problems with blur

[kamiller12]

Hi,

I am an amateur who wants to take nice photos of families and friends. I've had my Canon Rebel about a year. I have been having issues lately where many of my images are not in sharp focus. It just seems to be hit or miss. I don't remember having this problem as much when I first started taking pictures with my camera.

So, nowadays, all seems well when a review the photos in the viewfinder, on the camera but when I load them onto my computer and reveiw them, I am disappointed as many of them are not in sharp focus. It is frustrating to me and I've lost all confidence that I can reliably take any photos. I mostly use AV mode and use a wide aperture and let the camera choose the shutter speed.

Here is an example of a photo that turned out slightly blurry. What is causing the blur? I am handholding and the shutter speed is fast. I have aimed for someone's eye, probably the older child, press the shutter halfway and recompose... Thanks for any advice anyone might have for me.

[ebiggs1]

"Is 2.0 too wide for this kind of subject matter?"

IMO, yes it is.  That shot doesn't require any special attention at all.  As a matter of fact it is the standard example of the "Sunny 16 Rule".  Remember, on a Sunny day, f16 @ 1/100 with ISO set to 100.  Or just use "P" mode and forget it.  You do know the P stands for Professional?   Like I offered above sometimes the camera is smarter than the photographer.  Been taught that many times! 

OK, this statement is somewhat misleading ....

"Near" refers to the minimum distance from the camera where focus is accepted as nominally sharp.  Likewise, "Far" refers to the maximum distance from the camera where focus is accepted as nominally sharp."

I'll tell you why.  There is only one plane from the film surface or the sensor in this case that is in perfect focus.  Everything to the front or back of that plane gets increasingly out of focus, OOF.  There is no line where it is in focus and than OOF.  It is a gradual thing.  Some people accept more OOF than others.

One shot focuses when you 1/2 way press the shutter button.  It stays there unless you release it.  If I were you I would go into the menu and turn off all the focus points except the center one.  Don't leave any of them active or guess what?  They will do their thing and try to focus.

[kvbarkley]

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@ScottyP wrote:

Yes. Don't try to use big apertures for group shots. Hard to line up faces to all be in focus in a shallow DOF. 

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This is what the A-DEP mode was for.

Hey, wait a minute! My T6S doesn't have an A-DEP mode! I guess Canon finally realized that no one ever used it.

[kamiller12]

Thanks for all of your feedback and advice so much.

I was just looking at some of my photos in Preview on my Mac, and I noticed in the Exif data that it says my Focus Mode is set to Al Servo AF when in actuality I had my camera set to One Shot. Why would this be happening? That could explain why sneakers are in focus when I am aiming for the eyes. But then, why would it be using Al Servo when I have it set to One Shot?

[Waddizzle]

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@kamiller12 wrote:

Thanks for all of your feedback and advice so much.

I was just looking at some of my photos in Preview on my Mac, and I noticed in the Exif data that it says my Focus Mode is set to Al Servo AF when in actuality I had my camera set to One Shot. Why would this be happening? That could explain why sneakers are in focus when I am aiming for the eyes. But then, why would it be using Al Servo when I have it set to One Shot?

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I dunno what could have happened.  I find it unlikely that EXIF data is reporting incorrect settings at the time the shots were taken.  The sub-applicaiton that gathers the information is not smart enough.  All that is knows how to do is collect chicken eggs from a dynamic list of locations.  It doesn't know, care, or even understand what color the eggs are.

"One shot focuses when you 1/2 way press the shutter button.  It stays there unless you release it.  If I were you I would go into the menu and turn off all the focus points except the center one.  Don't leave any of them active or guess what?  They will do their thing and try to focus."

When you first depressed the shutter, if the center focus point was initially between his legs, or on his shoe, focus would lock there, and will stay there, unless your recompose the focus to the face, preferably the eyes.

[ebiggs1]

"...  recompose the focus to the face, preferably the eyes."

In a snap like that one any focus point on the face would be good. The eye is too small to make any significant difference.  "Focus on the eye" has become a inner web catch phrase.  Use it when it makes the photo best and forget it when it doesn't.

[jrhoffman75]

Perhaps you are confusing One-Shot with Single Shot? It's easy to do. 

[kamiller12]

Nope, I have "One-Shot AF" selected, and I always leave my camera on Continuous Shooting mode. I am confused as to why the Exif data says the AF Focus is set to "Al Servo AF." Maybe there is another setting that overrides my "One-Shot" selection? I want to figure this out.

[Waddizzle]

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@kamiller12 wrote:

Nope, I have "One-Shot AF" selected, and I always leave my camera on Continuous Shooting mode. I am confused as to why the Exif data says the AF Focus is set to "Al Servo AF." Maybe there is another setting that overrides my "One-Shot" selection? I want to figure this out.

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Are you using one of the "Basic" shooting modes, or one of the "Creative" shooting modes? 

The Creative modes [P, Tv, Av, M, B] allow you to set your own camera settings, but the Basic modes can override many of your custom settings, or not permit you to make certain adjustments, at all.

[kvbarkley]

Use DPP to look at the exif data to verify the correct mode. The focus modes would be pretty mfg specific and Apple or even the mighty EXIFTool might get confused.

[kamiller12]

You're right. I downloaded DPP and the Exif data does say "One-Shot." Thanks!