Quality of lens re: out of focus

[cloudspirit]

Hope I am not repeating something here already but what, if any, is the corralation to the glass quality in a lens and to out of focus images?
I ask because some of my shots which I think are correct in settings come out of focus.
My lenses are older from my Pentax K1000 now using on K10D.
I would love to hear some feed back.
Cheryl :confused:

[coffee]

Hi Cheryl. Can you post a pic of what you are refering to? Sometimes it's not really out of focus, but camera shake. They can look fimilar.

is the entire photo out of focus, or just part of the photo?

[LensBaby]

yeah if you post some photos of it, can you put what your exif info is. (the information about how the image was shot) Thanks

[reval8r]

Hi Cheryl,
The old Pentax glass is really good stuff, and I have a ton of Pentax lens. However, I really prefer to use more modern glass with my Pentax digitals. You could test your glass if you still have an old camera laying around and see how it preforms on the old stuff, but Coffee is probably right it may just be camera shake. Posting a couple of your images would be helpful in maybe identifying the problem.

[cloudspirit]

Two examples, although they aren't the best of what I mean. I will keep looking.
Thanks

[coffee]

Two examples, although they aren't the best of what I mean. I will keep looking.
Thanks

I think these two photos look good. The files are small so it's hard to tell if the subjects in question are in focus. I can't enlarge it enough to keep the detail and check the focus. But from what I can tell on these two they are nice. I like the colors and the DOF. Were you refering to the background being out of focus?

[cloudspirit]

When I take this photo up to 100% it shows blurr. A better example.
Thanks for helping me out.

[coffee]

When I take this photo up to 100% it shows blurr. A better example.
Thanks for helping me out.


This looks like camera shake Cheryl. You can normally tell if the entire photo looks out of focus, instead of just part of the shot. Were you using a tripod? Could you have used a faster shutter speed? Could you have used a higher ISO to increase the SS. When I do landscapes, or anytime I know it's going to take a longer shutter to get the shot, I always use a tripod. I couldn't pull any info off this file so I don't kow what the numbers are.

As a general rule, your shutter speed should be equal or greater to your focal length. So if your focal length shows 60mm, you don't want to go below 1/60 SS. Faster will always be better as far as camera shake goes. You can go lower, but you have to have a very steady hand. Hope this helps.

[LensBaby]

When I take this photo up to 100% it shows blurr. A better example.
Thanks for helping me out.

This looks like camera shake...did you use a tripod, and if so, did you use a remote or the self timer, or did you just click the shutter? Even if you have it on a tripod, and click the shutter, that will still shake it. Also, if you have stabilization on your camera or in your lens...make sure if it is on a tripod, that you turn it off....that will show camera shake as well.

[coffee]

Also, if it was windy that day that could have been the problem. But the bottom line is that either your subject was moving faster than your SS could freeze the action, or your camera was moving faster than your SS could freeze the action.

[LensBaby]

Yep! Wind blowing the field around will cause that. Every time I want to take a photo of a flower, the wind blows!!!!!

[cloudspirit]

Yes to much of your replies, it was windy, spur of the moment and no tripod, I do have in camera stabilization and it probably was on, and I din't know you can not use both tripod and stabilazation. THANK YOU ALL!
so do I have it right, my lenses are fine for my digital camera and I need not buy specific lenses right now?
back to practise.

[cloudspirit]

since your here would you tell me if there is any adjustment in my exposure setting using in camera stabilaztion or does it read that automatically?

[LensBaby]

So you might have had several things working against you in this photo. Wind, hand held, and also stabilization. I didn't always have problems with stabilization being on while on the tripod, but it can cause problems. I always turn it off if I am on a tripod. I would bet that your lens is fine! :)