I'm new to photography (been practicing actively for 7 months or so ) and have a Fuji xt-30 with the kit XC15-45mm lens and a Viltrox 56mm 1.4 lens. At first, I didn't notice any issues with the camera because I was brand new and didn't have a good bar for understanding my camera and how it works in general. But now that I've used it for portrait/people photography, general outdoor photography and interior photography to test out, I've noticed how much noise and lack of sharpness is impacting the overall quality of my photos.
First, I noticed the issues with the autofocus. I struggle a lot with portraits to get a sharp shot - and even now after attempting to change how I use autofocus (switching to manual, and trying different autofocus modes) I have never managed a clear crisp shot. For portraits, I've tried using the screen touch focus and selecting the eye or location I want to focus on when I get frustrated with auto but I find myself fiddling with the camera constantly on location to just get my photos to be clear. Afterwards when I review my photos I have noticed issues with clarity and noise. At first I thought it was just the viltrox but sadly, it wasn't. The viltrox has a weird swirly texture/noise to the photos and the xc15-45mm has a finer/grainer noise pattern - but they both are there. If you are entirely zoomed out of the photo, it's clear enough if you don't look that hard and isn't that apparent if it's a busy photo. But it lacks a depth and sharpness, and the noise especially is bad for portraits with face close ups and many smooth textures.
Overall, I am open to the possibility that it is user error (and I really hope it is). I also understand this is not necessary the best mirrorless camera out there and fairly "entry level" vs Fuji's other cameras. But I haven't been able to find an example of others with this issue yet with the xt-30 so I am wondering if it's an issue with mine only.
For some general info/questions I have:
- I shoot RAW only.
- It seems to be the case under both artificial light (with softboxes) and natural light conditions. The noise exists on a low ISO and high ISO's, so I don't believe it is that. I do find it is worse under less than ideal light conditions but even in beautiful light I find it giving me the same thing.
- Grain effect is always OFF on my camera
- I use lightroom to import my raw files and edit them. Could it be how lightroom imports the photos that gives them the grain/swirly effect? (I understand this doesn't have to do with the lack of focus ).
- I've studied several photos from photographers I know, online, etc and there just seems to be a clarity/sharpness that my photos lack. I had actually tested a canon Rebel (t7 I believe) for a while before I bought my Fuji and while I didn't end up liking the camera, the photos I took had no clarity issues at all. I remember them being very crisp! So with that comparison, I am even more stumped. Could it be that this camera sensor is just not that great?
Here are several photo examples edited and undedited I have taken (cropped to show the issues and respect people's privacy) with both lenses in both natural light and artificial light conditions. https://imgur.com/a/QTW1asO
I am still very new to photography and have so much to learn. Any help, advice, etc is greatly appreciated!