Surely, in many occasions, to ourselves or friends,  happens that our pictures are not focused as well as we wanted.  We have a DSLR or a prosumer camera, we have focused correctly and even this way, the pictures suffer of a lack of appreciable sharpness and we make ourselves some questions looking for the clue to the problem. Independently that the camera is or not the flagship of each manufacturer, some few rules can help us to improve our technique with regard to sharpness.

Negative causes influencing sharpness
1.- Camera shaking: the bigger cause of our frustrations with sharpness. It happens because the shutter speed is relatively low for a determined focal.
2.- Subject’s movement: with similar results to camera shaking. Equally happens by a low shooting speed.
3.- Focus errors: produced because AF focuses in another place different to the elected, due to a human error or maybe due to very certain situations where it is unable to focus correctly.
4.- Lens quality: the great majority of the economic lens doesn’t reach the high resolution and contrast of professional more expensive glass, weakening the sharpness significantly.
5.- Noise: If it is high, it produces a virtual blur similar as we see when we come closer to a television.

Rules to improve sharpness
1.- Learn how to hold the camera correctly. It is very important to hold the lens with the left hand, leaning on it and not holding it with two fingers, because it causes  muscular stress and therefore, movement, and the camera with the right hand with comfort, neither very strong neither very slack. Supporting the elbows against the body minimizes the muscular tremor.
Inspire, frame and exhale smoothly,  and  shoots kindly in the exhalation, you will be more relaxed. The finger on the shutter is one of the biggest movement inductor in camera shaking.. Many professionals use the low speed continuous shooting method , so they make three continuous shots for a single photo, without lifting the finger. In theory, the first one and the last one will be more affected by finger movement, and not affecting the middle shoot.
The image stabilization systems, either in camera or the own lens help in great measure to palliate the shaking negative effects, without forgetting that to obtain the practically null movement and therefore the maximum sharpness, the best thing is using a tripod and a shooting with the mirror up. Keep in mind that image stabilization systems must be disabled when using tripods, because they induce an inherent minimum movement to their own operation. The difference between a shoot handheld, VRs or out ISs off, and a tripod is big, very big.

2.- When you have a moving subject and you want to freeze the action, it is terribly important having the possible biggest speed. For interior sports as basketball and similar, and this also depends on the place illumination,  use speeds of 1/250 or bigger. If it is not possible, rise up ISO to 800 or 1600 and  activate the high ISO NR, to get a little more speed. IS or VR, or a ball head monopod, having the head almost free, with good technique, can help you enough.
Keep in mind that stabilization systems reduce the camera shaking, not  the subject. The only thing that reduces subject’s movement is speed.

3.- AF spreads to carry out their work notably well, some really quick, being the cause of their errors the circumstances and the human factor. It is almost impossible that some of best AF that I know, the Multicam 3500, can focus in a flat monocolor wall with zero contrast, if doesn't have a single detail where to "catch” . Most of the times we maintain AF in the central point and, due to our error the AF focus until the bottom (perfectly focused) blurring the main subject. Another typical error is having activated the closest subject priority function and appear focused the hands or any other thing less the eyes. An improvement in the technique and a bigger care with the focus and their control will make these errors decrease to the minimum.

4.- Lens has a direct influence on sharpness.  It is obligatory the observation of the focal distance / speed rule, that is to say, if your lens is a 200mm, the minimum shooting speed to get an acceptable sharpness is of 1/200 seg., if it is shoot, naturally, handheld. As the speed increases  the sharpness improves.
Use lens or cameras with image stabilization system whenever it is possible.
Always watch your shooting  speed, and do not allow it  falls too much, and if it happens, compensate with high ISO, and activates the corresponding NR. It is better a picture with some noise than blurred.
Due to their construction characteristics the lens are much clearer 2 or 3 steps below their maximum aperture.  Try to avoid shooting to maximum or minimum lens aperture, because it is there where there are more optic errors, mainly in the corners.
I you use filter to protect your lens, it should be the maximum possible quality. Use B+W preferably, Hoya is fine too,  and always must be the top of the range. Some people put low quality filters in their  600 € lens,  and they hope to have good results. There was an old rule in HI-FI, where it was said that the total quality of your equipment  was similar to the one of your worst component. That is perfectly movable to the lens.
The lens maximum sharpness is obtained without filter, but it is necessary to assume a risk that not everybody is willing to admit, for that reason, the best quality in filters will help to get more sharpness.
The ideal situation to get the maximum sharpness in a picture is achieved making use of a good tripod, setting the lens best aperture  and shooting with cable and with mirror up function  to avoid parasites vibrations.
You have a shot example by handheld, with VR ,and with tripod and Mirror Up, here
The software post processed works can help us to correct the blurred photos. Utilities like the focus mask in Photoshop, the layers focus methods, those dedicated as Nik Sharpener pro and others.

5.- An excess of noise can ruin a picture, but it can still ruin more a great blur. To avoid the noise in high ISOs, as 1600, the only solution that we have left is  activating  NR for high ISO and not to enlarge too much. Nevertheless, there is a lot of NR by software that help to solve the problems. I would recommend Net Image or Noise Ninja, although there are also many others that are equally valid.

All the efforts that we make in obtaining better and sharper images, will always be welcomed. Neither it is necessary to forget that there is a series of blurred pictures, a minority, by the way, that are authentic art. But this is another question.

© 2008 Juan Parménides. Derechos Reservados. All Rights Reserved

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