Help needed with my new D90

sandymere · #1 (**permalink**) 05-01-2010, 06:05 PM

I was a very lucky girl this year and Santa bought me a Nikon D90. i'm using a Sigma 70-300 mm lens but i'm struggling to get quality pics, infact pics from my D40 seem to be much sharper

Ive fiddled with the focus and tried a tripod but i'm just not happy with the images!
Anyone got any advice?

Many Thanks
Sandymere

wizzo · #2 (**permalink**) 05-01-2010, 06:32 PM

Hi Sandy. You are indeed a lucky girl - you must have been very good all year! Seriously though, have you selected spot metering, c/w or matrix. What about your focus points? Focusing with big zooms can be notoriously fiddly to get right without lots of practice and patience. Failing all of that, it isn't beyond the realms of possibility that you have a fault with your lens, especially as it's a Sigma. Of course this also applies to the body. Do you have a freind nearby or someone on here that can try your combo with their outfit? I hope you find a solution soon as there's some great shots to be had with all this white stuff around - Wizzo

P.s - Actually I love the shot of the finches and the rather chubby Robin (who ate all of the mince pies!) You must be pleased with those shots?

Mad Badger · #3 (**permalink**) 05-01-2010, 07:38 PM

As someone who's just started out with a Sigma 150-500 (Bigmos) I reckon you're doing pretty well so early on.

Focus can be a total beach with a long lens, I'm hoping my new tripod gets me as crisp as some of your shots. Lets keep shooting & it'll all come right in the end

momji1971 · #4 (**permalink**) 05-01-2010, 09:37 PM

Hi there. A quick test. Pop a £10 note about 15ft away ant shoot it with ALL the different focus settings. If one of them comes out sharp chances are your lens is okay.

It could be something simple like the picture control on you D40 is set alot harsher (high sharpening in camera) than your D90.

Do you have Nikon NX. If you like, PM and I'll PM you my email address. Send me the same image (of the tenner) from the same distance from your D0 and D90 and I'll put them through NX to see the settings.

kind regards.
Stu.

geordie1970 · #5 (**permalink**) 05-01-2010, 10:48 PM

I felt the same when i moved from a d50 to d80 and was never happy with it,got a d90 and iam well chuffed with it

DrNickBurton · #6 (**permalink**) 05-01-2010, 10:50 PM

It _might_ be a front or a back focusing problem. This is where the camera focuses slightly in front or slightly behind the subject, whereby the subject itself is left just slightly out of focus. On the other hand, I can't see any part of the images you posted that is in focus. With front/back focusing, at least some part of the image is usually in focus, (just not the part you intended!). For that reason therefore, I suspect it's something else.

There are a few things to check that could rule out alternatives:

Could you post the shutter speed and aperture you used for some of the shots? (for longer lenses, camera shake is common even when tripod mounted)

Which Picture Control Setting are you using? (the default is "standard", which is plenty sharp, but if you switched it to something like "neutral", the images will be naturally soft, as little or no in-camera sharpening is applied)

Tobyh · #7 (**permalink**) 06-01-2010, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by momji1971

A quick test. Pop a £10 note about 15ft away ant shoot it with ALL the different focus settings. If one of them comes out sharp chances are your lens is okay.

kind regards.
Stu.

I would start at this point too. I had a similar concern with a D50 and the same lens you are using (some time ago now!) and even using the remote release was finding that pictures were very soft. When I actually sat and watched the setup I could see that the mirror slap when the picture was taken was enough to wobble the whole thing.

An idea of the settings used when you took those pictures would be helpful to narrow down the issue too.

TobyH

Stan35 · #8 (**permalink**) 06-01-2010, 09:54 AM

Hi Sandy,
From the exif data i notice you have the lens zoomed out to 300 f4, try stopping the lens down to around f8.
Stan35.

sandymere · #9 (**permalink**) 21-01-2010, 07:29 PM

Thanks for all your advice, momji i will get aroung to trying the £10 thing but i think i've worked it out!

i dont think the D90 was happy with the sigma lense, although the shop told me they were comptable!.
I recently went to Slimbridge WWT took the D40 with the 70-300 lens and the D90 with its standard lens and managed to take some goo shots with both.
I think it's me rather than an issue with the D90. i've realised the shutter speed has an impact on the image quality so does the weight of the body- and the D90 is much heavier than the D40.
I also think i was expecting too much from the standard lens, having only used the 70-300mm lens with the D40.

? i have the 3D tracking on at the moment ? is this the best setting for wildlife?

Ive attached some pics ive taken with the D90 Please tel what you think, are they any better than the previous pics?

Andy Warne · #10 (**permalink**) 22-01-2010, 08:37 AM

Hi Sandymere, The lens will be compatible however it simply may not be good enough for your new camera.
The D90 has a lot more megapixels than the D40 which means it is able to resolve much more detail, but it can only record what it sees and many cheaper lenses are just not good enough for newer, higher megapixel cameras.
I had exactly the same problem when I upgraded cameras, my Nikon 70-300mm produced worse results on a better camera.

And it is difficult to assess edited photos but your latest ones look good to me, much better than the first ones.