Monday, November 4, 2013

How to get sharp photos

* Use a sharp lens:  This is the #1 factor in getting the sharp images.  In general, a good-quality (like the Canon L lens) gives at least twice (sometimes 4x) the resolution of a bad-quality lens;  a fixed lens is at least twice as sharp as a zoom lens.

* Don't use a filter:  Most people use filters to protect the lens and for special effects, but most filters are not good-quality and diffuse light too much.

* Clean the lens well:  especially the front-end.

* Use a higher-resolution camera:  A 25MP camera has 2x the resolving power (per dimension) than a 6MP camera.

* Use a tripod.

* Use higher shutter speeds:  As a rule of thumb, for hand-holding, use a shutter speed of at least 1/[focal length];  for example, if the lens is 100mm, use speed of at least 1/100".

* Use anti-shake (image-stabilized) lens:  This is a cheap way of getting sharp images.

* Hand-hold lens carefully:  Keep elbows close to body;  hold breath when clicking shutter.

* User lower ISO:  Don't use a higher ISO than you have to.  Higher ISOs tend to introduce more noise into the photos.

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