Landscape photos dead-end!

[hoakin1981]

Hello to all. I have been using a Canon EOS 1000D for some time now as my first DSLR and my main interest is landscape photography. The problem I am facing is that I cannot achieve crystal-crisp-clear shots as the ones I keep seeing on the web & in all the magazines. No matter what i do or try my shots lack sharpness and when zoomed to 100% actual size the problem is even more obvious. I have been implementing all the tips I could find on the web but so far no luck. Below you can see the lenses I use as well as all the parameters I usually use. If someone can point out what I am doing wrong or has been using the 1000D with good results all opinions are most welcome. I know that my EOS 1000D is an entry level DSLR so I should not expect much but I really think it has more potential than this, on the other hand if the parameters I use are pretty much correct & there is not much more I could do to improve my shots then I could come into terms with the fact that the shots are the best my Canon and myself can take and i could put my mind at ease by trying to improve my technique.

Lenses: Canon EF-S 18-55mm
Tamron 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 tele-macro
Tamron 11-18mm 1:4-5-5.6 wide-lens (mostly this one)

Parameters: Shoot RAW
Mirror lock-up
Remote shutter release
Tripod
ISO 100
f9-f16
Focus on 1/3 of the frame (Hyperfocal?)
WB accordingly (cloudy, sunny etc.)
Preferably "golden hours"

Thank you very much in advance for any assistance, all opinions will be considered carefully.

[egwardo]

can you post any examples of what you are talking about? whats typical length of exposure? how sturdy is your tri pod? bit hard to tell without seeing a picture whether there is a problem but if there is it could be casued by:

A tri pod that is not quite sturdy enough, if you are shooting long exposures then you are susceptable to minor camera shake (caused by things like wind, minor floor vibration caused by raffic etc and many other things) that you probably would notice but this will create a slight blur. I use a heavy manfrotto tri pod with the option of hanging my camera bag from a hook underneath to add extra weight and make sure that it is securely in place before shooting.

Length of exsposure extends the amount of time you are susceptable to the above so you might want to reduce the exposure time. also many images you may have seen may include multiple exposures or blending of images with different depths of field, have you tried any post processing like this?

hope there are some relevant things for you to consider.

Regards

[mikehirst]

Your technique sounds flawless, odviously your camera has a limited amount of pixels which isnt that important on the higher spec cameras but it is an entry level camera, I started with the 350D and the 18-55mm kit lens and I was always using a crazy amount of sharpening in photoshop but upon buying some L lens from canon I relised that I didnt have to sharpen the images as much so when you can afford to I would invest in the canon L lenses.

You also mentioned you focus one third of the way into the scene, there is certainly nothing wrong with this but if your manual focusing then you may have moved a dial accidentally. It is called the dioptric adjustment dial and is a dial at the side of the eye piece, I did this when I first began and when I would manual focus an image then it would be out of focus. To check if you have done this then look at the squares in the eyecup and if they appear out of focus then this is the problem.

http://www.dphotographer.co.uk/user/mikehirst

[JamieWillmott]

Do bare in mind that viewing an image at 100% is at a much higher level of scrutiny than an image printed in a magazine and is bound to look softer in comparison.

[hoakin1981]

Thanks very much to all for all the feedback. To be honest my tripod is not that great nor heavy in order to stay put in the wind, on the other hand my exposure times are relatively small therefore i do not believe this is the main issue even though this could very well be the problem sometimes. I really believe that an L series lens would make a ton of difference but i do not know anyone who has one in order to give it a try and bying one is not an option in the near future. I believe that only post-processing could be the solution to my problem. I read somewhere that the unsharp mask in PS usually corrects lack of sharpness in EOS 1000D shots. We'll see....