Sharpness

In a recent thread of mine Nikon Shooter says my photos look 'soft'. And when I compared them to his photos he's right as his are super well defined. The problem is I really don't know what to do about it this point. I've taken the advice I have gotten on this forum out in the field but I really can't seem to 'up' the quality any more

Is it possible that this could be a hardware issue? I use a Canon EOS D600 and a Canon EFS 10-18mm. I also use a good, sturdy tripod for stability and set a timer so that photos are taken 'hands off'. I know the camera is quite dated (about 12 years old) and considered more of a entry-level camera. Have I reached the limit of what can be achieved with my gear? Not trying to blame the camera but going out weekend after weekend and not seeing a improvements is really starting to grind.

I don't think my photos are terrible, but I do know they could be better. If it isn't my gear (and it may well) then tips on improving sharpness would be very much appreciated. If it is my gear then what's a good upgrade?

TIA

Sebastian, my comment could be 2 two possible points. First, there
could be a not so appropriately chosen DOF and/or {and here I speak
in Nikon terms since I don't know much of anything Canon } second
there could an explanation in the lack of AF fine tune that would make
sure that the lens + the body + the AF system are all working together
to support your efforts at your greatest pleasure.

I don't think this is an gear issue if you have an AF fine tune feature on
board. May I suggest you investigate that feature in your user manual?

Esseff wrote: In a recent thread of mine Nikon Shooter says my photos look 'soft'. And when I compared them to his photos he's right as his are super well defined. The problem is I really don't know what to do about it this point. I've taken the advice I have gotten on this forum out in the field but I really can't seem to 'up' the quality any more

Is it possible that this could be a hardware issue? I use a Canon EOS D600 and a Canon EFS 10-18mm. I also use a good, sturdy tripod for stability and set a timer so that photos are taken 'hands off'. I know the camera is quite dated (about 12 years old) and considered more of a entry-level camera. Have I reached the limit of what can be achieved with my gear? Not trying to blame the camera but going out weekend after weekend and not seeing a improvements is really starting to grind.

I don't think my photos are terrible, but I do know they could be better. If it isn't my gear (and it may well) then tips on improving sharpness would be very much appreciated. If it is my gear then what's a good upgrade?

TIA

Hello Esseff. First I don't think your images are that soft. If you upload them at a large size, most sites will shrink them down but not sharpen them. Look at the site to see the size restrictions and don't upload any larger. I would say the long length no more than 1200pixels. Once you resample in your editor the use sharpening. I recommend Topaz AI Sharp is good if you want to throw money at it.  Make sure you shoot your EFS 10-18mm  at F8-10 at 10mm
www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-...-Crops.aspx?Lens=950
If you shoot raw, which you should (or RAW+JPG) you will need to use sharpening and noise reduction. Also look up Hyperfocal distance
Using the 24mm lens setting on the simulator to understand where to focus your camera. This site helps with depth of field  Look at both F/1.4 F/5.8  with the model at 3 feet There is a huge difference. dofsimulator.net/en/
 Basically don't shoot the lens wide open for landscape, use F8 or 11 do not focus to the far background say mountains, do not focus on the closest object in the picture. Focus somewhere in between. If you are going to get new gear. Get a used full frame camera. It is my experience that going to full frame increases sharpness out of camera. This is controversial and I don't want to argue. Look at your lens EF-S at F8 on a 7d verses a sigma 14mm at F8 on a full frame, judge for yourself which is sharper. Roll over the image to see the difference.  
www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-...&FLIComp=0&APIComp=5
Or the sigma 14mm on a full frame 5d and a 7d. If you look at other examples it seems the APSC suffers with the same lens compared to the full frame.. but not always
www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-...&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0
Good luck. I am sure there are some other suggestions out there. Remember everyone has an opinion. I would also look to training and guides and youtube videos. There is plenty of stuff on the internet.

UPDATE:

Went out briefly today just to play around with various settings mentioned above, specifically things like manual focus vs various autofocus options and different DOF settings. Took about 100 photos, not one was usable. Subjects were buildings and odd stuff you see out and about. Really disappointed by this. I'm not expecting to be an expert overnight but I learn a lot on this forum (and other sites) and I try to apply them when I go out. But it's been over a year since I started trying to work on sharpness without a reasonable improvement.

What I need at this point is a pro to take my camera and see what he/she can wring out of it. That'll set the max and give me a gauge to measure my own photos by. We have a few people here in town that I'll hit up in the coming week. But me going out weekend after weekend and coming back with poor quality photos without much improvement is just not going work anymore.

I have a similar problem with lighting, skies are pretty much always blown out and when they aren't the rest is way too dark. I have gotten a lot of good advice here from other users, read many articles here and on other sites but regardless of the settings I've tried it's made no difference.

Nikon Shooter says its not the camera. Maybe it isn't. But there should have been some improvement after a year. As always I'm open to suggestions...

Esseff wrote: Nikon Shooter says its not the camera.

Nikon Shooter says its not necessarily the camera!

G'day mate

Just as a qwik thought ............. hit the Menu > Setup screen and do a "Factory Reset" -- just in case something has been accidentally set and is influencing things

Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/

Nikon Shooter wrote:

Esseff wrote: Nikon Shooter says its not the camera.

Nikon Shooter says its not necessarily the camera!

My apologies. You're right, of course.

Ozzie_Traveller wrote: G'day mate

Just as a qwik thought ............. hit the Menu > Setup screen and do a "Factory Reset" -- just in case something has been accidentally set and is influencing things

Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/

Good idea... I'll give it a bash.

Shoot a raw+jpeg of said building and put them on the website so others can see what you are experiencing.  That way people can see your settings through EXIF and results It could be a reset that fixes things but I doubt it.

Ozzie_Traveller wrote: G'day mate

Just as a qwik thought ............. hit the Menu > Setup screen and do a "Factory Reset" -- just in case something has been accidentally set and is influencing things

Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/

Did this. Not real difference that I can see to be honest.

You would need to post a raw+jpg un edited. Without it we cannot tell if it is normal, a settings issue, a lens issue or something else. You cannot compare your image to someone else's. They could have a sharper lens than you. They could edit it an run it through an AI sharpening program.

r1ch wrote: You would need to post a raw+jpg un edited. Without it we cannot tell if it is normal…

Never heard that one before.

r1ch wrote: You cannot compare your image to someone else's. They could edit it an run it through an AI sharpening program.

I have enough of that BS… your juvenile BS!

I may be banned for this but I needed to say that. 

G'day mate

can I invite you to send me one of your ex-camera images - JPG is fine - so that I can look at it on my screen
<Ozzie_Traveller @ Yahoo.com> after you remove the spaces

Phil

Nikon Shooter wrote:

r1ch wrote: You would need to post a raw+jpg un edited. Without it we cannot tell if it is normal…

Never heard that one before.

r1ch wrote: You cannot compare your image to someone else's. They could edit it an run it through an AI sharpening program.

I have enough of that BS… your juvenile BS!
I may be banned for this but I needed to say that. 

It is not BS. I think you are senile or your english is so bad you cannot understand anything.
If I have butter smeared all over my lens. And we both take pictures, you cannot compare your image to mine for sharpness.
If you have a sharper lens than someone else, no matter what Essef does, his image will never be as sharp as your or if he doesn't know the best settings for sharpening images for the web, his images will not be as sharp as yours.

You run around this site denigrating people saying they don't have good lenses like you did with ImJenny. You say people images are not sharp with Essef or have halo's with mine, when your images have halos and are not that sharp either. Who do you think you are? You pictures are not that good but yet you think you are an expert and that that you can rate others images. Which is why I don't rate other peoples images. I looked at Essef images and they were not that unsharp. He may not know how to sharpen his images correctly for the web which is different if you sharpen them for print. The only person who is a child here is you. Don't every comment on my photos ever again. You do not have the expertise or the temperament to judge anyone's images.

Sorry for the bad vibes on your thread, Sebastian.