Unsharp pictures? X-T1 + 18-55. Advice needed.

Dear fellow users,

I've been fiddling around with my X-T1. I have to admit that this is the first serious camera I've ever had (well, I suppose E-PL1 could be called a real camera too) and it's a bit overwhelming. The whole philosophy of using it is so much different from everything else I used to own. Anyway, I took a few pictures a few days ago and I noticed they lack sharpness. I mean they lack sharpness so much that it makes them not very pleasing to my eye. What do you think? What did I do wrong? Like I said, I'm not an experienced photographer but I'm eager to improve my skills. Any thoughts, any insights would be much appreciated.

Thanks

PS. All pictures are SOOC JPEGs.

Gosh! Why do these pictures look sharper after uploading them here than when I open them with my picture browser?!

I know it sounds strange but in my experience with the 18-55 you need to turn the OIS off. I find that I get sharper images without the OIS, I don't think I'm alone in this. You can try it yourself by setting the zoom to 55 and shooting the same scene with and without the OIS.


By the way, on my iPad your pictures look ok to me.

In general, IBIS or OIS should be off unless you need it.

The images look sharper because they are shrunk down. Are you viewing at 100%? What are you comparing them to, to decide that they are not sharp?

Also, you are uploading with stripped EXIF, so we can't see any camera settings. Can you provide a place with pics that are intact with EXIF data?

they look plenty sharp to me. Obviously, the backgrounds will be soft because they are not on the focal plane.

On my iPhone screen, the photos look sharp.

Luke said:

they look plenty sharp to me. Obviously, the backgrounds will be soft because they are not on the focal plane.

Click to expand...

Yeah, the look sharp here... but the original files are definitely not that sharp... (shocked!) I'm talking about people's faces.

WT21 said:

In general, IBIS or OIS should be off unless you need it.

The images look sharper because they are shrunk down. Are you viewing at 100%? What are you comparing them to, to decide that they are not sharp?

Also, you are uploading with stripped EXIF, so we can't see any camera settings. Can you provide a place with pics that are intact with EXIF data?

Click to expand...

As a matter of fact, I'm not comparing them to anything... I just clearly see that the original files are not sharp enough (people's faces)

Here, they look sharp enough to me but the original files are definitely not that sharp.

Would you please be so kind and tell me how to get the EXIF data along with the pics?
Where could I upload the original files so that they don't get shrunken?

Thanks

Upload to Flickr would work. Did you shoot in jpg? One thing with Fujis is they have high noise reduction be default. Set NR to -2.

Also, are you zooming in to 100% to conclude they are not sharp?

In all the photos the people in the background are all out of focus

Settings? Have you changed the sharpness and noise reduction? Also what ISO & aperture?

The faces in the second shot don't look sharp, but there's a multitude of reasons why...

Peter Chin said:

In all the photos the people in the background are all out of focus

Click to expand...

I'm perfectly aware of the background blur... I'm talking about people in the foreground...

Like I said before... Here the pictures look much sharper than in the originals anyway...

Today I took a few more and the results are somewhat disappointing. I'll try to uploa them somewhere where where you will be able to see them the way they really are.

Don't resize them, just make a 100% of the area you're having problems with.
René.

Thanks for all the answers.

ReneBee said:

Don't resize them, just make a 100% of the area you're having problems with.
René.

Click to expand...

ReneBee, do you mean I should crop the area? I'm not quite sure what you mean by "make 100% of the area"

Take the full size picture and cut the portion you're not happy with and upload it here.
That will show the problem.
René.

digital sharpness, optically sharp, or just plain not in focus?

(Sent from another Galaxy via Tapatalk.)

Picture no.1 - Policeman


ExposureTime : 1/480Sec
FNumber : F4.0
ExposureProgram : Aperture Priority
ISOSpeedRatings : 400
Unknown (8830)3,1 : 1
ExifVersion : 0230
DateTimeOriginal : 2014:05:18 16:56:07
DateTimeDigitized : 2014:05:18 16:56:07
ComponentConfiguration : YCbCr
CompressedBitsPerPixel : 32/10 (bit/pixel)
ShutterSpeedValue : 1/488Sec
ApertureValue : F4.0
BrightnessValue : EV6.7
ExposureBiasValue : EV0.0
MaxApertureValue : F2.8
MeteringMode : Division
LightSource : Unidentified
Flash : Not fired(Compulsory)
FocalLength : 30.20(mm)
MakerNote : FUJIFILM Format : 858Bytes (Offset:1166)
FlashPixVersion : 0100
ColorSpace : sRGB
SensingMethod : OneChipColorArea sensor
FileSource : DSC
SceneType : A directly photographed image
CustomRendered : Normal process
ExposureMode : Auto
WhiteBalance : Auto
FocalLength(35mm) : 45(mm)

Picture no. 2 - Street musician no. 1

ExposureTime : 1/140Sec
FNumber : F4.5
ExposureProgram : Program Normal
ISOSpeedRatings : 200
Unknown (8830)3,1 : 1
ExifVersion : 0230
DateTimeOriginal : 2014:05:18 17:33:50
DateTimeDigitized : 2014:05:18 17:33:50
ComponentConfiguration : YCbCr
CompressedBitsPerPixel : 32/10 (bit/pixel)
ShutterSpeedValue : 1/144Sec
ApertureValue : F4.4
BrightnessValue : EV5.8
ExposureBiasValue : EV0.0
MaxApertureValue : F2.8
MeteringMode : Division
LightSource : Unidentified
Flash : Not fired(Compulsory)
FocalLength : 32.90(mm)
MakerNote : FUJIFILM Format : 858Bytes (Offset:1166)
FlashPixVersion : 0100
ColorSpace : sRGB
FocalPlaneResolutionUnit : Centimeter
SensingMethod : OneChipColorArea sensor
FileSource : DSC
SceneType : A directly photographed image
CustomRendered : Normal process
ExposureMode : Auto
WhiteBalance : Auto
FocalLength(35mm) : 49(mm)

Pic no. 3 - Street musicians

ExposureTime : 1/150Sec
FNumber : F4.5
ExposureProgram : Program Normal
ISOSpeedRatings : 200
Unknown (8830)3,1 : 1
ExifVersion : 0230
DateTimeOriginal : 2014:05:18 17:33:55
DateTimeDigitized : 2014:05:18 17:33:55
ComponentConfiguration : YCbCr
CompressedBitsPerPixel : 32/10 (bit/pixel)
ShutterSpeedValue : 1/150Sec
ApertureValue : F4.4
BrightnessValue : EV5.7
ExposureBiasValue : EV0.0
MaxApertureValue : F2.8
MeteringMode : Division
LightSource : Unidentified
Flash : Not fired(Compulsory)
FocalLength : 30.20(mm)
MakerNote : FUJIFILM Format : 858Bytes (Offset:1166)
FlashPixVersion : 0100
ColorSpace : sRGB
SensingMethod : OneChipColorArea sensor
FileSource : DSC
SceneType : A directly photographed image
CustomRendered : Normal process
ExposureMode : Auto
WhiteBalance : Auto
FocalLength(35mm) : 45(mm)

These pictures clearly have sharpness issues.

Another problem I'm having is color reproduction. Have a look at these two cars please. They look nothing like in reality. The red color is simply a far cry from what those cars looked like in reality.

I don't own an X-mount camera (just an X100S which I realize has a different sensor and different lens), but I will say that I find that at medium to longer subject distances my photos (based on either the camera or my processing of the files - I'm not sure which) don't render small detail very well (certainly not as well as my 5DII did and surprisingly not as well as my E-PL1 does either) and often at 100% those details do appear very soft to me. I can't speak to the first two shots (as those look out of focus to me rather than simply not being sharp - 1/150sec may not be a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action here), but the crop of the police officer is fairly typical of what I see with my X100S.

ean10775 said:

I don't own an X-mount camera (just an X100S which I realize has a different sensor and different lens), but I will say that I find that at medium to longer subject distances my photos (based on either the camera or my processing of the files - I'm not sure which) don't render small detail very well (certainly not as well as my 5DII did and surprisingly not as well as my E-PL1 does either) and often at 100% those details do appear very soft to me. I can't speak to the first two shots (as those look out of focus to me rather than simply not being sharp - 1/150sec may not be a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action here), but the crop of the police officer is fairly typical of what I see with my X100S.

Click to expand...

OMG... Please don't tell me that I spent so much cash on a camera that will be producing "soft" results.

Is there anything sharp in the picture of the policeman and the one of the musicians?
Looking at the total picture, it looks to me that the bikes are sharp (policeman) and that the lady on the left is also sharp (musicians)
Is that right?
René.