rpavich Loc: West Virginia

This is a pretty vague description of a problem...it would be best to have more specific info and an example shot.

Do you have motion blur?

Out of focus?

Missed focus point?


Need some details to give good advice without just guessing and wasting time.

wierdphotoguy Loc: the snow belt in Michigan

My advice to sdwilkins: take the camera off the tripod; if still blurry it is probably too low of a shutter speed. If it is better then it was probably image stabilization turned on with the camera on the tripod. If hand held shooting or increasing the shutter speed don't work, set the camera to automatic setting; if still fuzzy send it in for repair.

My advice to JR1: stop giving people bad advice like "stop using a tripod", or "read Ken Rockwell's website".

Perhaps sdwilkins is physically unable to hold a camera very long. Perhaps he (or she) is new to photography and doesn't know when it is appropriate to use a tripod. Perhaps the camera is faulty and won't take a good picture even in Lord Rockwell's hands.

Perhaps I would rather withold specific advice from a novice until they give enough data to base advice on. Perhaps the best advice I could give is pointing out to the OP the truly bad advice already posted. Perhaps I just like scr3wing with pompous people who aspire to be just like Ken Rockwell. Perhaps I am just a jerk who stays up until 4am so I can verbally challenge the mentally challenged. Any way you look at it, you still gave poor advice to a newbie and I rubbed your nose in it.

Good day.

JR1 Loc: Tavistock, Devon, UK

Ah now you make assumptions about a persons abilities, can I borrow your crystal ball some time

sarge69 Loc: Ft Myers, FL

Well, it's early and when I read your post I thought of my own adventures in focus.

I used auto focus (VR - IS) for really long shots on a tripod. I then did the same without the auto assistance. Without auto assistance was sharper.

I used auto focus and then manual. I achieved best focus with manual but only after realizing my habitual right eye focus was significantly worse than changing habit and using my left eye in which the cataract was removed. Focus improved significantly. (Now checking on removing cataract in right eye)

There is a lot of advice here. Try each suggestion until the result pleases you.

Sarge69

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Didn't you notice? Here on the 'hog, having hardly any information available to us doesn't hinder our ability to give an answer ;)

wierdphotoguy Loc: the snow belt in Michigan

Nice double entendre.

wierdphotoguy Loc: the snow belt in Michigan

I made no assumptions about anyone's abilities. I was speculating that there may be an underlying reason for the constant use of a tripod. Hence the word perhaps.

This is like talking to a child. You can bait me all you want, I am leaving this thread. The OP has not provided more information about the problem so perhaps you were accurate in your advice, and the tripod was the cause of the poor focus. Hope you wake up someday and realize what an idiot you appear to be on the Hog.

delbert Loc: newcastle upon tyne england

what camera are you using with what lens ?

djtravels Loc: Georgia boy now

As per your quote, "A picture is worth a thousand words..." Get the picture? :-D

winterrose Loc: Kyneton, Victoria, Australia

Dear Mr./Ms. (or whatever you are) wierdphotoguy.
I can't for the life of me fathom why you bothered to inflict your dribble not only on the OP but upon everyone else.
You have contributed precisely NOTHING to this thread and judging by your avatar which is not only blown out in the highlights but is a truly appalling example of composition I doubt if I would take even the time of day from you.
P.S. -wierd- Used by people that cannot correctly spell the word "weird."
Get your act together. Rob.

Rseale

Still shots? Moving? If moving, go to al servo (canon) focus. Also try spot focal points and set directly on high contrast points like eyes... Good luck.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

…and plenty of wrong and useless advice. Responders seem to be talking to each other rather than addressing the original post.

There are too many possible explanations for the OP's problem. Makes you wonder if he/she has gone elsewhere for help or lost the link to this forum.

Chinaman Loc: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Out of curiosity, I read the article. WOW! I must be the ultimate amateur! I do most of the things he suggested we shouldn't do.
I use a cheap (so cheap that I had to glue the head because it was going wonky), light tripod in broad day light and at night. I carry my equipment in an ordinary backpack (not a padded camera bag). I use a 6 year old dSLR and kit lenses with no IS. I dream of having better equipment. I have a UV filter on my lenses and I use a polariser on top of the UV filter. I use low ISO and don't have fast lenses. I am embarassed to shoot people in the streets. I avoid using flash synchronisation in daylight. I keep my equipment in very good condition and hang the camera infront of my chest. I don't get paid to take any pictures. I've never sold a single picture. I don't even have a web site or put my images on Flickr. This is the only photographic forum I am registered with. In my earlier days when I could afford to, I bought every photo magazine on sale and as many photo books as I could. (I still have most of those books and boxes of tear sheets from those magazines). I have been doing photography for 35 years.
Do I win the title of ULTIMATE AMATEUR?
I thought we can digress whilst waiting for the original poster to respond.

cockney greg Loc: London E17

Firstly, welcome to the hog. Check which mode you are focusing in, eg whether spot focus, centre focus, also continuous or single focus, lots of different factors come into it as you can see from the plentiful replies.

winterrose Loc: Kyneton, Victoria, Australia

You have nothing to apologize for.....enjoy your hobby like (most of) the rest of us. Rob.