Focus issue?

[Rich UK]

Hey, I was wondering if someone could please take a look at a couple of my photos which I've been worrying look a little soft/ out of focus. These were taken on a beautiful and sunny day, virtually no wind with an ND8 filter.

It's not the first time I've thought these were soft. I've played with the settings as much as I can but can't help but compare them to the level of detail I've seen on other people's photos. The photo with my wife was taken at 900th of a second so was expecting very crisp. The bridge and high aerial pictures were 224th of a sec. All 100 ISO. The people are blurred and the tree on the left seems to lack detail.

I'm not expecting DSLR quality either by the way, but am very conscious I am approaching the end of my warranty and would like to sort any issues now of there are any.

I can't seem to upload any higher res photos, any ideas?

Thanks for the help

Sent from my SM-G900F using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[mark farrell]

Possibly a focus issue. Move your shutter speed to 2000 and see if it improves. Also check your histogram. The second pic is overexposed.


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[Oso]

Hey, I was wondering if someone could please take a look at a couple of my photos which I've been worrying look a little soft/ out of focus. These were taken on a beautiful and sunny day, virtually no wind with an ND8 filter.

It's not the first time I've thought these were soft. I've played with the settings as much as I can but can't help but compare them to the level of detail I've seen on other people's photos. The photo with my wife was taken at 900th of a second so was expecting very crisp. The bridge and high aerial pictures were 224th of a sec. All 100 ISO. The people are blurred and the tree on the left seems to lack detail.

I'm not expecting DSLR quality either by the way, but am very conscious I am approaching the end of my warranty and would like to sort any issues now of there are any.

I can't seem to upload any higher res photos, any ideas?

Thanks for the help

Sent from my SM-G900F using PhantomPilots mobile app

Try taking stills with no ND filter at all. Just the stock UV filter. Most here will tell you to only use ND filters for video and for very specific still photo situations. If you are worried about your kit, it's worth a try to remove the ND filter as another way to test the focus.

 

[Καλλιστώ]

Try taking stills with no ND filter at all. Just the stock UV filter. Most here will tell you to only use ND filters for video and for very specific still photo situations. If you are worried about your kit, it's worth a try to remove the ND filter as another war to test the focus.

I agree, ND filters on still are usually useless, and in this case, letting in less light, a possible cause for blurriness due to the longer exposure speed, although the speed you used was more than enough to avoid it! Plus you add another layer of glass in your lens system. Try without any additional filter, and try to upload the full resolution images, or a 100% crop of them.
Anyway they seem quite soft.. (mine sadly too...)

 

[Rich UK]

Thanks for the help guys, will do more test shots today. Fairly new to photography but a quick question about what you have all said.

If I remove the ND filter, most of those pictures will be hugely overexposed. Would I just use the EV setting to compensate that as decreasing shutter speed will surely introduce blur again?

Also, can you only upload high res from a computer rather than phone/ tab?

 

[Καλλιστώ]

Thanks for the help guys, will do more test shots today. Fairly new to photography but a quick question about what you have all said.

If I remove the ND filter, most of those pictures will be hugely overexposed. Would I just use the EV setting to compensate that as decreasing shutter speed will surely introduce blur again?

Also, can you only upload high res from a computer rather than phone/ tab?

Well...
In photography (and videography too) to get the right exposure you have 3 settings to play with:
Iso (Film/sensor sensitivity)
Shutter speed
Aperture

Here you can play only with the first two, because the aperture is fixed at the value of 2.8
For the Iso it's (almost) always best to use the lower setting possible, as increasing ISO means more digital noise on the image
Eventually you have the shutter speed, that in videography, in order to achieve that famous "cinematic" look, where there is a noticeable motion blur, you usually use the rule where you double the framerate you're using, so at 29 or 30 fps the setting is 50/60th of a second.
In photography this value is in a way less important, unless you're looking for some specific effects, like light trails, running water like from waterfalls and so on (when you want to use longer speed, like 1/30th or maybe 3 seconds and so on) where ND filters came handy because you have plenty of light and you need to lower it.

So, at the end of the day, you have to use ND filters if at the maximum possible shutter speed (1/8000s on my advanced) and at the lowest ISO (100) you still have overexposure. If not it's better without ND.

To minimize the risk of blurred images (or just of blurred cars, or other moving subjects) i think that with a 20mm lens you shoudn't set the shutter speed longer than 1/125th or 1/60 (max!)

 

[Richard R]

Your pics do look to have less sharpness than what I am used to. As stated above, take off the ND filter and keeping the ISO at 100, set the camera to auto to take some comparison pictures. And just to be clear, these pics were taken directly off the SD card correct? Anywhere else and you aren't looking at the best quality. You don't say how long you've had your bird and what others pictures/videos you have taken, but did you remove the clear plastic film that covers the lens for shipping?

 

[kndll]

style settings to none ?

 

[hammer737]

hi Rich UK...
I have found that on my P3A is soft focus at centre and sharper left and right of centre....I thought of a lens sensor alignment is out of adjustment..but I've been reading now about a issue with the p3a about if using at 0 degrees Celsius or lower that it may be blurry centre of frame if drone is not let to climatize to the surroundings.

looks like temp wasn't an issue for you..but maybe an underlying alignment issue


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[Rich UK]

DJI_0078

• Rich UK
• Dec 31, 2016

ISO 200, 320/1 shutter speed

DJI_0077

• Rich UK
• Dec 31, 2016

ISO 200, 320/1 Shutter speed

DJI_0073

• Rich UK
• Dec 31, 2016

ISO 100, 320/1 shutter speed

 

[Rich UK]

I've uploaded a couple more from today - I'm still not convinced theres not an issue. Taking my lack of photography skills out of the equation, I still think these should be clearer personally.

The ISO and shutter speed are under the title of each picture when clicked on.

I have taken off the film from the front of the lens. I was shooting these without an ND filter.

Had the P3A since July but packed it away until Christmas after giving it a few runs. I wasn't sure of the quality then either.

One thing I did notice today was when hovering there was a vibration through the camera. I imagine the gimbal sorts much of this but I wonder if that's why I'm getting a blur? I have removed the foam thing. And they are straight off the SD card.

Appreciate everyone's help so far, thanks.

 

[Just_James]

I don't think you have a focus issue, the images are about as sharp as I'd expect.

The images do look a little flat but that is easily fixed in post process (much better if you use RAW rather than JPG).

I've done a very quick adjustment of levels to a couple of your images.

 

[Geramy]

I had a P3S that was super sharp. Then, I got a P3S and it was very soft. After a lot of reading and YouTube, I finally got the guts to disassemble my camera today and adjust the focus of the lens assembly. It took a couple hours to get it spot on, but now it produces significantly sharper images. I have read that this is a fairly common issue and focus adjustment is "not possible"... But it is if you want to be responsible for any mistakes you may make. If you are wanting more details, let me know and I can give you some links and some additional tips.