TexasSky Loc: Houston, TX

I’m attaching two pictures I took yesterday. They were both shot on Shutter Priority, Auto White Balance, f29, 1/40, and ISO 100. The first one is at 55 mm and the second one is at 53 mm. In my eye, the first one is out of focus, where the second one is in focus. I don’t know if I’m using the wrong settings, or if I just have a shaky hand and need to have a camera with good stabilization.

I’m going to get a better camera, specifically with a higher megapixel rating. I currently have a Canon EOS Rebel XT (with 8 megapixels), with a EFS 18-55 mm 0.28m.0.9 ft lens, and also EF 75-300 mm 1:4-5.6 lens. Talking to the people at Houston Camera Exchange (one of the largest camera stores in Houston), they said I really should stay with Canon, since I have the lens. However, it seems that the Nikon is better rated for the stabilization quality.

Any comments on what I'm doing wrong would be appreciated.

Out of Focus


In Focus

donrent Loc: Punta Gorda , Fl

My Gott! A camera store giving honest advice ! Embrace them ! The first picture being out of focus is not the camera fault... The second picture is spot on... Couldn't ask for better so THAT tells you there is nothing wrong with your camera... The secret to good picture taking is to learn your camera - Canon OR Nikon..........

TexasSky Loc: Houston, TX

Thanks...I guess I just need to practice being more steady?

PhotoArtsLA Loc: Boynton Beach

The exposure settings look quite a bit off. That looks like a bright, clear, sunlit day. The exposure mentioned is quite strange for that condition.

The slow shutter speed caused the dog to have motion blur in the first image. In bright daylight, you could be using 1/1000th of a second and freeze just about any animal behavior, even (mostly) the wings of a hummingbird.

What's worse, the oddball f/stop of f/29... I suspect this is the limit of the camera to display f/stops, as, with 1/40th of a second, even f/32 would be overexposed for ISO 100 (I just checked my sunny day to be sure, though 30+ years as a Director of Photography in the movies was screaming at me.)

When the aperture of a lens gets so tiny, the performance of the lens suffers. Usually, 2-3 stops from wide open will show optimum performance with most lenses.

In short, use shutter priority, and choose a shutter speed which stops down the lens 2-3 stops. You will get optimum performance (and motion stopping fast shutter speeds) this way.

This will also cure underskilled camera technique, for the most part, but there is also no substitute for practice, practice, practice.

donrent Loc: Punta Gorda , Fl

"Thanks...I guess I just need to practice being more steady?
"
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We all do !!! You will never stop learning... I dropped out of photography many years ago and only recently came back into a new world.......

silver Loc: Santa Monica Ca.

What nonsense the camera store is selling you. You have a good camera, you just have to learn how to use it. Of course the camera store will tell you that you need a "better camera" because they want to make more money off of you, they will not tell you that you need a better technique. If your images are blurry you are making several mistakes. You are hand holding and thats not a bad thing but you have to be careful and very still and focused and you have to be very careful when you press the shutter release button on the camera, press gently and dont move the camera when you press the button. More megapixels will not give you a better image, learning the proper ways to use a camera will. You should be using the camera on manual settings because this gives you much more control over your images and you should also consider getting a good tripod. Image stabilization is ok but it is a crutch to lean on. learn how to properly hold a camera and image stabilization will not be necessary. I think that your problem is technique rather then equipment. Remember, a camera goes not make you a good image maker, its that big hard thing with hair on it that rests on your shoulders that does that. If you have a lot of money to throw away by all means give it to that camera store. A camera store is there to make money and I personally think that they are not really being honest with you. One other thing, reading your post you mention a shutter speed of a 40th of a second, that is much to slow for hand holding a camera. You are letting the camera do the settings for you, big mistake. learn how to use your camera on manual settings and then you will be in control, not the camera. You have to improve your technique.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Here is the deal.

You are using the wrong settings (really the camera is) and so they are making you susceptible to camera shake (both shots have it.)

As LA said...1/40 is TOO SLOW to avoid shake.

You need to have AT LEAST 1/250 minimum of a shutter speed to avoid shake; preferably more.

Here are some settings that you can use as a baseline in conditions like your pictures show:

1/500 shutter speed

f/8

ISO 100.


There are other settings that work but that's a starting point.


Your camera and lens are fine...it's just a technique issue.

TexasSky Loc: Houston, TX

Thanks Silver. I hear what you are saying. As far as the new camera goes, the one I have is only 8 megapixels, and it seems that when I enlarge, or crop, it becomes grainy. Is that technique, or lack of a higher pixel count?

silver Loc: Santa Monica Ca.

Most probably your technique for processing your images is faulty. An 8 mp camera should have files that can easily enlarge to 8x10 or 11x14 or a little larger. I dont know what program you are using to process your images and I also dont know how large you are going. The biggest mistake that people make is that they shoot with the idea that if they dont have the image they like they can crop into the image and enlarge the crop and have a good quality image. The correct way is to shoot with the intention of printing the whole frame that is captured without any cropping. The idea that any image can be cropped down and enlarged only creates technical problems that are hard to correct and it also makes you very lazy. Shooting so you dont have to crop makes you work differently. The first thing that it does is it slows you down and the second thing it does is it makes you think differently when you shoot. Learning this is very important and this will improve your image making. Dont be in a hurry, slow down and really see what you have in the frame of your viewfinder. Look at all 4 corners of the viewfinder before you shoot the image, really look at what you are doing. There is nothing wrong with up grading equipment if you really feel a need for it and if you can afford the price but the camera does not make the good image, the camera is just a tool.

Ugly Jake Loc: Sub-Rural Vermont

Texas, please listen to LA Arts - he is the BEST to learn from on this site. What Silver says is true, but doesn't really apply here - learn from LA - it's the slow shutter speed, not anti-shake or pixellation.

Also, remember that the auto-focus in bright light uses contrast to focus - with a light-colored dog on light-colored sand, it probably was working very hard to find enough contrast to lock on - did you hear it moving?
I'll have to disagree with Silver about hand-holding - my eagle shot(Though not great) was hand-held at 1/15th of a second, with 100MM zoom, too.

http://static.uglyhedgehog.com/upload/2011/12/5/thumb-1323131910569-eagle.jpg

Keep practicing - it can be done! (and listen to LA)

silver Loc: Santa Monica Ca.

Hello, I just have to respond to your post. First of all I did a previous post about not using a slow shutter speed and a small F stop and I recommended to learn how to use manual settings, I guess that you did not see that. As far as auto focus goes it means nothing if you cant hold your camera steady and in the examples shown with the explanation offered as to shutter speed and F stop settings it is quite obvious that the problem with both photos was unsteady holding of the camera. I am so happy that you can hand hold a camera and make an exposure at 1/15 of a second but be real, how many beginners can do this? Some very advanced photographers cant so this. Its nice to brag about hand holding but its not for every person. People come here to learn how to do photographic techniques and most are beginners or maybe they have some experience at best. You do them no favors with your bragging about how good you are at hand holding. Instead you should be talking about proper camera techniques and ideas. One last thing, by your admission your eagle shot was not great, your words, and rather then suggesting not great to people you should be showing them how to be great. The problem with these photo sites is that there are some people that know it all and they always make the most noise. I do not know everything but I know enough to teach someone how to improve there photographic techniques.

Ugly Jake Loc: Sub-Rural Vermont

It wasn't bragging - just pointing out that it's possible - you said it wasn't.
So, I'm here to makee learnee - how can you tell it's camera shake causing the blurriness?It's not obvious to me.

silver Loc: Santa Monica Ca.

Hello, I never said that it was not possible to hand hold, I said that it takes practice and not everybody is steady enough to do it. I also said that theres nothing wrong with hand holding if you can do it. I just think that its a mistake to tell people that a 300mm lens is easy to hand hold or a 200mm lens. There are some things that are just not the greatest ideas for a person beginning. Good habits from the beginning are important. From the stated shutter speed and F stop it is very obvious that the problem is not with the camera, its the technique.

Weddingguy Loc: British Columbia - Canada

"Thanks Silver. I hear what you are saying. As far as the new camera goes, the one I have is only 8 megapixels, and it seems that when I enlarge, or crop, it becomes grainy. Is that technique, or lack of a higher pixel count?"

I have a 24 x 36 picture on my wall taken with an 8.1 megapixel Canon camera . . . it is perfectly sharp . . . no pixelization (is that a word?) . . . no grain/noise.

Two things determine the quality of your end result:

1) Proper exposure and cropping right out of the camera. (One F/stop of under exposure causes a loss of 50% of image quality and under exposure is the biggest single cause of "grain"/noise.)

2) As little as possible post processing in editing software. Each and every adjustment causes loss of quality.

Want to upgrade? . . my suggestion is to keep the camera and invest in some "L" glass. If you stick with Canon you can always use the better glass. In a camera/lens combination, it is only as good as the weakest link. In your case the lens will be your weak link and a top end lens will show you incredible improvement of quality.

Hope that helps

photoninja1 Loc: Tampa Florida

Okay, the professional's rule of thumb is shoot at least as fast as the reciprical of the focal length, in this case 1/50 or 1/60 of a second to avoid camera motion blur. But to stop the dog's motion, you need to be at 1/250 or 1/500. So the shutter speed is a bit slow. High f numbers are often used to get greater depth of field, but above f16 you start to get knife-edge refraction from the iris blades, and this creates unsharpness, which sort of defeats your purpose. There's nothing wrong with 8 mp for these pix, but better glass will help.