and got myself a Nikon D90 and Micro AF-S 60mm f/2.8...

here are the first few shots I've taken for testing:







No special lighting used except for incoming window light, and reflections from white A4 paper on the left...

Still not too happy with the sharpness of the images...

Any good suggestions?

Btw, for the above shots, the f-Stops are somewhere between f/22 to f/32 on tripod, timer based shots.

From what I've read somewhere, smallest aperture (while may give you deeper DOF) may not give you crisp images due to light diffractions at those ranges... I might want to try something at higher f-stops and try to bring in more DOF as well...

The model and the photos are great! The forward shot looking back really gives a sense of depth to the photo.

Of course for photgraphing models, that's not what we are looking for. Are you willing to try an little experiment?

With the F-stop set at f22, take a photo at your minimum range with the entire model in the frame. Move the camera back 6" and take the photo again. Move back again another 6: and take the photo again all the while not changing any of the settings except focus. Close to the model, the Depth of Field (DOF) may not cover the entire model. As you move the camera farther away, the depth of the DOF increases to the point where the enter model should be in focus. With 12MP to play with, this will allow you to get the entire model in pin sharp focus and crop the photo to the way you want it to look.

I know I have sample of this experiment somewhere in my records. I'll have to look for it tonight and upload later.

Hope this helps,
Val

Hi Val,

Thanks for your response, I'll have no doubt that what you've said will work, as that can be seen from my other shots... DOF is deeper at further distances - the manual from the lens also indicated this as well.

However, my primary concern now is how to make the images EVEN sharper than it is now... Without resorting to post-production work that is... The full model shots, while nice DOF that they have, are not as crisp as I've hope them to be... The edges are a little soft which I believe could be a result from diffraction of lights caused by smaller f-stops (f-22, f-32 and so forth)... Either that it could be a result from mirror slapping causing VERY VERY slight shifts...

I know that on many DSLR cameras either the sensor moves or the lens moves to conteract the movement of the camera in the hand. My old Olympus C2100UZ and my current Sony H50 have Image Stabilization. When using a tripod, these have to be tunred off other wise they try to conteract a movement that isn't there.

Like you said, the problem could also be in the lens. The center of the lens being better than the edges. This is one reason I almost always crop the photos letting stuff at the edges get wasted. With 12MP to play with, this is an option.

Sorry, that's all I can come up with.

Aloha,
Val

I'll look into the Sensor issue. Another thing could be lighting, maybe not strong enough? (just wondering of course)...

When I get the time for the next shoot I'll post some for some C&C and figure out corrective measures.

that the D90 or the 60mm lens has IS (image Stabilization) built in so you don't have to worry about turning it off.

Thanks Owen, nope the macro lens usually do not have VR (IS for Canon) modes.

Sorry for the late response, I was busy testing the D90 for shooting water sprays from Navy fast crafts over the weekends... LOL

or a remote. With the aperture so small the shutter time is long enough that just pressing the shutter button will make the image loose it's sharpness. Use the timer function or get a remote release.

xPLAN303Ex: The portrait of the artist I am not.
http://xplan303ex.wordpress.com

However I've just gotten the remote wire control... Also, I'm adviced by a peer in a photography forum to lock up my mirrors before releasing the shutters, however D90 does not have lock up feature (not the same one as sensor cleaning) and that's replaced by "exposure delay" function - meaning when you use this, the mirror will be raised once you pressed the shutter release - 2 seconds later the shutter will open. The 2 sec delay is to wait until all the vibration is dispelled.

According to the pros (people who shoot serious bug photos), DSLR mirror slap is the one of the biggest vibration causes that makes or breaks the image sharpness...

to something around f/16 and see if u get an improvement. The higher the f/stop number the more grain is introduced into the shot. Each lens has a sweet spot too, so you may be chasing it a bit at the higher numbers (ie. smaller aperature openings).

Nikon's are softer out the gate than Canon's, so it helps a lot to up the sharpening. My D5000 (same sensor as D90) has a scale of 0-9, I set it to 5 when shooting JPGs with no editing needed. Uber sharp now...

HTH,

Mike

_________________________

"Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?."