Great camera - expensive lens - always blurry

Hey everyone, I own a Nikon D80 with the Nikkor 18-200mm 3.5-5.6 G ED DX lens.

The problem is that every single picture I take comes out soft and blurry no matter what light, aperture, focal length, etc I am shooting in.

I am a fairly experienced photographer and I know my camera well (meaning the problem is not that the autofocus has been turned to manual, VR mode is not off, etc.)

I was wondering if anyone had any insights into what the problem might be. Here is an example: - notice the elephant hair is blurry and so is the man in the foreground.

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/694/dsc0020s.jpg

Thanks!

Is the vr set to normal or active?
I've never figured out how to get exif data from posted pics so could you give us aperture and shutter speed, iso, whatever else might help?
To my eye, it appears the man behind and just in front of the elephant and the legs with the green hat are in sharpest focus so I'm thinking fairly shallow dof and do you know what your focal point was?

frog if you use firefox try this out. firefox extention for viewing exif

otherwise here is what I see.
Camera Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model: NIKON D80
Image Date: 2009:03:16 19:52:05
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 29.0mm (35mm equivalent: 43mm)
Exposure Time: 0.0016 s (1/640)
Aperture: f/5.0
ISO equiv: 400
White Balance: Auto
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual

OP - Smaller please.

EXIF:

[Image]
Make = NIKON CORPORATION
Model = NIKON D80
Orientation = top/left
X Resolution = 300
Y Resolution = 300
Resolution Unit = inch
Software = Ver.1.10
Date Time = 2009-03-16 19:52:05
YCbCr Positioning = co-sited
Exif IFD Pointer = Offset: 216

[Camera]
Exposure Time = 1/640"
F Number = F5
Exposure Program = Manual
ISO Speed Ratings = 400
Exif Version = Version 2.21
Date Time Original = 2009-03-16 19:52:05
Date Time Digitized = 2009-03-16 19:52:05
Components Configuration = YCbcr
Compressed Bits Per Pixel = 4
Exposure Bias Value = ±0EV
Max Aperture Value = F4
Metering Mode = Pattern
Light Source = unknown
Flash = Off
Focal Length = 29mm
Maker Note = 25402 Byte
User Comment =
Subsec Time = 0.60"
Subsec Time Original = 0.60"
Subsec Time Digitized = 0.60"
Flashpix Version = Version 1.0
Color Space = sRGB
Exif Image Width = 3872
Exif Image Height = 2592
Interoperability IFD Pointer = Offset: 26254
Sensing Method = One-chip color area sensor
File Source = DSC
Scene Type = A directly photographed image
CFA Pattern = [G,B],
[R,G]
Custom Rendered = Normal process
Exposure Mode = Manual exposure
White Balance = Auto white balance
Digital Zoom Ratio = 1x
Focal Length In 35mm Film = 43mm
Scene Capture Type = Normal
Gain Control = Low gain up
Contrast = Normal
Saturation = High saturation
Sharpness = Hard
Subject Distance Range = unknown

[Interoperability]
Interoperability Index = ExifR98
Interoperability Version = Version 1.0

[Thumbnail Info]
Compression = JPEG Compressed (Thumbnail)
X Resolution = 300
Y Resolution = 300
Resolution Unit = inch
JPEG Interchange Format = Offset: 26392
JPEG Interchange Format Length = Length: 9641
YCbCr Positioning = co-sited

[Thumbnail]
Thumbnail = 160 x 120

[MakerNote (Nikon)]
Makernote Version = 0210
ISO Speed Used = 400
Colour Mode = COLOR
Quality = FINE
White Balance = AUTO
Sharpening = MED.H
Focus Mode = AF-A
Flash Setting = NORMAL
Auto Flash Mode =
White Balance Bias Value = 0
White Balance Red, Blue Coefficients = 473/256, 343/256, 256/256, 256/256
000D = 00, 01, 06, 00
Exposure Diff = F3, 01, 0C, 00
ThumbOffset = 2738
Flash Compensation = 04, 01, 06, 00
ISO Speed Requested = 400
Photo corner coordinates = 0, 0, 3872, 2592
0017 = 00, 01, 06, 00
Flash Bracket Compensation Applied = 00, 01, 06, 00
AE Bracket Compensation Applied = 0EV
001B = 0, 3904, 2616, 3904, 2616, 0, 0
001D = 3370512
001E = 1
001F = 30, 31, 30, 30, 01, 01, 00, 00
Tone Compensation (Contrast) = NORMAL
Lens Type = Nikon G series Lens
Lens Min/Max Focal Length, Max Aperture = 180/10, 2000/10, 35/10, 56/10
Flash Used = Flash Not Used
Auto Focus Area = 00, 00, 00, 01
Bracketing & Shooting Mode = 1
008A = 2
008B = 40, 01, 0C, 00
Colour Mode = MODE3a
Lighting Type = NATURAL
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Hue Adjustmen = 0
Noise Reduction = OFF
0097 = 30, 32, 30, 38, 00, 00, 22, A1, 08, 00, 08, 00, 10, 00, 04, 04, 80, 00, 48, 00, 00, 00, 06, 01, 00, 10, 62, 04, 00, 00, 30, 04, 00, 00, 20, 03, 00, 00, 48, 02, 00, 00, 10, 09, 00, 00, 00, 04, 00, 00, 48, 04, 00, 00, 48, 0A, 40, 00, 20, 80, 00, 00, 02, 25, 00, 00, 11, 45, 00, 00, 8A, 00, 01, 00, A8, 00, 00, 00, 00, 08, 08, 08, A8, 56, 00, 00, 50, 04, 00, 00, 58, 20, 10, 00, 10, 22, 00, 00, 08, 22, 00, 00, 11, 0A, 00, 00, 55, 24, 00, 00, 48, 90, 00, 00, 42, 20, 00, 00, 40, 04, 00, 00, 12, 0A, 80, 00, 01, 20, 00, 00, 02, 12, 00, 08, 04, 10, 80, 00, 0A, 40, 00, 00, C4, 22, 80, 10, 00, 00, 00, 00, 14, 00, 00, 00, 48, 00, 00, 00, 10, 01, 00, 00, 22, 80, 02, 00, 28, 40, 08, 80, 80, 00, 00, 00, 40, 18, 02, 00, 40, 00, 00, 00, 85, 52, 00, 00, 00, 04, 20, 00, 25, 50, 00, 00, 20, 41, 01, 02, 10, 41, 00, 80, 61, 08, 00, 00, 84, 24, 40, 00, C0, 54, 00, 00, 01, 01, 01, 00, 01, 18, 00, 00, 46, 88, 00, 00, 00, 65, 00, 00, 42, 21, 00, 00, 10, 41, 00, 00, 80, 40, 00, 00, 02, 40, 00, 20, 00, 04, 00, 00, 40, 20, 00, 00, 05, 00, 00, 00, 21, 22, 00, 00, 01, 08, 00, 20, 24, 20, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 82, 40, 00, 00, 84, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 6D, E0, A6, BF, 2B, EA, FD, B8, 18, 24, 83, 33, 36, D9, 27, 2A, 85, 0C, 1E, 27, 03, F3, 34, 89, B0, E9, 7A, B1, 8C, 54, F5, 7B, 9D, 54, 92, 47, D9, 65, 68, 66, 4D, A7, 72, A5, E6, 73, A8, 48, B5, 2E, 0E, AA, B1, 35, A6, 1D, E1, C7, 6A, 24, 3D, 4E, 62, CA, 8C, 41, C2, 1E, C9, 4B, 98, 40, 7B, C0, 72, C3, 91, A8, 1E, D3, E4, 42, FE, 85, 62, 12, 15, 69, 10, 0C, 5B, FB, EE, 36, D0, 4E, FD, 4E, 76, 7F, 3A, 1A, 4C, 2C, A9, 27, 52, C8, 46, BE, 89, A5, 14, D8, EF, 57, 13, 22, 84, 39, 41, 9C, 4A, 4B, 9F, 46, 40, 82, 2F, 6C, 64, F9, EB, 2A, BE, 8E, DB, 63, 40, 7A, F7, CE, F8, 75, 45, 68, DE, A7, C3, 32, F4, 09, 71, 2C, 3A, 9B, 4F, 56, B0, 51, 5F, 99, 54, 08, 9B, 3A, 2E, 70, 09, F7, 30, EE, A7, DE, 68, 45, 75, F8, CE, F7, 72, 42, 65, D9, A0, BC, 2B, EB, FE, 66, 20, C7, 8D, A5, 46, 6D, 4A, 4A, 9C, B0, 39, 7C, 22, FF, 56, EE, D9, 15, A4, 88, BF, 47, 22, 8B, D5, A9, D0, 4C, 1B, 6C, AF, C4, 81, FD, B9, D4, 32, FF, FB, 4C, 0F, 5D, 68, 1B, 39, 21, 52, F8, 40, EC, 91, 18, A6, 9E, CF, 6D, 40, 76, 05, DD, 0A, 8D, 56, D5, 00, CE, ED, 66, 26, 3C, AB, 6A, 7E, E1, 99, A4, 27, B1, 37, 0E, B8, F5
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009A = 605/100, 605/100
009E = 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
00A2 = 4126167
00A3 = 0
Total Number of Shutter Releases for Camera = 4610
00A8 = 30, 31, 30, 31, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00
Image optimisation = VIVID
Saturation = ENHANCED
Digital Vari-Program =
00B0 = 30, 31, 30, 30, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00
00B1 = 0
00B3 =


TF

I can't see anything that looks critically sharp, either.

At f/5 you're probably not at the sharpest aperture for that lens.
There's significant chromatic aberration still present at the edges.
That might go away by stopping down to f/8 maybe.
It might contribute to the apparent unsharpness.

Do you have a filter in front of the lens?
Perhaps a UV filter that you're using to protect the front of it?
Looks like that may be blurring the image slightly, particularly on the right.
It's also evident on the left, where the man's black hat is in front of the white car.

It would have been good to link to the full size, rather than embedding it, but thanks for the full image, it's made looking for (un)sharpness easier.


I have to admit I'm sceptical about these long range (11x) zoom lenses, finding even my 100-400 zoom poor in comparison to the 3x range of the 24-70 or 70-200 f/2.8 zooms.

Those previous clips were from the raw image.
These are after processing up the image in Lightroom.

Blue chromatic aberration: 26
Red chromatic aberration: -7
Defringe: all edges
Sharpening: 59
Sharpen radius: 1
Sharpen detail: 32

DSLR images usually need some sharpening, unless you set in-camera adjustments for colour and sharpening.
Personally I prefer to leave the camera settings neutral, shoot in RAW, and adjust in Lightroom.

The focus mode you were using AF-A does not work well under those lighting conditions. See page 29 in your manual. Unless you have a bad copy of the lens you should be able to sharp images with this lens. On the long end the image degrades a little but at 29 mm and F 5 you should have a sharp picture. I have never found the AF-A (or equivalent) setting to work that well. I would also set all of the enhancement settings vivid, mode llla etc. back to factory settings until you find the problem as I noticed the elephants ear is a little muddy in appearance and this could be causing some loss of sharpness. You focus point was slightly behind and below the ear----not a good area to focus on. This was taken with an 18-200 mm @ 135 mm F 10 and AF-S---yours should be sharper at 29 mm. http://gallery.photographyreview.com...&ppuser=249118