Focus and Sharpness

Soft pictures are rarely the lens's fault. These eleven tutorials cover autofocus modes and focus points on Nikon and Canon bodies, single-area and continuous focusing, back-button and AF-lock techniques, and the handling habits that keep images sharp: shutter speeds, stance, tripods and stabilisation. The set closes with a way to check and calibrate a lens's autofocus without buying a calibration tool.

That's Why Your Photos Aren't Sharp

Mark Denney lists six reasons landscape photographs come home soft despite sound gear: AF-C instead of AF-S on static scenes, extreme ISO smearing detail, apertures beyond f/16 where diffraction sets in, shooting wide open instead of a lens's tested sweet spot, and leaving a strap attached on a tripod.