Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 HELP

[erincarter]

I just purchased the 70-200 f/2.8 VR II lens and I'm having some trouble getting good photo's with it. Most of the photo's seem to be coming out a bit "soft" looking...not very sharp. I'm shooting with a D60.

I think it's probably because I'm not use to the size and weight of the lens but I just wanted to check and see if anyone had any other thoughts as to what it might be?

Thanks

[sk66]

can you post an example w/ exif?

[inkista]

Most likely culprits are shutter speed, even with VR, and handholding technique.

The rule of thumb for an unstabilized lens, is that your shutter speed should be 1/focal_length or faster to avoid camera shake blur when handholding. So, for a 200mm lens, that means 1/200s or faster, assuming you have good handholding technique.

With VR, you can probably get two stops or so, so that would take you down to 1/50s. Trying to go slower than that is going to blur stuff.

Good handholding technique is the other key. As you've noticed, handling a telephoto is not like handling a walkaround zoom. You want to make sure your grip is good (left hand, palm up, at the bottom of the camera or lens, fingers and thumb wrapped around the lens and operating zoom and focus rings from the bottom of the lens. The majority of the weight of the camera/lens combination should be resting on/cradled in your left palm, not dangling off the fingers/wrist of your right hand. Feet planted solidly, watch your breathing, elbows in, all that jazz.

In addition, there are a bunch of alternate holds you can use for longer lenses that might work better for you than the standard one. Most of them, like McNally's "Da Grip" or the "machine gun grip" have to do with additionally bracing the lens against something.

Could be aperture/DoF and/or misfocus, too, but start with shutter speed and grip.

Also suggest reading the lensrentals article on using a telephoto.

[erincarter]

Here are 2 shots I took. 1st one is no good...2nd one is good. I'm guessing it's just a matter of me getting comfortable with the lens. I just want to make sure it's not something else that I need to be focusing on (no pun intended...lol).

Thanks inkista...I'll definitely check out those links you posted.



aperture: f/3.2
focal length: 200mm
iso: 800




aperture: f/3.2
focal length: 200mm
iso: 800

[inkista]

Yup, that's definitely a focus issue. With f/3.2 and 200mm, and a moving subject, you have to be accurate. The DoF is going to be pretty thin, and if you're moving as well as your subjects, it's easy to miss.

My first piece of advice is to always wait for focus confirmation--either with your eyes through the viewfinder, or via the green dot lighting up. It can take a while for a lens to lock focus. Wait for it before mashing the shutter button.

Secondly, take control of your AF points. Using the single center point can sometimes help speed stuff up.

Thirdly, if your lens has a focus limit switch on it, learn to use it, if it's appropriate. It can cut down on the amount of "hunting" the lens does by limiting the focusing distance range it will search through.

Fourthly, you may also want to consider learning back-button autofocus technique. This page is written for Canon cameras, but it's similar on Nikons.

[sk66]

It's shutter speed and technique.
The first image is at SS 1/30 too slow for 200mm, the second is at 1/200 which is adequate for 200mm and is much better than the first. It would be even better with better holding technique...that lens is heavy if you are not used to pro weight gear... add to that the already narrow DOF due to aperture and you have to be pretty good to get it sharp.

[kirbinster]

Part of the problem maybe due to balance. The D60 is a very light (weight) camera so the center of gravity with that heavy lens is going to be fairly far down the lens as opposed to when you mount it on a heavy camera like a D300 or bigger. You may have to experiment with where you place your hands on the lens to balance it for minimum movement.

[erincarter]

thanks for the help everyone. I'm going to take it out again this weekend and try again.

[ravncat]

Actually it's 1/effective focal length. 1/200 is still a bit slow 1/300 is better for 200mm on a dx sensor. Though faster is usually better ; I find 1/(2x effective focal) is much preffered, but 1/600 means alot of light

[sk66]

Originally Posted by ravncat

Actually it's 1/effective focal length. 1/200 is still a bit slow 1/300 is better for 200mm on a dx sensor. Though faster is usually better ; I find 1/(2x effective focal) is much preffered, but 1/600 means alot of light

Size of sensor doesn't play into this "rule of thumb"...with better technique I can handhold well below focal length, when rushed/tired I might need above focal length.