How do I take really sharp pictures

[spsips]

I use Nikon D5000 DSLR and Sigma lens 70 - 300 mm telephoto lens.Very rarely I could take sharp pictures,though I use tripod.I am unable to locate the fault,can you suggest where to look for?

[Donald]

S P

Two questions:

1. Do you shoot in RAW or JPEG format?
2. Do you do post-processing work on your computer after uploading the images?

[Colin Southern]

I use Nikon D5000 DSLR and Sigma lens 70 - 300 mm telephoto lens.Very rarely I could take sharp pictures,though I use tripod.I am unable to locate the fault,can you suggest where to look for?

Often the culprit is incorrect sharpening. Can you post a sample here so that we can take a look for you?

[MixedHerbs]

May I suggest you take a photograph, and show us your problem? Any easy photograph that you can repeat. Tell us the settings you used etc.

Peter.

I use Nikon D5000 DSLR and Sigma lens 70 - 300 mm telephoto lens.Very rarely I could take sharp pictures,though I use tripod.I am unable to locate the fault,can you suggest where to look for?

[Dave Humphries]

Hi S.P.,

Welcome to the CiC forums from me, good to have another D5000 owner on board.

Do you have a first name we can use? - or maybe Srivastava is your first name? thanks.

Please do everything that all others have asked, I would like to add another couple of questions;
Is the 70-300 the only lens you have?
Could you advise the exact Sigma model number of lens please?

If you need help posting an image, the easiest method is using the button below the text box when you type a reply, but please do read these instructions and ensure you do all the steps from 1 to 7.

I would suggest you find a suitable picture, follow your normal post processing steps on the image at the originally shot size, then
a) Take a crop of say 1000 pixels square from the area of the focus point you used, save that as a jpg.
b) Then Undo the crop (Ctrl-Z) and downsize the whole image to say 1000 pixel height, sharpen as you would normally for publishing, save that as a different filename jpg.
c) Post both in your reply (using instructions linked above).

If any of that doesn't make sense, please ask for clarification.

I have other qustions, but you have loads to answer already, so I'll wait until we hear from you again.

Thanks,

[RockNGoalStar]

What tripod / head do you use? Is it sufficient for that setup?

[Vandenberg]

source photozone

The Sigma AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG macro came close to a surprise but it still hasn't won the cigar. It delivered pretty decent results in most aspects, specifically at 70mm and 200mm, but at 300mm the border resolution is nothing short of dismal - certainly not apochromatic as claimed by Sigma (nor would we really expect that from such a budget lens). Nonetheless you may argue that the center performance of the lens is on a very high level throughout the range and for many tele applications your main subject is often located close to the center so the border problems may not be all that obvious in the real life. As such it still remains an interesting budget solution. If you prefer a sharp border to border quality look elsewhere though ... and prepare yourself to invest quite a bit more.