Nikon Lens Sharpness and Printing Poster Size

Hi Glen,

1. You can get sharp shots with the 18-200 but you need to stop down a bit. Do some test shots at say 100mm @ f8. This lens doesn't perform at it's best wide open. But understand that a zoom with this range has to make some compromises.

2. There are so many choices depending on the type of portraits and sports shots you're looking to get. I don't do sports but I do a lot of portraits (on a D300 also) and without doubt my best portrait lens is the 50mm 1.4D - others rate the 85 1.4 (I've never used it and it's a bit too long for the stuff I do indoors). My next best portrait lens is my 35-70 2.8D (discontinued but available 2nd hand). The 28-70 or 24-70 2.8's are also highly rated portrait lenses but are both quite heavy and expensive (for me at least). For sports you could look at the 80-200 or 70-200VR (both heavy and the latter quite expensive).

3. Poster prints. I haven't printed that big on my D300 but I am sure it's possible providing you resize using good interpolation software such as Genuine Fractals (I once printed a life size print of a model from a 4mp E10 pic resized in GF - it came out great but it was B&W and this helps a lot). Perhaps others can offer you first hand advice on this question.

Best of luck
Paul

You have plenty of pixels to print that large, and the camera and lens combo is perfectly capable of making sharp prints. Lenses can make it easier in certain situations (indoor sports especially). However, if you're not getting the sharpness you want from your current equipment, I'd recommend studying technique first -- once you know how sharp a picture the camera is capable of, it'll be easier for you to figure out how best to get sharp pictures consistently in specific situations.

First of all is the picture sharp on the computer?

If not is it a shutter issue? Tried upping the ISO? Maybe it is a AF issue then - technique issue.

Still want a faster and or shoot at a lower ISO you may need a faster aperture lens because sports is action but they can be pretty expensive, for sports I assume some kind of telephot is in order. Not done sports but you could try flash.

The 18-200mm is a sharp lens fo still objects. Stopped a bit down or more stopped like f/11 or f/8 for landscapes and travel work.

I don't do sports but I find the 50mm are pretty good but the bokeh I don't really like. I prefer the 85mm but then it can be long on digital indoors. I love the bokeh on that.. I have the f/1.8 version and see no real desire to get the 1.4. Too with a DX camera the depth of field is more, more stuff in focus.

I have printed 20x30 on a 6MP camera but not on the D300 so I won't answer that.

All the above is quite correct. You do know you need to sharpen the file either with an editing program or using the in camera settings. If sharpness is not added somewhere, digital files are quite fuzzy.
I have gotten good resultsif I sharpen the file, increase file size 50%, sharpen, increase 50%, sharpen, until I get to a large size.
Experiment with the resize step size , monitor resolution, and amount of sharpening, and the algorithm you use. I use bicubic smoother found at the bottom of the CS3 resize box.

Are you using 'Unsharp Mask' in Photoshop or the equivilent in NX2 etc? This is to counter the effect of the Anti Aliasing Filter which is located in front of the camera's sensor. Nikon use quite a strong filter. Also, try shooting, if you're not already, in RAW. Whether shooting in JPEG or RAW try leaving your 'in camera' sharpening on 0 and do your sharpening post processing. Even a very sharp pro lens like the Nikon 24-70 benefits from using Unsharp Mask or similar.

Glen,
if I'm after really sharp looking pictures I use fast primes stopped down one or max. two f-stops. A blurred out background will emphasize the subject and will make it look „sharp“. I don't use USM for sharpening but for local contrast enhancement (amount 18/ radius 64/ treshold 0 and fade to suit) and „smart sharpening“ to bring out the details.
Good looking postersize-prints have been made with early DSLRs so it's for the main part a matter of careful shooting and proper postprocessing.
Please excuse my english, georg.

This lens is a very good travel lens if you prefer versatility and light package over IQ. I've shot a lot of nice photos with that lens but I wasn't impressed with its sharpness. You can improove the IQ of your photos with DXO software. D300 and the 18-200 Nikkor are fully supported. If you want good IQ, you have to buy an additional lens or two. I would recommend FX lenses.

Yes, I had the same lens. Even had it calibrated by Nikon and couldn't handle the softness of the lens. I ended up selling it. If you want a really sharp lens go with a prime lens like the 50mm 1.4, excellent portrait lens and is tack sharp.

Maybe a sample would be helpful.