Ten Tips for Shooting Sharp

There is this special term used by photographers "tack sharp" which means something of an absolute sharpness, where things fall in place and photo turns out to be exactly sharp, when viewed at 100%. Here's my tips for getting as close as possible to this.

1. Mount the Camera
..on tripod, sandbag, your knee, whatever's available. Whenever possible, use tripod. Yes, even in broad daylight. Remember to turn off image stabilizer if your lens have one, when mounting the camera.

2. Use Shutter Release
Even when you mount the camera on tripod, when you press the shutter, there's chance that the camera will move just a bit. This "just a bit" can be enough to reduce sharpness in the photo. That's why it's recommended to use shutter release, wired or wireless, which will remove the mechanical impact of your finger, pressing the shutter.

3. Use Timer
If you don't have shutter release, timer will do the job for you. 2 seconds is good for this. Just make sure you remember to turn the timer off after shoot..

4. Find Sweet Spot of Your Glass
Every glass is different, and each has a certain aperture value which is sharper than others. In my Canon EF 28-135 USM it happens to be somewhere around F8.

5. Confirm Your Focus
It should go without saying, but sometimes autofocus doesn't operate perfectly. Focus manually if you have to. If AF keeps failing you in Canon's cameras, there's function called AF microadjust, which allows you to calibrate each glass separately.

6. Sharpen RAW in post
If you shoot RAW, the in-camera processing is bypassed and you get the RAW data as it is. Many professionals sharpen their RAW photos in post to find the best solution. Sharpening in post cannot make unsharp photo sharp, but can increase the appearance of sharpness in already sharp photo.

7. Handheld
If you shoot handheld, use image stabilizer, and shoot with shutter speed that's fast enough. If lighting doesn't allow it otherwise, increase the ISO. Take a deep breath, and hold your elbow to your chest. Press the shutter as gently as possible to keep the camera from moving when fired.

8. Mirror Lockup
This is the ultimate trick of those who are crazy about sharpness. Mirror lockup locks up the mirror of the DSLR. When camera takes picture, only shutter curtains move. Mirror, especially in full frame cameras, is quite heavy and can cause camera shake when moving up and down.

9. Use a camera without antialiasing filter
Most Canon DSLR's have antialiasing /low-pass filter mounted on top of the sensor. This is Canon's way of dealing with aliasing. The low-pass filter softens the image, thus reducing aliasing/moire, and by default, camera sharpens the photo digitally. But there are some cameras, such as Ricoh's certain models, which do not have antialiasing filter. Photos shot by these cameras appear often sharper.

10. Use Sharp Lens
Canon's L lenses are generally very sharp, especially at F4. We recommend using a high quality glass to get most out of the pictures. Cheaper alternative Canon EF 28-135 USM is also quite sharp lens. Find out which lens produces most sharp photos. Trial and error is often the best way.