EOS 2000D Blurry pictures as compared to my old Samsung Galaxy S9 phone

[v3anders]

I just got the entry level 2000D in preparation for taking a photography class. I gave it a test drive. I see that the pictures are blurry and fuzzy compared to old phone, which has half the pixels. Is this normal? or do I have a defective camera?

[jrhoffman75]

Hi Valentin and Trevor. I was in the midst of composing a similar response to Trevor's when his came in. 
I wish you lived nearby so we could sit together and go over the various topics/settings. 
Based on your desire for landscape photography you need a camera and a sturdy tripod. Landscape photography is all about good depth of field since one generally wants foreground to distant horizon to be in focus. That is why the Landscape scene mode chooses f/8 to f/11. A faster lens with a larger max aperture doesn’t make any difference in that situation. Since the subject is not moving shutter speed isn’t critical. As a consequence lower ISOs can be used. With good hand holding techniques and a lens with image stabilization sometimes a tripod can be dispensed with. 

Your camera is a capable camera, but it is an entry level camera, meaning it lacks performance at the extremes. High ISO performance isn’t as good as a $6000 body. Fewer AF points, lower frames per second speed, poorer AF tracking capability. But, there are some very good AI enhanced noise reduction software tools available. The other items don’t impact landscape shooting, general travel photography or portrait photography. 
There is no reason your camera cannot produce very nice landscape shots. If you want large enlargements I will acknowledge that your current lens isn’t up to that task, but you can work up to that. 
My suggestion is to set the camera to Av mode, f/8, single center point focus and Auto ISO. The camera will balance ISO and shutter speed, picking a shutter speed fast enough to avoid motion blur while minimizing ISO. Go shoot a variety of situations.

[jrhoffman75]

Hi Valentin. Your answer to Ricky provided some good insight to me. Based on what you wrote I would classify your shooting as general travel rather than landscape.

Based on the spec sheet your cellphone lens is a 25mm full frame equivalent. That would be 18mm for your camera. To get same angle of view and depth of field you should keep your lens at the 18mm setting. I have nerve issues in my legs that sometimes affects my balance. I frequently use a monopod for shooting. Helps stabilize camera without being obtrusive. If you decide to keep the camera or get a different one I definitely recommend a lens with image stabilization. 

[v3anders]

I borrowed a lens with Image Stabilization (EF-S18-55mm f/3-5.6 IS II). Did not look to make much of a difference.

Pic 568 lens with IS, Tv 0.5, Av 5.6, ISO 6400, FL 18.0:

Pic 565 lens with no IS, Tv 0.5, Av 5.6, ISO 6400, FL 18.0:

Pic 756, Samsung Galaxy S9 phone Tv 1/10, Av 1.5, ISO 1000

All these pictures have been cropped at the focal point. You can see the whole picture in the Shared  Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1q7Gmb24qoacX-BdCjrM-IGNLYIKUilIb?usp=sharing

[v3anders]

Just noted that I did not have the Av as low as I could. So here is one (572) set to 3.5:

[Tronhard]

Looking at the photos in this and your following post, I recommend you look at the fence line.  The fence seems to be in focus and not the statue. Setting the Av value to 3.5 is only going to reduce your DoF even more, making getting exactly the right spot to focus on even more critical. 

What I suggest is trying a different subject with more contrast.  The images you took of the park and of the dog didn't have those challenges, so I suspect your statue is an unfortunate standard for choosing as a benchmark subject.

I suspect that the camera is not finding enough contrast in the face of the statue to get a decent lock.  The cell phone has no issue as it has a fairly massive DoF, and is likely focusing around the whole picture area.  Furthermore, looking at the face of the statue in the camera shots, it is over-exposed while that in the cell phone isn't.   This suggests that again, the readings for the camera are being taken off the fence, which has more the correct exposure.

There are three systemic variables here: the lens, the camera or the use.  It seems that changing the lens has little impact on the images, so it's down to the camera or how it is being used.

You managed to get access to a lens to test from your associate.  Would they let you try taking a couple of test shots with their camera (and their lens)?  Take the same subject, and then try something with more contrast - even is you take the shot of the path without the rabbit.

 What I hope to do is control both what is in focus and what is being metered more... Are you still using single point autofocus?  I recommend the following settings:

Make sure the camera is not using servo mode, this will confuse focus if you switch subject.

Under the 2nd Red Group, 3rd menu item, set metering mode to spot (see manual P115)
Using the AF selection Point button, very top right of the back of the camera, set it to the centre point only

Back at the menu again...
On the wrench group #3, menu item 1, Custom Functions:
On the selector at the top scroll to menu item #4 (Fn 8: Shutter/AE lock button) Ref manual P265
Set the value to 1. AE Lock/ AF.  the first value sets the half press of the shutter, the second the <*> on the back of the camera

What you have just done is set the camera up for single point back-button focus and metering.

To take a photo, what you do is point the centre of the camera exactly on the point that you want to be in focus and press the * button to lock in the focus precisely.

Then point the camera at some part of the image that has the right tonal value, and half-press the shutter button to lock that in.  (these tow may not be at the same place, as your subject might be very dark or very light and simply using one spot for focus and exposure settings you could get an over or under exposure reading if you just took the exposure off the point of focus).

Then recompose to place that subject where you want in the picture frame and then fully press the shutter to take the photo.  This method is used by a lot of experienced photographers and is supposed to make sure you have control over exactly the exposure, the subject in focus, and the composition.  It takes a wee while to get used to but once you do, you may find it super efficient and successful.  I have been using this for decades.

[Tronhard]

I went for a walk today (since it has actually stopped raining!) and took the following images with the 600D and the 18-55 IS STM, with IS on, using the picture style of Landscape.  Spot metering and exposure, not in servo mode).

All images reduced in size in Photoshop with minimal PP.  One thing they all have in common is that they all have some contrast where I was focusing.

32mm, f/5.6, 1/100sec, ISO-20035mm, f/7.1, 1/250sec, ISO-20040mm, f/7.1, 1/30sec, ISO-20055mm, f/9, 1/500sec, ISO-20023mm, f/7.1, 1/25sec, ISO-200

[jrhoffman75]

Hi Valentin. Not sure what you are trying to demonstrate here. IS isn’t a cure all. Your test shutter speed is much too slow. Your shutter speed was ½ second. IS can give you about a reliable 3 stop benefit. ½ - ¼ - ⅛ - 1/16. 1/16 would be too low for an 18mm focal length. You would want a minimum of 1/40 to hand hold that FL without motion blur. That is for typical hand holding. You stated you have shaky hands. That is going to require a higher speed. I have stability issues due to leg problems. I need to use a monopod or IS, but always try and have shutter speed twice my FL. 

[jrhoffman75]

Why do you want Av as low as possible? A wide aperture has a low depth of field and is generally used in portrait photography where one wants the subject to stand out from the surrounding. 

[v3anders]

Hi Trevor,

I did take pictures with my friend's camera last night, but I was not able to read the SD card with my computer. I used a different computer this morning and was able to read it. The quality of the picture was the same (pic 30003):

I took a picture with your recommended settings this morning, but it made the picture too dark (pic 590)

Compared with one that I took with my original settings (589):

or the phone

I also played with a tripod and delay 2 seconds dely.  This did not make much of a difference this morning, because there was more light.

[v3anders]

Sorry, just realized that the picture came out dark, because I had it in M mode instead of AV. It is much lighter in AV (pic 593)