Why are SOME of my pictures not crisp? Could it be a damaged lens or camera?

[StampMasterMist]

I have been struggling to get all of my pictures crisp! I will find some that are perfect and they excite me!!! But then I find something like these and cannot figure out the issue. Even in super sunny (with a hood) light I will get slightly blurry photos at times. I literally have held my breath.... I use the viewfinder and usually shoot in M mode. I see it happen with both my short and my zoom lens... so I am wondering if it would be something in the camera itself causing it? I can literally focus crystal clear on their eyes and it seems like something else comes out clear instead, like it shifts, regardless how gentle I am. I am so frustrated by this...  any respectful suggestions are appreciated. I have researched and tried many things.... and just want ALL my pictures clear!!! I use a T3i, and the IS is always on on my lens. I don't care if I manual focus or auto focus (usually when I need to go real high or real low, or have a large group)... and to be honest, manual focus gives me clearer shots of what I want. Auto focus tends to be a joke at focusing on what I want. LOL If I change the settings for a brighter picture, it doesn't seem to matter, and I end up with a stark bright capture..... thank you in advance for you help.

😄

[ScottyP]

Hi,

You dont tell tell us all your settings (shutter speed, aperture and ISO). Generally though:

Shutter speed. My first guess might be your shutter speed isn't fast enough. IS stabilizes camera shake by a few stops but not subject motion blur. Even though your person is sitting "still" for you, he is still not rock steady. You need about 1/60th at the slowest and 1/100th is better for subject motion freezing if you can get it.  

Focus point selection.  Equally likely is that you might be letting the camera choose which AF point(s) to use instead of picking one yourself.  This could be why you get better results with manual focus.  In AF try toggling through the AF point selection and select the center point only.  Place that point over your subject's closest eye to the camera. That should be good focus for a portrait.  If you prefer not to have the eye dead center in the shot just frame a little loosely so you can crop to reframe in post.  

Don't get in the habit of doing "focus and recompose" as it will fail you when you need critical focus at large aperture.  The little shift can be enough to foul the focus. 

ISO.  I had a T3i and to me it was only good up to about ISO 400 at most. I preferred to stay at ISO 100 or ISO 200 if possible.  (Cue the comments on how this is too conservative, that a 5x7 print looks great at higher ISO than what looks good on a 30" computer monitor, or that I am deficient in my post processing skills or tools).  High ISO not only adds noise and grain, which is easy to deal with.  It also reduces the amount of fine detail you have in the image. Then, when you add noise reduction to tackle the grain it does so at the cost of removing even more detail.  A newer crop camera or a full frame camera gives more high ISO image quality which is the main reason I upgraded. 

Shoot in RAW but still try to get it as close to right in camera as you can.  Boosting exposure in in post can hurt the image, but you get much more freedom to do so in RAW than in JPG.  Likewise adjusting white balance, which you can do with no limits in RAW but which doesn't work beyond a certain limit on a JPG. 

[Waddizzle]

I think your shutter speed is low, 1/180.  That's the ragged edge of freezing subject motion and camera motion.  Some will say it is sufficient, which it is but just barely.  I like to get it as high as possible, but the maximum aperture of your lens [EF-S 55-250mm] is what is limiting you on that front.

You manually focused the lens.  Did you use Live View or the viewfinder?  Do you wear glasses or contacts?  Your viewfinder has a diopter adjustment, to allow to adjust the camera to your particular eyesight.  However, with digital cameras the best way to manually focus is with a magnified Live View.  And for that, you usually need a tripod. 

Autofocusing isn't a perfect technology.  I would suggest that you do not let the camera select AF points, because it will get it wrong 90% of the time.  Your camera allows you to configure it so that it will always use an AF point that you have pre-selected.  I suggest selecting the center AF point.  I suggest One Shot mode, too. 

The AF system may focus a little in front, or in back, of your target, but the target will be witin the range of acceptable fcous.  If you focus on your subject 100 times, then the average focus distance will be your selected area.  Better lenses have less variation focusing in on the desired subject.  I suggest giving AF another try, but this time manually select the center AF point.

[ScottyP]

Nice shot and nice background blur by the way. Some fill light from the pop up flash would be great in a backlit shot like this. A collapsible reflector works great too, and the color of the light will/may match the scene better than the electronic flash does.

[ebiggs1]

StampMasterMist,

That is a great shot first of all.  Second and  I don't want to sound abrupt but you really need to learn photography and how your gear works.

It usually isn't a good idea to jump around to differing settings to correct a problem that does have a simple solution.  The more variables you add the more difficult it will become.

First off reset the camera. Clear all settings in the Tools menu.  Set the Rebel to 'P' mode. The lens on AF using the AF/MF switch on the lens. Set the ISO to 400 or Auto, preferably fix it instead of auto. Set the WB to daylight.

Now go outside on a bright daylight afternoon and try a shot of a subject around 25-30 feet away. A stationary one!  Is it sharp?  Try all your lenses this way. Do this and come back. Ignore other advice until we confirm this fact.

Do you post process?  Lens correction is very important and should be applied to each photo.

BTW, for a shot like you displayed and you used the standard kit ef-s 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 is stm, 1/60 SS is adequate.  If it was the longer kit lens, 1/180 most likely isn't.