Powershot SX740 HS photos not crisp

[stacijingram]

I'm shooting in auto mode, and it doesn't seem to matter if I'm near the subject or far away, zoomed in or zoomed out.  My photos are never crisp.  It's like I have a softening filter on, but I don't use filters.  How can I get my photos to be crisp again?  I've checked that nothing is on the lens.  The lighting doesn't make a difference. I've all but stopped using the camera because pictures are better on my phone.  I'd like to not have wasted so much money!

 

[rs-eos]

If you take images outside on a sunny day, do you find the same?

My guess is that when taking shots indoors like the one above, the camera may be choosing a slower shutter speed. If so, any movement on your part while taking the photo, or subjects that are moving while taking the photo will lead to blur.

Try putting the camera in Shutter Priority mode (Tv).  And set the shutter to something like 1/125 seconds or even 1/250 seconds.  Do you notice any difference?   However, the camera will need to compensate by most likely increasing ISO which will lead to more noise in the image.