is it camera shake? - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

11/07/2004 12:04:38 AM · #1

I just recently purchased my 10d and i keep getting blurry pics indoors. The lighting isnt that bad but the pictures either come out really soft or really blurry. Has anyone had this same problem with their canon's? I was considering purchasing a anti-shake lens and was curious to see if there were any owners with one who would care to share their input on weather its worth the purchase.

dsidwell

Canon EOS-5D

11/07/2004 12:09:33 AM · #2

Are these shots indoors with low light? Check your shutter speed; I've been able to consistently get sharp images at 1/15 of a second, but anything lower than that--and including that--will probably have motion blur for me.

moodville

Nikon D100

11/07/2004 12:15:24 AM · #3

The most obvious reply is that you're shooting in low light with a slow shutter speed as David suggested. Best way to address that question is for you to supply an example and give the settings and conditions you shot in.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

11/07/2004 12:17:51 AM · #4

Several possibilities, most likely a combination of the following:

- Light is low, so wide aperture used; lens is soft at wide apertures. I don't know what lens you are using, but if it's a "consumer zoom" this is prolly contributing.

- Using high-ISO increases noise, and this does make pics look softer.

- Lower contrast in the low light will always make pics look softer.

- Camera may miss focus more in low light; if some pics are sharper than others in otherwise same conditions, this may be a factor.

Hope that helps...

edit:
- Oh, and yes, camera shake can gretly contribute (of course). It can be hard to tell shake from the above effects, but if you look at a small, bright spot and it is smeared more in one direction than another, that's shake. If it's uniformly blurred in all directions, that's something else.

Message edited by author 2004-11-07 00:20:11.

11/07/2004 12:19:36 AM · #5

i will try and upload an image here in a couple of mins.

Canon PowerShot Pro 90 IS

11/07/2004 12:30:04 AM · #6

actually i'm having a little bit of trouble but the shutter was
1/60
a: 2.0
iso 100
awb
main lens used canon ef 50mm f/1.8 ll

Message edited by author 2004-11-07 00:32:34.

coolhar

11/07/2004 12:45:56 AM · #7

If you are shooting inside are you using flash? And your 10D can go to a higher ISO than 100 without the noise becoming a problem.

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

11/07/2004 12:49:26 AM · #8

no actually i didnt use flash.

dsidwell

Canon EOS-5D

11/07/2004 01:32:29 AM · #9

1/60 is still slow enough to create camera shake, depending on your stability and position.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

11/07/2004 09:02:09 AM · #10

Originally posted by cesarpz:

actually i'm having a little bit of trouble but the shutter was
1/60
a: 2.0
iso 100
awb
main lens used canon ef 50mm f/1.8 ll

Ahhh, this helps... as dsidwell posted, if you're not steady, you could see some shake at 1/60. It's probably not the root cause of most of your softness, however.
With very wide aperture settings like f/2.0, remember that your depth of focus is very thin. Any focus eror at all will kill the shot. It's possible that your camera/lens combination has a back-focusing (or front-focusing) issue, but don't jump to this conclusion. Try the following:

- Use one specific focus point, not the multi-point AF mode
- Take some pictures of a well-lit, high-detail, high-contrast subject that has a surface turned 45 degrees from you.
- Use a wide aperture, such as f/1.8 or f/2.0
- Use a tripod, and a remote release if available to avoid shake
- Focus on a specific, identifiable spot
- Look at the resulting images to see if the focus plane is significantly in front or in back of the spot.
- Repeat this test several times to make sure the results are repeatable
- If your selected spot is not within the DoF, you might have a problem with back- (or front-) focus.

If your camera is focussing poperly, you should review your focussing strategy to ensure that it results in the focus at the correct plane. Experiment to see what to expect with very wide apertures, the DoF can be wafer thin.

EddyG

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

11/07/2004 09:15:54 AM · #11

For some good instructions on testing AF accuracy, check out this page. If you decide to test, make sure you use the "Further Improved AF Test Chart (14th May 2003 update)" and methodology that is towards the end.

Message edited by author 2004-11-07 09:16:57.