When I got my first dSLR for my birthday (about a month ago, now) I thought that I would straightaway be able to capture images of startlingly crisp, clear quality.
Unfortunately, this has not been the case. Although my camera has got better, my photographs have actually, on the whole, got worse - and I am finding that I struggle with getting clarity in my photos.
Here is a picture that I took earlier today. I am playing the piano, for some arranging work I'm doing -
(Click on the picture to enlarge it.)
It might look OK in the smaller size, but when you zoom into 100% you can clearly see the "fuzziness" to which I have referred. Particularly look at the watch on my left wrist, and the bit where my phone is sitting on the piano music rest - the quality is dreadful!
The tech specs for this photograph are as follows -
Camera: Nikon D3000
Lens: Nikkor 18-55mm
Exposure: 1/30th second
Aperture: f3.5
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO: 900
Flash: none
(The picture was shot in "Auto" mode, so the camera selected these settings, not I!)
As it is a self-portrait (of sorts!), the camera was on a tripod, and the picture was taken on a ten-second timer, so "camera shake" should not have been an issue. All the lights were on in the room, and there is a big window behind me letting in daylight, so I shouldn't have thought that the light levels would've been problematic, either.
I love my new camera, and I have achieved some excellent results with it. I was especially happy with this -
But I am still finding that I have issues with the quality of my images more often than I would like - particularly when I am shooting photos indoors - and I can't seem to work out why this is.
Can anyone help, or advise me on this? I will pay you in cookies, and melancholic piano ballads.
The main answer... at least in my opinion... is your ISO. 900 is really high! I usually don't shoot on anything higher than about 360. Once you get above that, you're going to see "noise". I think you should start using manual for at least some of your settings. You'll notice a big difference I think! Also, can you shoot RAW instead of JPG? If you have an editing suite that allows you to shoot in RAW, you'll get much better results and even be able to reduce most of the noise in post if you want.
Hi Kit
I would say that the 'fuzziness' is caused by the ISO setting - 900 is high, ideally you'll need 100 - 200 to avoid this digital noise.
Have a look at http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/key=sensitivity
General consensus seems to be lower ISO settings, right?
@eliserose781
I have switched to "RAW NEF" in the camera's menu. We shall see what happens!
@jjsooner
I do try to use Manual mode when I can - but for self-portraits, when I'm using a self-timer, I can't be looking through the viewfinder when the camera takes the picture, so Auto seems like a safer option...
i agree with the ISO setting but also your aperture is fairly small. F3.5... you'll have a fairly shallow depth of field and depending on where the camera takes its focal point to be, you wont have much in focus either side of this
Hey your ISO is rather high, but also make sure the flash is set to alto. Because even on auto setting it is usually possible to turn the flash off and onto auto. Hope this helps!! Good luck xx
I think everyone pretty much covered it from lowering the ISO to using a smaller aperture (larger F number). I also have a lot of trouble getting the focus right for self-portraits even though I put the vacuum cleaner in as a stand-in while I'm framing the shot. Even so, maybe one out of every ten shots is in focus. You're on the right track using the tripod and self-timer as much as you can. Good luck!
It's worth shooting in RAW and JPEG if you can. I think the ISO is high, but shouldn't have made that much of a difference, I'd have thought. If you put it into manual, you could use exposure compensation, so could have a lower ISO and use that to get the same result.
Should have said, I shoot in both cos you can definitely do more with the RAW file, but a lot of the time it's OK with the JPEG and you only need minor changes. You do need a big memory card though.
Another though, make sure you've got the camera set to focus on one point only. I was reading about it the other day and if you have it so it focuses on several, it'll aim for the closest point or it'll average out a few, so nothing's really sharp. This is even more of a problem when using a large aperture as you only have a shallow DOF to start with. Might have affected this too.
however a remote might help you in selfies- as you can position yourself and then use the remote instead of aiming and setting a timer then placing yourself there.
I don't think ISO is the problem. The image isn't that noisy. The problem is f/3.5 aperture and you're using a self timer, so you can't check focus. It's simply focusing on the wrong thing.
I would sit at the piano and note where your hands are going to be. Go to the camera and focus (single middle point focus) on that spot. Then switch the camera to manual focus. Then take the picture. Probably good to raise the aperture to 5.6 or 8, and add more light or flash.
I have the same camera & the same problem. I usually have my iso really high too, but I'm always shooting kids, so how do you get around it? :( going to check out the articles myself, thanks everyone :)
Excellent question and responses. I think your auto lightmeter wants more light, so it is giving you almost NO depth of field with the wide aperature [low f stop] and seeking more light as well with the high iso and slow shutter speed. So you need a flash here or the Nikon D700 for high iso shots. A review notes not uncommon focus errors with the camera, however: "Despite the addition of the MultiCam 1000 Autofocus system, we experienced quite a few unexpected focus errors." http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/D3000/D3000A.HTM They also say: "The Nikon D3000 seems to be an amalgam of most of what was great about the D40 and D60 sprinkled with most of what's useful for consumers from the Nikon D5000 and D90. However, after a closer look at its images, and some time spent with the camera, we aren't as excited about it as we were at the outset. Image noise in the shadows at higher ISOs is just a bit too much, and color saturation is too extreme. Detail is soft, and autofocus surprised us one too many times with very odd behavior, confirming focus when the camera was actually way out of focus." Sorry. Is there a 30 day warranty for return if you are unsatisfied?
Well lso is high, but if you need a fast shutter speed indoors to freeze movement you can use exposure copensation, then up iso if nessessary. Flash is an option too (cheap method is to use a poly cup over the flash to diffuse light).
High ISO, high aperture and relatively slow shutter speed do not help.
Using a DSLR is about compromises.
If you raise your ISO, you will increase your camera's sensitivity to light but the picture will have more noise. So, high ISO of 900 means a brighter image but more speckles/fuzziness.
If you use a high aperture (low number), your lens lets more light in but less of what you're photographing will be in focus. So, f/3.5 means not everything you photographed will be entirely sharp.
Use a slow shutter speed and again you'll let more light in, but motion is more likely to be captured. So, 1/30 means any movement you made will result in a blur.
Optimum settings at a guess would have been ISO 100/200, f/8 and about 1/100. However it's likely that your image will turn out too dark, because you're indoors. And that's where your flash comes in handy, or some other source of light.
Or, you EITHER keep your ISO high OR your aperture high OR your shutter speed low, knowing that one of the above will be compromised!
In my experience, you will generally struggle to take a photo of a vaguely moving object at less than about 1/100. Your shutter speed is at 1/30 which seems a bit long to me...
The watch is blurry because the focus is made on a part of the piano. A large aperture doesn't help in this case. If you want everything in focus, you must use a smaller aperture (higher f number). In addition 1/30 sec is OK for the camera on a tripod, but is not fast enough because you moved your hand (I guess) when the photo was taken. If you use a smaller aperture and higher speed, you have no other choice than using a high ISO without a flash. ISO 900 might contribute to the noise, but in your case, clearly, it's a focus + depth of field issue (+ slow speed).
I couldn't read all the comments but I have found that using manual focus helps immensly, especially on self portraits. I have found that when I use the auto focus, it doesn't always pick out what I want to be sharp, regardless of the one point or multiple point focusing options. I would use the timer like you stated, but use autofocus so it locked on whatever it decided, and I couldn't see because I was in front of the camera! I mostly use manual focus now so I can get exactly what I want as sharp as possible. It is slow for action shots, so I still use auto for that if I can't predict the path of the action, but setup shots is all manual. It has upped the quality of my photos, IMO. If this has been mentioned earlier, I apologize. Good luck.
Your ISO is too high and the aperture is too wide. To clear up the focus adjust the aperture to 11 or so. Your ISO is like film speed the higher the ISO the faster motion you can stop (running or sports). The aperture is the focus depth of field (lower number of 3.5 will focus on the subject and blur the background, a higher number like 22 will focus on the subject and also the foreground and background.
Hi Kit
As well as the ISO settings which a agree are way too high, as @vikdaddy says above all these things work together...
Can i ask how do you hold the camera..? (You might understand these things already, forgive me if you do..) but i notice you say its your first DSLR camera.
There is a correct way to hold your camera.. it does make a difference .
Also do you fully press the shutter button or half press .. ? ..again it can make a big difference..
if you press fully you can cause movement when a bigger lens fitted ..better to half press check, then fully press the shutter button.
I upgraded in July & these two things have helped me a lot.
Also try shooting in P mode which is an auto mode you can semi control in the camera.
Learn to read the Histograms which your camera should have on the LCD display. This allows you to tweek a little for the next shot.. (link below)
For a beginner, learn to shoot in Aperture Priority Mode (the A on the Dial). You will have to control the shutter, but when you move the shutter up and down, you wil see the Aperture compensate. Start to understand the correlation between the two. Then when you feel that your shots are looking better, switch to Shutter Priority (Now you control the FStop) and do the same process.
Like everyone else said, ISO Way to high. Stick to less than 300 if at all possible.
If you get stuck throw it in auto to see what the camera feels is best. Do not stick to auto, because there is no point in having a DSLR then, but use it as a learning curve to help you get better. Before you know it, you will start using FULL Manual and know what you are doing.
Hi Kit, I had a good look over the photo - I downloaded it and enlarged it even more - and the focus is beyond your body and is at the far end of the piano. My advice would be to manually focus and focus on the centre of your chair. The depth of field will probably catch you just fine, but you will have to experiment a little. Higher aperture will help the dof too. As for the ISO, check to see if you can limit it in Auto settings - I've limited mine so it can't go beyond 400 unless I set it manually. Above all - experiment!
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I would say that the 'fuzziness' is caused by the ISO setting - 900 is high, ideally you'll need 100 - 200 to avoid this digital noise.
Have a look at http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/key=sensitivity
Learn to shoot in manual!
@eliserose781
I have switched to "RAW NEF" in the camera's menu. We shall see what happens!
@jjsooner
I do try to use Manual mode when I can - but for self-portraits, when I'm using a self-timer, I can't be looking through the viewfinder when the camera takes the picture, so Auto seems like a safer option...
@mckellier
Very helpful link, thanks!
Not wanting insult your intelligence but I was put on to the following website and it has helped me understand my DSLR and although I have still 99% to learn it was useful.
http://www.dslrbasics.co.uk/dslr-tutorials/2009/5/16/t1-overview.html
or try
http://www.lightandmatter.org/2011/general-photography-articles/learn-photography/the-three-basics-of-photography/
:-)
however a remote might help you in selfies- as you can position yourself and then use the remote instead of aiming and setting a timer then placing yourself there.
however i agree with the iso comments
I would sit at the piano and note where your hands are going to be. Go to the camera and focus (single middle point focus) on that spot. Then switch the camera to manual focus. Then take the picture. Probably good to raise the aperture to 5.6 or 8, and add more light or flash.
Using a DSLR is about compromises.
If you raise your ISO, you will increase your camera's sensitivity to light but the picture will have more noise. So, high ISO of 900 means a brighter image but more speckles/fuzziness.
If you use a high aperture (low number), your lens lets more light in but less of what you're photographing will be in focus. So, f/3.5 means not everything you photographed will be entirely sharp.
Use a slow shutter speed and again you'll let more light in, but motion is more likely to be captured. So, 1/30 means any movement you made will result in a blur.
Optimum settings at a guess would have been ISO 100/200, f/8 and about 1/100. However it's likely that your image will turn out too dark, because you're indoors. And that's where your flash comes in handy, or some other source of light.
Or, you EITHER keep your ISO high OR your aperture high OR your shutter speed low, knowing that one of the above will be compromised!
Hope this helps.
As well as the ISO settings which a agree are way too high, as @vikdaddy says above all these things work together...
Can i ask how do you hold the camera..? (You might understand these things already, forgive me if you do..) but i notice you say its your first DSLR camera.
There is a correct way to hold your camera.. it does make a difference .
Also do you fully press the shutter button or half press .. ? ..again it can make a big difference..
if you press fully you can cause movement when a bigger lens fitted ..better to half press check, then fully press the shutter button.
I upgraded in July & these two things have helped me a lot.
Also try shooting in P mode which is an auto mode you can semi control in the camera.
Learn to read the Histograms which your camera should have on the LCD display. This allows you to tweek a little for the next shot.. (link below)
Your camera will take care of you ISO settings for you ...in..(canon buttons) TV "Shutter Priority" mode & Av 'Aperture Priority' mode, learn to control one aspect at a time and the camera takes care of the rest .. My advice go slowly at first get use to what each settings are for before you go for the M button .. fully Manual
I am still learning myself so hope this is helpful ..
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-hold-a-digital-camera http://www.digital-photography-school.com/understanding-histograms http://www.photonhead.com/beginners/halfpress.php
like i said above if you understand all these things already i apologize ..
cheers
Like everyone else said, ISO Way to high. Stick to less than 300 if at all possible.
If you get stuck throw it in auto to see what the camera feels is best. Do not stick to auto, because there is no point in having a DSLR then, but use it as a learning curve to help you get better. Before you know it, you will start using FULL Manual and know what you are doing.