Settings Correct on Canon Rebel T5?

[Chloe0317]

I have been using a Canon Rebel T5 recently & I am not sure if the settings are incorrect or if the blurriness is due to camera shake. Would someone be able to tell me just by looking at one of the pictures? I am new to this, so appreciate any help. Thanks!

[Waddizzle]

Sure.  Post a picture, or two.  Some folks around here have microscopes for eyeballs.

[Chloe0317]

I am probably doing it wrong, but we have it set to Portrait mode since that is the mode where we have the best luck. Sometimes it comes out crystal clear & other times it comes out like this:

[Waddizzle]

The entire photo has equally soft focus.  When that happens, it is usually caused by camera shake at the moment the shutter fired.  The shutter speed, 1/200, is right at the ragged edge of canceling out almost any camera shake, but still not quite fast enough.

[EDIT]  The shutter speed has been set by the flash, which automatically fired to compensate for the bright background.

[Chloe0317]

Thanks so much! We will look into getting a tripod then & experimenting with different settings.

[kvbarkley]

What lens do you have? Does it have IS? Is it on?

[Chloe0317]

We are using the one the camera came with. It does have Image Stabilization on.

[kvbarkley]

And which lens is that? The 18-55?

[Chloe0317]

Yes, it is the 18-55.

[Waddizzle]

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@Chloe0317 wrote:

We are using the one the camera came with. It does have Image Stabilization on.

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Here's one tip to always getting sharp photos.  Try to grab as much light [wide aperture = low f/stop value] as fast as you can [fast shutter speed], at the lowest ISO that is practical for the situation. 

With your T5, I would go as high as ISO 400 for closeup shots like this one, which is really pushing the envelope.  For big wide landscape shots of distant stuff, you can get away with ISO as high as 800, or even 1600.  Also, the Canon DPP software can perform some noise reduction, too.  Learn to use it, if you do not already.