why does my camera (EOS REBEL XS) take blurry pictures

[plc4d]

why does my camera (EOS REBEL XS) TAKE BLURRY PICTURES?

[ebiggs1]

"I would really appreciate some help on this subject. I'm new to this and I'm finding this Camera to be very frustrating."

On a 300mm lens you need to have a SS that is higher than the reciprocal of 300, or 1/300.  Your camera probably does not have a 1/300 SS so set it to 1/500.  The next higher one.  However, this is the lowest practicable SS you should use.  1/1000 is even better.

Also, if you are using a SL2 you have a crop factor to deal with.  I.E., your 300mm lens appears to act like a 480mm lens does on a FF camera.  The same reciprocal applies. 480mm = 1/480 SS.  Again you don't have a SS of 480 so the next higher, again, is 1/500. And again, even more so in this case, 1/1000 is even a better choice.

Why is this so?  The real reason for this very general rule is "you"!  Most people can not hold a camera steady long enough to get a sharp picture as FL (focal length) increases.  It is why I believe you are getting blurry telephoto shots.  It is called camera motion or motion blur.

If you would post some samples or examples we can tell you for sure if this is the case.

[ebiggs1]

This shot was with a SS of 1/2000.

[Crazydoglady]

wow! Your photo is incredible. So I've changed my ss to 1/2000. Aperture is F8.0 ISO is 6400. Do I always need to shoot on M with these settings?

[kvbarkley]

No, you can use Tv mode and set the speed. The aperture and ISO will adjust to get a good exposure. I am assuming the image was taken *before* you increased the shutter speed, since it clearly (hah!) has motion blur.

Note, too, that the 75-300 is not a very good lens, so don't expect tack sharpness.

[wchettel]

I just saved that image to my desktop. I opened the photo with ACDSee and looked at the EXIF data. It shows a shutter speed of 1/8s which is WAY, WAY too slow!

[ebiggs1]

OK, Crazydoglady now we see what the problem is. It is motion blur.  Your settings were not half wrong they were all wrong!   A little humor OK it was  just a little buthelp is on the way.

You shot that picture with 300mm, f32, 1/8 SS and ISO 6400.  No setting was correct for that shot. No one can hold a 300mm lens steady at 1/8 SS.

"... I've changed my ss to 1/2000. Aperture is F8.0 ISO is 6400. Do I always need to shoot on M with these settings?"

No these settings may not be correct either. Here is what you do.  Set the mode to Av and fix your aperture to f8. Set your ISO at 1600, perhaps 3200 if needed. This will make the SL2 get the fastest SS it can for proper exposure.  If you are at 1600 ISO and you notice the SS is falling below 1/500, adjust the ISO up to 3200.  If you see the SS going too fast adjust the ISO down to 800.  These are what we call one stop adjustments. 800 to 1600 is one stop. 1600 to 3200 is also one stop.

Av mode is my most preferred way of shooting wildlife. A fixed ISO is also my preferred way. BTW, kido, almost never too never use f32. Also M mode isn't preferred or necessary.

I want you to go outside, nice day, set the camera to Av mode, f8, ISO 1600. One shot, center focus point only. Average WB (white balance).  Now shoot somethings, doesn't have to be animals. Anything!  a tree or rock or fence, etc. Our goal here is to get sharp photos. Come back and show me some sample of sharp shots. 

You don't have the best lens but it is a good lens.  We have a fellow on the forum that gets stunning results from the very same lens you have.  He may see this and post a sample or two. Now go out and shoot some great shots for me.

[Waddizzle]

"We have a fellow on the forum that gets stunning results from the very same lens you have.

Av mode is my most preferred way of shooting wildlife. A fixed ISO is also my preferred way. BTW, kido, almost never too never use f32. Also M mode isn't preferred or necessary."

He is shooting with a 75-300mm kit lens, not a 70-300mm.

The one issue with shooting in Av mode is that it is a good idea to disable "Safety Shift".  If not, the camera may override your exposure settings to get a proper exposure, if shooting conditions require it.

[ScottyP]

Set a higher f/number, like f/8 or f/11 if there is enough light to stop it down like that. It will give you more depth of field to work with. Then focus on the nearer face and recompose, or maybe you can even get away with letting the camera pick the AF points.

[Mindylee22]

How would I change the f/number? I don't see an option for that on my canon rebel xsi. I am getting blurry pictures on all setting except the TV setting. Shutter speed sounds extremely slow

[TCampbell]

The "f/number" is sometimes called the "f-stop" or "focal ratio".  On your camera, it's labeled "Av" for "Aperture value".  

The value is a ratio... specifically it's the ratio of the focal length of the lens (in millimeters) divided by the diameter of clear aperture (also in millimeters).  e.g. if you had a 50mm lens with a 25mm wide aperture, then that would be "f/2" because 25 divides into 50 twice.  If you had a 100mm lens and the aperture was still 25mm then that would be f/4... 25 divides into 100, four times.

The smaller the opening (relative to the focal length of the lens), the higher the ratio, the smaller the opening.  This is one of several factors that influence the range of distances at which a subject will appear to be more-or-less in acceptable focus.  

E.g. suppose I focus the camera for a subject which is 10' away.  It turns out things which are only 9' away or as far as 11' away might also appear to be focused.  That range is called the "depth of field".  

If we happen to be using a 50mm lens and f/4... that above example (focus at 10' get a depth of field from roughly 9' through 11') is what we'd get.  

BUT... if we increase the "f/number" (Av) to, say, f/11... then the depth of field increases to about 8' through 13.5'.   At f/16 it increaases even more... 7.3' to 15.7'.

Alas there is no free lunch.  Everything is a trade off.  In this case, the trade-off caused by decreasing the size of the aperture opening (and thus increases the depth of field) is that you also reduce how much light can enter the camera when the shutter is open and that means you'll either need to shoot at a slower shutter speed (possibly too slow for hand-held shots) -or- you may need to increase the ISO sensitivity of the camera (which increases the amount of "noise" visible in the image).  

This concept of balancing the ISO, shutter speed, and aperture size is all part of understanding "exposure" values.

The book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson might be especially helpful to you in understanding how to know what camera setting you might change to get the results you want.