DA* 16 - 50 - sharpness issues?

Hi,

Just wondering if someone could cast their eye over a couple of photos and tell me if I should be expecting sharper results. These are hand held shots.

36mm, f5.6, 1/45, ISO 400
link

50mm, f4.0, 1/250, ISO 400
link

They just look a little "muddy" to me. Sort of as if they are not in focus, but I am really not too sure??

Thanks, James

ps. How do I drop photos in to the post?? I have a flickr account if that helps?

As I know, 16-50 is less sharper than 50-135 in general. From what I see, the pictures are pretty sharp.

Thanks, just ha a quick look at some of my old photos taken a few years back with a Nikon D70, and to be honest, the Pentax wipes the floor with them!

Perhaps I am just being paranoid!!

James

Copy and paste the flickr IMG code for photo into the post.

i've had a look at the first photo and it looks fine to me. The face is sharp the only "muddy" bit is the background and that may be due to DOF

They look fine to me too.

Nothing wrong with them.

It is difficult to guess how far your camera was from the subject, but according to my calculations:
- 50mm @ f4 focused at about 3ft will give you a dof of only about 1.5in (or 1m => 35mm ish).
- 36mm @ f5.6 focused at about 1ft will give you under half an inch dof (30mm => 12mm)
So you could try backing off a little - refocusing and then cropping

Dof is a little subjective and, of course, it depends what you are after. I like them as they are - I wish I had some like that! See if anyone else agrees!

Hi Malcolm,

Thanks for that info, I didn't realise DOF was linked to how close you are to the subject! How do you calculate the DOF?

James

PS. Just seeing if I have copied the image code correctly.

Isn't the web great :http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Use the drop down boxes to select camera;focal length;aperture; and distance to subject....and voila !