Noob in need of help

[wilding81]

Hello people, I'm newish to all this camera stuff, but anyway i just bought a Canon 1100d my first dslr and i think its excellent, but i have a problem, i like to use it on manual mode but not all of my pictures are coming out sharp and crisp, if looking at the full picture on screen it looks fine but when you zoom in to full picture size it seems to have a slight blurr and the edges arnt crisp and detailed, does anyone know what i might be doing wrong??

I usually have the camera set to f5/6, shutter speed 1/125 sometimes with flash depending on light and the iso is on auto.

Is it the iso on auto where I'm going wrong

Any help apprrciated

Thanks Kev

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[andnowimbroke]

Everything sounds okay. I'm assuming you're using the lens that came with the camera, and that you're taking pictures of objects that are not in motion. To make sure it isn't the "operator ", try taking a picture on a tripod or tabletop. Find an inanimate object with some detail to shoot. Set the camera to f8 or so on Av and the ISO to 200. One shot instead of servo and the 10 sec timer would be good to use. Press the shutter button and stay still as it fires a shot after the yellow timer light counts down. If there is nothing in that picture that is sharp, chances are the camera/lens combo are not calibrated together and need to be sent off to Canon. The Canon 50D, 7D, 5DII, 5DIII, and most of the newer 1-series have Autofocus adjustment controls in the camera menu allowing you to correct for this.

[wilding81]

Thanks for the reply, I did forget to mention that I have had some nice clean crisp pictures from the camera, so chances are its me and how I'm using it. The photos I'm taking are just around the house baby etc.
Yes I'm currently using the lens that came with the camera, but i also bought a 55-200mm canon lens that I havnt used yet, until I master it a little more.


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[andnowimbroke]

A good solid foundation and grip are key ingredients to photography. Don't leave your elbows flinging out like a spring chicken. I'll try and remember where I saw pros teaching this stuff. Faster shutter speeds help offset caffeine intake as well

[ChadS]

@kickasskev You provided a shutter speed of 1/125 for what focal length lens? If you're "pixel peeping" the rule of thumb of 1 / (effective focal length) is not fast enough. Try 1/1000 or faster and see if your edges are sharp (crank the ISO if necessary). If they are it's just a matter of learning to hold the camera rigidly. Ever shoot a rifle? Breathe right before you shoot and just before you pull the trigger let your entire body relax as one block into the shot. Of course, proper grip and 2-hand support help - as can leaning your hip against something.

[ham]

The reasons you could get blur and how to solve them:

Camera Blur - Faster Shutter Speed (at the expense of ISO or Aperture), better positioning, or mounting the camera to a tripod.
Object Blur - Faster Shutter Speed (at the expense of ISO or Aperture), track the moving object.
Out of focus - Focus more accurately, Increase F-stop (smaller aperture, at the expense of ISO or Shutter Speed).

[Busted Knuckles]

If you are pixel peeking w/ the kit lens, you will see a lack of sharpness and chromatic aberration (CA - blue on one side and red on the other of a high contrast edge) on white against black lines, etc. The canon DPP software can correct most of this if you shoot in raw.

The kit lens are sharp in the middle, the edges get "soft", particularly wide open.

Holding the camera - when moving up from "point and shoot" - is important. Generally, hold the weight of the lens/camera in your left hand with the thumb and index finger able to adjust the zoom/focus rings, typically the bottom of your left hand is either right next to camera (long lens) or the base of the camera - Note - the weight is on the back/bottom of the palm of your left hand - very little weight on your index finger/thumb. This is particularly important w/ telephotos and heavy zooms as the camera is the lighter than the lens.

This leaves your right hand to have a light grip on the camera, and able to move among all the button w/o having to change the weight bearing grip. The left hand is the suspension for the camera and the right hand drives/steers all the buttons. If you find your right hand getting tired or cramping, you are holding too much of the camera weight w/ your right hand.

As Andnowimbroke, mentioned, elbows in and you will feel immediately the added support to the camera. Test this by just standing w/ your camera gripped as I described and with elbows out and in. With elbows in, your arms transmit the weight to your body and then legs vs. your arms trying to old up the camera in a cantilever fashion.

Happy shooting.

[andnowimbroke]

I also pull the camera back against my head for another support point. Rolling your finger across the shutter button rather than pushing down with a jarring motion helps too.

[HDNitehawk]

@Kickasskev
Welcome to the forums and welcome to the DSLR world.

What I see you are doing wrong is this "I usually have my camera set". There is no setting that would be "right" in every situation. Getting a good sharp properly exposed pictures is a juggling act of choosing the right aperture, shutter speed and ISO. The three always add up to give you the exposure of your picture, one has to go up for one to go down. To get a faster shutter speed you have to have a wider aperture setting or a higher ISO.

If ISO is to high it can affect your IQ. It is seen in your picture as noise at the higher ISO's. In general I try to keep my ISO below 800 unless I just have to go higher.

Aperture can affect your sharpness and IQ. Many lenses if they are wide open will not produce the best picture. At 5.6 you should be good with your lens, stay between 5.6 to 11 and for many lenses you would be ok. Wide open it can affect your IQ and if you get to high it can do the same. At F/13 with some lenses it will start being noticeable when you are pixel peeping. Also aperture controls your depth of field. The depth of field is the amount of area that is in focus, the narrower the aperture the deeper the depth of field is. Wider lenses have a deeper depth of field than longer lenses do at the same aperture. If you are pixel peeping and do not fully understand this affect, you could miss interpret it as the picture not being sharp.

Shutter Speed is probably your culprit. One issue is camera shake, the lower the shutter speed the harder it is to take a sharp picture because of your hand movement. The faster the speed it is easier. Also moving objects require faster shutter speeds, this is true with and movement whether it is from the wind, walking, running or whatever.

Others talked about technique, and it is important as well. Shutter Speed can help overcome shaky hand holding, but because of lighting conditions much of the time it is hard to rely on the crutch.

Overall there is a reason you select an aperture setting, you either want much of your photo in focus or you are trying to get a certain amount of bokeh in the background. You should be trying to keep your ISO reasonable so as to not get noise. You should be picking a shutter speed fast enough to either stop your action, or slow enough to blur your action depending on what you want. Most of the time you have decide what you will settle with on each one to get a properly exposed picture.

[wilding81]

Wow, thanks for all the replys peolpe, I got a lot to cover and play around with.
I like to keep the iso as low as possible as from what I've been told it gives you grainy er pictures the higher its set, that's why i normally set it to auto, I should really have it on manual and learn.
Also a lot of you mention pixel peeping, I have no idea what this is??
I think from what I've read here I should now just go and have a play around.
One more question if use's don't mind

Is it more difficult to get good images at night in the home? or is it just the same as day time, just need to adjust the camera accordingly?, because the only real time i have to play around at the moment is at night and I don't know if I'm starting to learn the hard way or I should just wait and start with day time first?

Thanks one again to all

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