I have a Nikon D5100 DSLR with a 18-55mm lens and a 55-300mm lens. I'm shooting with a tripod (and remote) over a table top where I've arranged flowers and other miscellaneous things, using mostly the 18-55mm lens. I photograph outdoors on overcast days.
After editing, I'm still not happy with the sharpness of my images. Is it the camera? The lens? Is there something else that I can do to improve my images? I want to be able to print them out to at least 16x20 inch size.
I shot in aperture priority and played around with adjusting aperture. I do think the stopped down ones gave the best quality (about F/4). I shoot in Raw.
I know I don't have high end equipment, and I'm hesitant to pour a ton of money into this, but can anyone share any suggestions to make my images better? Am I using the wrong lens? Is there a better one that I could buy for what I'm trying to do? Thank you so much!! 
Answer
It's not you, it's the lens.
The kit lens is extremely soft wide open and remains noticeably soft until F/6.3 at least. Around F/8, it gives better results but never gets tack-sharp. Stopping down further only goes so far since you will already pass the diffraction limit at F/13.
For this type of work, it is best to get a macro lens which is designed to give uniform sharpness and little distortion. Nikon makes a few and so do third-party makers like Sigma and Tokina. Considering that you are shooting from a tripod, you can control framing and do not need a particularly bright lens, only one which is sharp. There are Nikkor 40mm and 60mm macro lens which Nikon calls Micro and are worth considering. Both these are F/2.8 lenses and will give very sharp results between F/4 and F/5.6.
Keep using the tripod, this is essential for getting maximum sharpness. Use a low ISO such as 100 to 400 to get the cleanest images and good dynamic range. Make sure your subjects are still. So shield them from the wind as much as possible.
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