cabmoore

I take pictures of our family (mostly our daughter, dog, etc) and scenery. Would love to do more one more.

Here is what i currently have.. a Rebel T3i EOS 600D was purchased for me two Christmas's ago. I have four lens. They're as follows: 85mm 1:1.8, 50mm 1:1.8, 50mm 1:1.4 and 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6.

I have major issues with blurry photos. Most times, my subject (our daughter) is blurry and the background is crisp. Obviously would like the reverse.

Can you please recommend if I need to purchase a better body? ie 6D, or is there another that you might recommend?

And are any of these lenses "keepers"? If so, which one/s?

Thank you for your feedback. I greatly appreciate it.

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

Can't advise about lenses. I'm not that familiar with Canon. As far as the focus issue. It could be that you do not have the focus mode set properly. I would say the first thing is to consult the manual and read very carefully. Then you might be able to find some tutorials on You Tube that deal with focus modes. Good luck. That camera should be able to yield the results you are looking for.

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Nothing wrong with your lens, but you probably need to switch to Manual Focus to get the best results. You have 2 functions on the camera that will help you do this. One is called Live View. When you push the Live View button the LCD screen on the back of your camera will show you exactly what the photo will look like given the Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, and AEV (Automatic Exposure Value) settings. While you're in Live View, however, there is button that will allow you to take a small, white square box and magnify it, either to 5x or 10x magnification. I use this all the time when I have very intricate focus requirements. I go to 10x, use the manual focus ring until my subject is tack-sharp, then snap the photo, or sometimes I shut down Live View, knowing my focus has already been set, then use the viewfinder to take the photo. If you go to Youtube and type in T31 features, there are some videos out there that will explain all this. Just for an example, I want to show you a photo I took with a Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens (equivalent to your f/1.8), and using Live View and 10x magnification in very low light, I was able to capture this photo.

This link will explain most of the features I talked about: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/T3I/T3ILIVEVIEW.HTM

Canon 50mm, f/1.4 lens, with Manual Focus using Live View and 10x magnification to adjust Manual Focus ring

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Hey cabmoore, Welcome to UHH

The Canon EOS T3i is a nice camera and will do what you want once you learn how to tell it how. As mentioned above, understanding how a camera focuses helps.

From your question, my assumption is that you are shooting in full Auto, which is fine, but that you just need a little help. As such Canon has a great set of tutorials and of course there are many books to choose from along with help here.

The Canon Digital Learning Center is great resource!
Canon EOS 101: Photography and Videography Basics http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/galleries/galleries/tutorials/eos101_cll.shtml

To get you going though look at the Mode Dial. Do you see the icon for the person's face. Page 59 of your manual explains more.

Read your manual, look over the resources above, watch videos on YouTube, checkout some books from your library or store and ask questions here and you will do just fine.

By the way, why do you have two 50mms? Just curious. Steve

RRS Loc: Not sure

First, is your daughter sitting or standing still? If so then you need to see where and what you are focusing on. What do other pictures look like. Take some and see how they look. What mode are you shooting in? What ISO and what shutter speed do you use. Come back with more info and maybe someone can be more helpful. RRS

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

Your lenses are all keepers, and the T3i is a good camera, no need to spend money on any other body. There is a ton of info on the Internet as has been mentioned. After studying some of it and you still have trouble come back and give us more info on what shutter speed, aperture and ISO settings you're using and someone here will be glad to help you make some adjustments. What setting do you typically use? It could just be a matter of using shutter priority and dialing in a faster shutter speed to control movement due to camera shake or movement of your subject. Welcome to UHH.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Welcome cabmoore. Your camera and lenses will generate the results you're looking for. I suggest starting a new topic in the photo gallery and posting a recent unedited example of a blurry picture and a follow-up request for help. Be sure to 'store original' for the picture attachment so we can download and review the technical information included within the photo. Otherwise, we'll mostly provide only general suggestions that may / may not apply to your specific problem.

amehta Loc: Boston

Your camera is a good one, and your lenses are fine (the 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.8 are definitely "keepers" ).

Three things cause a "blurry" image:
1. the camera moved
2. the subject moved
3. the focus is off
Since the background is "crisp", #1 isn't the problem, so good job with that. If your daughter was moving, I hope you would have mentioned that, so I'll skip that, and go to #3. Now, I'll assume you're using autofocus, because something put the background in focus. The T3i has a 9-point AF system, in a diamond shape. The camera will figure out the focus distance for one or more of these points, depending on the AF mode. It is quite likely that the camera is using the distance from an AF point that is not aimed at your subject (your daughter). The Canon DSLRs are very good at finding the subject correctly, so my best guess is that the camera is set for single-point AF, and the selected point is on a point of the diamond, so it is often aimed at the background. This video may help http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNS9bGOLaRs

JD. Loc: Winston Salem NC

You really did not give enough info as such what settings your using. I am not real familiar whit the Camera you have. I have a Canon Rebel T-3 I get great results with. Your lens are ok But not much change with them. Your problem to me sounds like the (if) your using portrait setting is backwards. On that setting the subject should be crisp and back ground blured. Need more info I guess. Take on object ie: vase,lamp something that can not move and shot it on every setting ( the beauty) of Dig. hit delete and move on.see if there's any differents make notes and go from there

anotherview Loc: California

Your camera can set Auto Focus points to one AF point within the frame. Then the lens focuses there.

You may've inadvertently moved the AF point to, say, the right or left side of the frame instead of in the middle. In this case, when the lens focuses, the area in the center of the frame will not appear in focus, but other parts of it will.

You can select AF points. This tutorial may help you:

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/set-an-autofocus-point-on-a-canon-rebel-t3-series-.html

Good luck.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

It's not your camera..that's a perfectly capable camera...it's your AF settings that are causing it.

by the way...those are some great lenses...

jerryg Loc: NE Pa

How can anyone offer a good answer without even seeing the problem. Post a pic along with the question.
My first (without seeing a pic) would be to make sure you are using "spot metering" and focus on her nose tip. Make sure your aperture is open enough to get the depth of field you need. You only want about 2' which is more than the distance from her nose to the back of her head. If the background is close it may also come in focus so maybe you can blur it in pp software.

You need to show a pic otherwise everyone is wasting a lot of time and experience on fixing up an invisible problem.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

That's my thought. He's probably using auto and his daughter is is scampering around as young children do. So if the light is also on the low side, auto will compensate by raising the ISO a bit and lowering the shutter speed. We also don't know if the shots are taken indoors or out, or how far his subject is. Without seeing an image with the EXIF data attached its all speculation of course.

DK Loc: SD

Auto focus lenses will focus wherever the focal point is looking at. Put the focal point in the lens on the subject, focus, continue to hold down the shutter button and reframe the photo for the composition you want. Likely in the case of your daughter, the focal point was somewhere behind her rather than on her when you shot the photo.

clixpix Loc: Surprise, Arizona

Cabmoore:

I have had pictures that were out of focus. I found that the focus spot was not where I though it was when I took the picture. I have the Digital Photo Professional (DPP) software from Canon that came with my camera loaded. With DPP, under the "View" drop down menu you will see "AF Point". Click on that and you will see the red square that was used to focus superimposed on your photo. That is where the camera focused. If that red square is not on your subject, then the camera selected another focusing point. I generally use the center focusing point and find that it is easy to have the point move off the subject when the shutter is pressed. If you can, using the "Back Button Focus" on the camera will allow you to put the spot just where you want. If your subject is moving, using "AF Servo" and keeping the back button depressed will have the camera follow the moving subject. Hope this helps. Good Luck.