Lens Problems

[poorboy20]

Just moved up to the D200, with the 18-200 lens. Have shot about 500 photos since it arrived and have not been happy with the quality of the prints or focus. I am shooting raw at ISO 100 and the pictures seem not to be in focus. When I blow them up to 100% the grain and edges are hardly destingushible. My other camera is a sony dsc828 whish gives spot on focus although it takes a lot longer to focus. Some how I expected much more from this lens. Not a happy camper right now.
Thanks for letting me vent my frustrations.

Bob

 

[gadgetguy11]

My wife had the identical problem with same lens on her D200. There can be a steep learning curve with the D200. The settings can make all the difference. Once you get them right, you will be amazed. I do not believe your lens is the problem.

 

[Pa]

I also was a bit discouraged when I first got this combo. However, I stuck with it and now couldn't be happier.

The D200, to me, was a very large step up from the D70, with a fairly steep learning curve.

Of course you could have a defective sample. I encourage you to post some examples of your results so we can see what you are talking about.

 

[senna]

I am a week into my D200 moving up from a D70s. The one thing I have done so far is keep the iso at 200 or above except in the snow. It helps keep the shutter speed a little faster. Witch of course helps fight blur.

 

[goodquest]

I had the same problem. Then a café member suggested I set my ISO to 400 and
Switch to Single area Af. I was then told as I master ISO 400 slowly move the Iso
Down. Then switch to other focusing options. I was also told to practice my techniques
And take lots of pictures.

 

[W.Ditto]

single focus does seem to help, continuous is just too ADD.....

 

[Commodorefirst]

With that lens you should be getting fairly sharp photos, period, If it is working. It has VR, so I would suggest, trying to make sure you are half pressing first and wait about 1/2 second then press the rest of the way down to fire the shutter. With VR the lens sometimes takes a small amount of time to lock in the VR.

This might be your problem, but hard to tell. The D200 with a VR lens should give you sharp photos if you do your part, Also, is the D200 good with other lenses?

cheers,

Wade

 

[Commodorefirst]

One other thing,

I found that with my 24-120VR and D70 I had gotten very sloppy with my technique from my old film days, I was just throwing the thing up and forgetting everything I had learned from the film days, thinking about being carefull made all the difference.

Sensor Density and a stronger mirror slap all contributed to the problems along with bad technique. After about a week of concentration I was fine.

The fine points mentioned above regarding focus and single point focus apply too.

Cheers,

Wade

 

[TedB]

I had a similar problem but found the culprit was "me", in my case.

What helped me was putting the camera on a tripod, taking a few shots outside at a fast shutter speed....ie 1/500th. This should result in a good sharp photo. Once you know the camera/lens aren't the issue.....then its technique......

Good luck.

 

[Pa]

What helped me was putting the camera on a tripod, taking a few shots outside at a fast shutter speed....ie 1/500th. This should result in a good sharp photo. Once you know the camera/lens aren't the issue.....then its technique......

Good luck.

Sounds like a good suggestion. And use mirror lockup if you can.