP f2.8 , 28-75mm LD XR DI for use on my D7100 to cover the 24-70 gap between my wide angle and tele lenses Been testing for focus issues etc. and made a +5 tweak for this lens. Based on images below, shot at 75 mm, f6.3, SOOC jpegs...is this the sharpness or lack of that is acceptable for this combo? My Tokina 12-24 & Tamron SP f4-5.6 , 70-300mm DI VR achieve similar results for sharpness.

I will use the lens for real estate, landscape, product shots (studio) and maybe a portrait here and there.

After seeing the wonderful images of so many of the users of this forum, I have sharpness envy but also realize that I have not spent $1,300 on the Tamron SP 24-70 f2.8. Maybe I'm expecting too much for these lenses.

Back-up body is D300.

ps I am not a pro making a living off of my gear, just a few bucks here and there and have had many positive comments.







Tamron f2.8 28-75mm @75mm 6.3 ISO 200







Tamron f2.8 28-75mm @75mm 6.3 ISO 200 (100% view actual pixels in PS)




Dec 10, 2014 at 02:31 PM
t3nchi
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


Did you shoot on a tripod? At f/6.3 and just ambient light, maybe you need to bump ISO for more sharpness.


Dec 10, 2014 at 02:40 PM
techie2
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


Should have mentioned.....Shot on a tripod with one small umbrella, can be seen on the left. Also used 2 sec. shutter delay to avoid camera vibration from me actuating the shutter.


Dec 10, 2014 at 02:46 PM
rw11
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


shake, DOF can limit sharpness

for a close-up use a lens designed for macro shots, or reverse the regular prime (not zoom)

much above f/8 sharpness is limited by diffraction

much below f/8 sharpness is limited by DOF

you can add something in post until you get color fringing


1st thing I'd do is lose the zoom




Dec 10, 2014 at 02:49 PM
TooManyShots
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


Sharpness is subjective. As long as it is sharp enough for your need and "resolution," it is sharp enough. Words and text should be clear. Details should be visible enough. You can always enhance the sharpness in post processing....


Dec 10, 2014 at 03:31 PM
AmbientMike
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


If you are getting similar results with the others, I would guess it's probably not the lens.

If that body has live view, use that for focusing for sharpness tests. AF isn't that reliable, a lot of the time

The difference between super sharp lenses and good lenses maybe isn't huge. I would expect the 28-75 to be a good or great lens.

Are you shooting RAW? One Canon body seemed a lot sharper in RAW than jpg, unless you really cranked up the sharpness. Where is your sharpness set at.

Are you using noise reduction? You might turn that down.

I couldn't decide from the photos if it was sharp enough, but heres a few things you might try for sharpness



Dec 10, 2014 at 03:37 PM
AmbientMike
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


You might test for focus shift, as well


Dec 10, 2014 at 03:43 PM
workerdrone
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


Always remember all of the amazingly sharp wonderful images you see on the forum and other places have generally been processed / tweaked / sharpened etc before sharing.

I have a D800 and some of the best glass and you'd probably be disappointed in my raw file results too, straight out of camera.

Not to get into any debate about what SOOC means - jpg's might have a bunch of in-camera sharpening applied and other post processing done automatically by the body.



Dec 10, 2014 at 04:09 PM
snapsy
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


If that's OOC with the sharpening in the profile set low then it looks good to me.


Dec 10, 2014 at 04:13 PM
techie2
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


I shoot JPEG and RAW (NEF). JPEG is always sharper than RAW as sharpness and many other settings don't carry into a RAW file. Noise reduction is set at low. Sharpness set normal. I can bring the images up to an acceptable level of sharpness in PP and Camera Raw but since I don't pixel peep others images I'm not sure if my benchmark is what others start with. Maybe I'm just too damn fussy and if so....maybe I need a "dumb slap upside the head".


Dec 10, 2014 at 04:17 PM
CanadaMark
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


If sharpness is set to low or normal (which on Nikon is very low), that looks pretty darn good to me for a 100% crop from a Tamron 24-70. Shiny subjects like those batteries are also fairly difficult to capture well. Also be aware that since you took a picture of something quite small and far away, you are going to see the effects of digital enlargement with your 100% crops more clearly. Your subject is made up of only a tiny percentage of the frame, and will look less impressive magnified especially when looking at fine detail since there are so few pixels on the subject to begin with (eg. the tops or "+" nub on the batteries).

I realize you would never print something like that, but at 100%, you're looking at the equivalent of a print about few feet wide, so it's important not to stress *too* much over 100% crops, when most uses for the photo will be far less demanding (web sharing, modest print size, etc.)

I am extremely picky, and I'd say that looks pretty good for that lens at that distance with low sharpening and a 100% crop. Getting closer, increasing sharpening, or using a better lens would all give noticeable improvements. I wouldn't be worrying about the gear too much if I were you, it seems fine given the information we have.

One last thing of note, keep in mind that your micro AF adjustments only affect the focal length and subject distance you make the adjustment at, and may make other focal lengths and/or subject distances worse. That's not a rule necessarily, just something to check on and be aware of.



Dec 10, 2014 at 04:54 PM
techie2
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


Everyone.....thank you so very much. Taking all of the comments into consideration, I guess then I should be pretty satisfied with what I'm getting with the settings being used.

Once again, kudos to FM and in particular the Nikon Forum folks. You are all a great asset to have in time of concern.



Dec 10, 2014 at 05:12 PM
Gregg Heckler
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


Are you sharpening your images in post? Pretty much "all" digital images need to be sharpened properly to compensate for the anti aliasing filter over the camera's sensor. If you are then the one you posted isn't sharp. If you aren't then it's pretty sharp.


Dec 10, 2014 at 05:17 PM
CanadaMark
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


Gregg Heckler wrote:
Are you sharpening your images in post? Pretty much "all" digital images need to be sharpened properly to compensate for the anti aliasing filter over the camera's sensor. If you are then the one you posted isn't sharp. If you aren't then it's pretty sharp.


The D7100 doesn't have an AA/OLPF filter . Typically the differences are fairly minor as well, though it does help bring out some finer detail sans AA filter.



Dec 10, 2014 at 05:18 PM
popinvasion
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


Looks very sharp to me on the crop, what's the problem?


Dec 10, 2014 at 05:36 PM
hijazist
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


Your lens is fine... A bad copy would be something like the Tamron 24-70 2.8 VC that I just got today Sorry to hijack the thread but I appreciate it if anyone with this lens could comment on this. It's not an AF tuning issue nor a shutter speed issue since I used LiveView, manual and fast shutter speeds in other tests.











Edited on Dec 10, 2014 at 05:48 PM · View previous versions



Dec 10, 2014 at 05:46 PM
MazeRunner
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


For a Tammy on a D7100, that's pretty good. I think it's about as sharp as what I can do with a 35/1.8G DX on my D5100.


Dec 10, 2014 at 05:47 PM
gugs
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


popinvasion wrote:
Looks very sharp to me on the crop, what's the problem?


+1

Guy



Dec 10, 2014 at 05:51 PM
gugs
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


hijazist wrote:
Your lens is fine... A bad copy would be something like the Tamron 24-70 2.8 VC that I just got today Sorry to hijack the thread but I appreciate it if anyone with this lens could comment on this. It's not an AF tuning issue nor a shutter speed issue since I used LiveView, manual and fast shutter speeds in other tests.


The result is indeed terrible. Could you try in a more controlled environment with clear focus points? The lens might be defective. It looks a bit like a very dirty filter or lens element. Is the lens clean enough ?

Guy




Dec 10, 2014 at 05:55 PM
hijazist
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · How Sharp is Sharp Enough


Thanks for the help Guy. Unfortunately, I don't have a focus chart but I will upload something to simulate a focus chart. The lens looks brand new from an authorized Tamron dealer!

Here's a crop with a Sigma 85 1.4 with same shutter speed even though it's a longer focal length and F 1.4 just to give an idea of how bad the Tammy is.






Edited on Dec 10, 2014 at 06:01 PM · View previous versions



Dec 10, 2014 at 06:00 PM
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