best settings for kit lens for best sharpest results?

[greg76]

Hey
just wandered if anyone has any tips to get the absolute best out of the kit lens when doing landscape. Whats the best apeture for sharpness is a tripod recomended, basically how do I get the best out of it.
thanks in advance.

[fatdeeman]

I'm no expert but I would use a tripod if you can't get a decent shutter speed, A lot of that will depend on the amount of daylight available and your iso settings but I would reccomended using a low iso because you can apply some post capture sharpening more easily with a clean image.

I would go for f8 at the wide end and f11 at the long end of the zoom.

Don't know what else to say really except try it out and see what happens and try sharpening the shots if they look like they need it, I recently sold mine and replaced it with a sigma 18-50 f2.8 but got quite a lot of use out of it before then and it gave some nice results, it's not a bad lens really, especially considering how cheap it is.

I don't really have any serious landscape examples to show you but I took this one on my way to take shome shots of an abandoned farm, I think it was iso 100 and f5.6

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v235/fatdeeman/IMG_4038.jpg

[Roger V]

f8-f11 seemed to be the sweet spot for the kit lense I had. That being said, if you can get a Shutter Speed high enough to enable had holding, use a tripod.

[FlashZebra]

Hey
just wandered if anyone has any tips to get the absolute best out of the kit lens when doing landscape. Whats the best apeture for sharpness is a tripod recomended, basically how do I get the best out of it.
thanks in advance.
Try this:

As others have mentioned, use F/8 or F/11.
Use a tripod.
If possible, avoid the zoom extremes (say, stay between 22mm and 50mm).
This is not of grand importance, but it can help a bit, use the mirror lock up mode (with a wired shutter release). Don't let the equipment snobs keep you from using the lens you already have.

It is not the best lens around, but if you use it under the conditions described above you will get images that will be fine.

Enjoy! Lon

[Briancd]

Try this:

As others have mentioned, use F/8 or F/11.
Use a tripod.
If possible, avoid the zoom extremes (say, stay between 22mm and 50mm).
This is not of grand importance, but it can help a bit, use the mirror lock up mode (with a wired shutter release).Don't let the equipment snobs keep you from using the lens you already have.

It is not the best lens around, but if you use it under the conditions described above you will get images that will be fine.

Enjoy! Lon

What is the advantage of using mirror lock up? Vibration!!

[Bosman]

This will help

click here (http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/18-55.html)

[R_Metzel]

What is the advantage of using mirror lock up? Vibration!!Yes. You will get a tiny bit when the mirror slaps up. I always use a tripod for landscape so I can stay at iso 100 regardless of lighting conditions. Mirror lock up and a cable release will also help. That way their is almost no vibration or movement. Sweet spot on my kit lens is also f/8-f/11.

[basroil]

if you don't have a cable, use the self timer of the camera. be warned though, it's probably 2s instead of 10s if mirror lock is on.

[Briancd]

Yes. You will get a tiny bit when the mirror slaps up. I always use a tripod for landscape so I can stay at iso 100 regardless of lighting conditions. Mirror lock up and a cable release will also help. That way their is almost no vibration or movement. Sweet spot on my kit lens is also f/8-f/11.

Thank you. You prompted me to look at the 350D manual (p.94). Should get into the habit of regularly reading it.

[R_Metzel]

Your welcome! I still read over mine when I am bored.

[pitabread]

In addition to what's been said, I highly recommend getting a polarizer. I used a cheap 58mm Tiffen circular polarizer with my kit lens and was amazed at the difference it made when doing landscape shots. Skies had much more saturation and foliage was much greener. And even though it's a budget filter, it still did the job.

[R_Metzel]

In addition to what's been said, I highly recommend getting a polarizer. I used a cheap 58mm Tiffen circular polarizer with my kit lens and was amazed at the difference it made when doing landscape shots. Skies had much more saturation and foliage was much greener. And even though it's a budget filter, it still did the job. GGGGGRRRRR:lol: How could I forget to mention that! Good catch Pita.

[FlashZebra]

What is the advantage of using mirror lock up? Vibration!!
Yes, to reduce vibration. The more you mitigate vibration, the sharper the image will be. The OP asked specifically how to get the sharpest images from his setup. He also indicated landscape work, so I know that inserting mirror lock up (or a tripod) into the routine would not hinder his workflow.

I recall a nice article in one of the major photo mags many years ago. They showed that locking the mirror had a major impact on image quality.

Locking the mirror up is a sharpening opportunity that is often overlooked, even when it is not inconvenient.

Many obsess over L sharpness, then overlook the no cost sharpening opportunity provided by mirror lockup.

Enjoy! Lon

[YosemiteJunkie]

This shot was taken with the 18-55 kit lens at 34mm, f/4.5, 1/200 sec., ISO 100
http://herbdunn.fotopic.net/p30199568.html
It was tripod mounted in the early afternoon

[R_Metzel]

This shot was taken with the 18-55 kit lens at 34mm, f/4.5, 1/200 sec., ISO 100
http://herbdunn.fotopic.net/p30199568.html
It was tripod mounted in the early afternoon
That is a fantastic shot Herb! Another good example of the kit lens. May not be an L but it gets the job done quite nicely.

[greg76]

I took the kit lens out the other day on my tripod shot at about f8 and got some extremely pleasing results thanks for the tips.