DSLR camera

Posted by Judy (Alameda, CA, USA) on 04/23/10 09:12 AM

In London, I purchased a DSLR camera: Sony alpha 350 and purchased two separate lenses: Sony 4.5-5.6/75-300 and 3.5-5.6/18-70.

The Sony 4.5-5.6/75-300 served me well as I was able to take photos from afar. Using this camera, I was able to capture scenes in pitch dark. For that, I am grateful.

However, my architectural pictures can be blurry. Anyone else with similar experience? Maybe I am not using this correctly?

I was told to replace my Sony lenses with other lens in order to obtain sharper focus. Insights and recommendations?

Posted by Ty

CA, USA

04/23/10 09:29 AM

333 posts

They shouldn't be 'blurry'. Perhaps the AF was not locking on properly or the aperture was too shallow for the scene. If it was a marble or white/gray coloured building the AF can get easily confused since it relies on different colour contrasts to figure out how to focus.

Where you shooting during the day or at night?

Architecture are very tough images to get correct as there are a lot of things against you and can't be corrected without buying an extremely expensive lens. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_effect

Posted by Lane

Mansfield, GA

04/23/10 09:42 AM

850 posts

I don't have the Sony lens so I can't offer an opinion. On my last trip I carried a Nikon D90 with an 18-105 kit lens and a 75-300. These two lens covered my needs(or wants) and I was pleased with the results. We probably all get some blurry pictures based on the conditions. The trip before I carried a D40 with the 18-55 and 55-200 and also was very pleased with the results. I would think the Sony lens would be comparable to the Nikons. I don't quite understand why your architectural photos are blurry unless you are taking them in low light without a tripod or some other means that would help to steady the camera. You could opt for a faster lens but they do get expensive and would likely cost a good bit more than your camera. You could get a good prime lens, mabye a 50mm which should not cost too much and would be a faster lens than your other two. If you could tell us under what conditions you take photos(i.e. low light without a tripod, inside with poor lighting etc) which turn out blurry maybe we could better pin point the problem.

Posted by Ken

Vernon, Canada

04/23/10 10:29 AM

32349 posts

Judy,

It's difficult to say what might have caused your architectural photos to be "blurry"? I'm assuming your other photos were crystal clear?

As the first post mentioned, the depth of field could be one issue. I'm not familiar with the Sony Cameras, but you might try some test shots in "Aperture Priority" with a aperture in the f8-f16 range. You could also try switching off the auto focus, and use manual focus. Could you post the EXIF data for one of the photos that was especially out of focus?

Architectural photos are inherently challenging for most Cameras given as the end result often has some "perspective distortion" which makes large buildings look abnormally large on the bottom and smaller on the top. That's where a Tilt Shift Lens can be useful, but that type of equipment is expensive.

Cheers!