A shootout from My Thoughts on Using E-P1. I'm new and starting to learn, so take it easy  .

First, I'm struggling with contrast/focus/sharpness (). With AF locked and fine tuning with MF, the pics still appear "soft". Not a great day to snap..hazy n cloudy. Focus on front top corner of block. Anything wrong?
f/11 iso400 1/125 AP mode 
http://e-p1.net/MGalleryItem.php?id=5087

Right off the bat I would say you are using a too small aperture. Due to lens diffraction, most experts agree you should avoid going past f/8 on 4/3 sensor cameras. For maximum sharpness you should stay as close as possible to the lens' 'sweet spot', which for most lenses is somewhere around f/4-f/5.6. This should also give you a good balance between contrast and dynamic range. What lens are you using?

Ok, that lens does indeed have a sweet spot between f/4-5.6. Here's a chart of how it resolves at different apertures. As you can see, f/11 is definitely not within the optimal range.
Being a wide angle lens, you get plenty of DOF even wide open, so there shouldn't be any need to stop it down that much, unless you're going for long exposures, in which case I'd personally much rather use an ND filter anyway.

Try to shoot in A-Mode and set aperture between 4 and 6.
Focus on something and shoot.
It should be sharp.

ISO200 f/4.0 AP-mode Focus on top end of bench. Looks like washed out colours on grass and not so sharp 

PB174227 by ghostivv, on Flickr

They seem alright , no ?

thanks. Should the sharpness be towards -ve or +ve. What ppl's use for "normal"? What about the colour? Both looks dull...no??

Next week I'll try with tripod to see whether faults lies on my style of holding. ATM all are handheld shots (thought at those shutter speeds shouldn't be a big difference).

Just a warning...coming up next week is problem in shadow noise . Stay with me pls 

@asterinex: what a gr8 pics on your flickr sig link. WOW!!

Warning!! go easy on sharpening!!!! Do not sharpen in Camera it should be the last thing done to an Image before saving.

@asterinex: what a gr8 pics on your flickr sig link. WOW!!

thx, all jpgs from E-p1, a lot of them with the kitlens and most of them without PP. All shot in A-
Mode. That's the only thing I know.
You can do the same with your cam.
Please note that these few pictures are the best out of thousands of others. Not every picture is good. Most of them aren't. I speak for myself now
The most important and sometimes most difficult job is to destuingish the good from the normal.

Quote from: ghostivv on November 18, 2011, 05:41:13 AM

@asterinex: what a gr8 pics on your flickr sig link. WOW!!

thx, all jpgs from E-p1, a lot of them with the kitlens and most of them without PP. All shot in A-
Mode. That's the only thing I know.
You can do the same with your cam.
Please note that these few pictures are the best out of thousands of others. Not every picture is good. Most of them aren't. I speak for myself now
The most important and sometimes most difficult job is to destuingish the good from the normal.

this is the best possible advice you could recieve imho, it is all about reviewing what you have shot and  developing an eye to glean from your whole production  the best... the most artistically solid , the most aesthetically powerful and real.... cut the wheat form the chaff

and when you have your best , .. process it in a program , remember  that all the great photographs down thru history were the result of a good shot fully relized by printing , in out time we may not print many of out images , but they still need tweaking  almost always
burning and dodging maybe a mild or severe crop a lighten..a darken.... a pop to contrast  dynamic range adjustments more color less color , no color

sometimes very little or nothing needs to be done to an image , sometimes an image you thought was absolute loss can be made into a thing of beauty and maening thru an intelligent manipulation of the image   a distillation of whats important in an image

a distillation ..... thats is a good word to remember , let me file that in my own mind.

your work is getting better , keep shooting and look and emulate the great image of the past to help you develop your eye, as you work you will naturally move in a certain direction dur to your influences and also what is uniquely inside you , internalize what makes a good image

 look learn emulate create ....your own vision will emerge the better for it