Looking for a digital camera

[MemoriesByTheMile]

I don’t have any experience with the lens you have but typically a zoom with a large range from wide angle (28mm) up to a nice zoom of 300mm in that price range will tend to give you this type of result, especially when in lower light.
A couple of things to try to compensate:
1) Use a tripod
2) Manually set ISO in a lower setting. Don’t know your camera’s exact sweet spot, but would start trying ISO lower than 400, in most full frame DSLR the sweet spot is somewhere between ISO 100 and 200, but 400 can still give good results. Setting this ISO lower will result in longer exposure, hence the need for a tripod.
3) Try shots with and without image stabilization to better understand what your camera does.
4) Next time someone with expensive lens/glass visits, see if they would be willing to show you how their lens captures that image. It can be eye opening. Hence why some end up spending way more on the lenses that they did on the body.

When we became more serious about trying to get better photos, we dropped the all-in-one lens and replaced it with 3 separate lenses: ultra wide 11-24mm, 24-70mm f2.8 and a 70-200 f2.8. Remarkable difference in image quality.

Photography is like RV’ing, big toys can have big expenses…
Welcome to the club!
Keep posting pics, love the view you have from your porch!

 

[Rollin Ollen]

Captured this evening from my front deck, just after a thunderstorm.

Edit: I’ve noticed the picture quality progressively goes downhill the more I zoom in on the clouds. What can I do to fix this, or is it just Mother Nature’s way of saying, ‘Don’t zoom, pal’?

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My reply is not scientific and I honestly haven't given the subject much thought but, from my experience when using any lens, what you see in the CENTER of the image is what the camera focuses on. Using a zoom means that anything closer than the most distant object (which should be your subject) will be out of focus. When I view a photo that I have taken, I automatically look at what my subject was an not the peripheral scene. I hope my theory is correct. If not, I'm sure someone with more knowledge will offer you better advice.

 

[Jim]

I don’t have any experience with the lens you have but typically a zoom with a large range from wide angle (28mm) up to a nice zoom of 300mm in that price range will tend to give you this type of result, especially when in lower light.

Yes, you nailed it, it's 18mm - 300mm. So yeah, my knee jerk reaction was to start looking for more glass, but the calmer, more responsible side of me decided to lean as much as I can with what I have, before I run out and start buying more wrong stuff.

I'm learning the lingo though.

• Gray market - Cost less, but more expensive.
• Mint - Looks great on the outside, but the inside might be held together by duct tape and desperation.
• Fast lens - Refers to how quickly your bank account empties, not just the f-stop.
• Bokeh - A fancy word used to justify why 95% of the photo is blurry.
• Limited edition - Marketing code for “twice the price.”

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

Also look up lens camera calibration. Though the camera and lens are new, having them calibrated can help image sharpness, specifically for auto focus.

I don't know your camera, but if you have the option, turn on the focus point, so you know where it is focusing.
For landscape photography, it is normal to have a larger depth of field, meaning you will want to use f stops in the 16-22+ range so you have more of the image in focus.

 

[Texas Clodhopper]

@Jim, before we get too technical, if you're shooting in an exposure mode, which one is it?

 

[Jim]

@Jim, before we get too technical, if you're shooting in an exposure mode, which one is it?

So far, all of my successful pictures have been shot in P mode. Anytime I wander into the mystical realms that require ‘knowledge', I’m basically in uncharted waters without a paddle. Heck, it took me a couple of days just to figure out how to turn the darn camera on, lol.

 

[Texas Clodhopper]

@Jim, I think it would benefit you to invest in one of David Busch's "how-to" camera books. I always bought his book before buying the camera. Just a suggestion.

 

[Jim]

@Jim, I think it would benefit you to invest in one of David Busch's "how-to" camera books. I always bought his book before buying the camera. Just a suggestion.

OK, it should be here by Monday!