01-07-2009, 10:39 PM
Bob, Hi ! Just an observation - from the 3 pics posted, am guessing you are "fooling" the auto-focus. The first two, the point of best resolution seems to be behind your subject, probably where the center of the shot is. This will contribute to "graininess" in the thing you want to show off. Also, the "depth of focus" - the distance from closest to the furthest well focused objects - seems very short, due to the aperture being wide open. If, at a given light level, you allow a longer exposure time, the aperture will close down and INCREASE your depth-of-focus ( usually desired for model photos), making the visual depth more like 1:1 images. The third example has lots of light, (lots of light colored material) so the aperture is SMALLER, and a good target in the proper distance range for the Auto-Focus to measure from, and less depth in the subject from near to far, so the results look much better. I'm not up on photography any more - still using FILM - but the basic principles still apply for some stuff, I think. Hope this helps, rather than make you go to Stamp Collecting ! Some of the other folks here may be MORE helpful than I - hope they find you !! Bob C. :geek:
James Thurber - "It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers."