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.

[Waddizzle]

---

@kamiller12 wrote:

I have a Rebel T5i with a Canon 18-135 mm zoom lens and a Canon 1.8 50 mm prime lens. I usually use the zoom lens, but for the above picture, I used the 50 mm lens.

The aperture of that pic was 2.0 and the shutter was 1/4000(!). Is 2.0 too wide for this kind of subject matter? I thought their heads were close enough to the same plane... I had my camera set to One Shot and I aim the center for one of the subject's eyes and recompose. I have AF point selection set to Manual selection with the center chosen. Could AF Tracking be causing this? I thought that if I had One Shot selected that it would not track. Maybe I have a fundamental misunderstaning about how the auto-focus settings work, or how they work together. I don't understand if I aim for the eyes how the grass in front of the subject could get the most focus. My subjects didn't move that much. Did I just miss when I aimed for the eyes?

I will try shooting more in P mode more to see what the camera does. That's a good idea. 🙂

---

Shooting in P mode will teach you a lot, provided you have a basic understanding of the "Exposure Triangle".  If not, then do a web search for that phrase.  You'll be up to speed in 5-10 minutes. 

You could also use "Av" mode, where you dial in a constant aperture, and the camera determines shutter speed.  Always try to use the lowest ISO possible, one that keep your shutter speeds above 1/200 of a second for still shots.  Determine an aperture setting based upon your distance from the subjects.  If in doubt, just dial in f/8, and shoot away.

Turn off AF tracking, and use just "One Shot" until you get a better feel for exposure settings and focusing.  Try to aim for the eyes for portraits.  Don't forget that you can place the center focus point on the eyes, lock focus, and then re-adjust the aim to get the shot you want, and then fully depress the shutter button.

[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.

[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]

---

@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?

---

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]

---

@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.

---

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!