Ten tips for sharper shots
By Christopher Dack
31 March 2008
1. Practice good handholding technique
A former champion target shooter who had given up pistols for cameras taught me that controlling my breathing was the first step toward steadiness. Some shooters hold their breath whereas I prefer to exhale slowly through and past the shutter release.
2. Use image stabilization technology
Canon and Nikon make image-stabilized lenses. Pentax and Sony build stabilization into their digital cameras. If you shoot handheld a lot, either approach is more than worth the price.
3. Always look for stabilization
No matter how good your handholding, you can always do better by stabilizing the camera — or part of yourself — against a handy car, tree, fence post, etc. Toss a beanbag into the mix and ad hoc stabilization solutions become even easier to improvise.
4. Break out the tripod
Perhaps nothing separates serious shooters from casual shooters more than how often they use a tripod. Of course, certain fast-paced environments make handholding practically mandatory, but let's be honest: most of us leave it at home out of sheer laziness.
When I do force myself to take a tripod along (cursing and muttering the entire time, of course), I'm always happier with the photos afterward.
5. Use a shutter release
If you're going to the trouble of using a tripod, why not go the extra mile and use a shutter release? Wireless remotes are my personal favorite.
6. Use mirror lock up
And if you're using a tripod and shutter release, why not go the extra extra mile and lock up the mirror on your SLR? Most SLR's offer this, often as a custom function.
7. Pop on that lens hood
That sunset scene you just shot that was so breathtaking in person? Without a lens hood, there's a good chance the photo will be hazy because of stray light.
8. Use the lowest ISO possible
Balancing aperture against shutter speed against ISO is always tricky. Whenever possible, though, keep your ISO as low as possible when you want maximum sharpness. Yes, high ISO performance has improved dramatically in recent years, particuarly among DSLRs. But if ISO 400 or 800 looks good, how much better would ISO 200 or even 100 look...if you can get away with it.
9. Use the best lens possible
The grade of lens affects image quality more than any other factor, perhaps, except the grade of film or digital sensor. One way to get higher-quality glass without going broke is to try fixed focal length lenses ("primes").
Although zoom lenses have closed the quality gap in recent years, even consumer-priced primes still routinely outperform pro-grade zooms for optical quality. Add in that most zooms perform best only in the middle of their zoom ranges and that no zoom yet matches the best primes and you can why every lens maker still offers a vast array of them.
10. Use a camera without an anti-alias filter
Many factors affect sharpness, but two are ringers. One is lens quality and the other is the sensor. Specifically, sensors that lack anti-alias filters take far sharper pictures. Anti-alias filters blur the finest details intentionally to avoid jaggies and moire artifacts.
After shooting for several years with Canon DSLRs and being generally underwhelmed (and even more disappointed with digital sharpening), I tried a Sigma SD DSLR. The difference was nothing short of amazing.
The Foveon concept is cool, but for me, the real difference is that the Sigma lacks an anti-alias filter whereas Canons sport among the strongest in the industry.
Now, having shot with a Leica M8 and a Kodak SLR/c (no longer available), I will never again shoot with an anti-aliased sensor if I can help it.
The inclusion of anti-alias filters comes from a consumer-oriented mindset: avoid jaggies and moire so that casual shooters – who hate to edit photos or don't know how – can print pictures right from the camera.
Serious enthusiasts, of course, do edit. I'd rather shoot sharp and edit occasional moire than struggle with Unsharp Mask and still be less than thrilled.
Only Sigma and Leica currently offer 35mm-style digital cameras with no anti-alias filter. It's interesting to note, however, the other camera makers who choose to omit it: digital medium format companies like Leaf, Mamiya, Hasselblad, and Phase One.
When it comes to image quality and the design decisions that affect it, I'd say their opinions carry a little more weight than do Canon and Nikon.
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