Canon T2i colors washed out

My friends was complained about her pictures being washed out.
So I took her to take some pics outdoor, and indeed they are washed out pictures.
It's a camera she bought from the store, and used it only to shoot in Cape Cod recently.

I was impressed by the lack of colors, she told me that her cheaper point and shoot camera makes better pictures.

So everything is on the manufacture settings, just like it was when she bought it, and still outdoor pics looks washed out.

I even changed the lens to see if it was her lens, but it was the same.
Some pics looks ok, but usually a lot of em are washed out.
What the hell could it be???

Check which picture style is selected. If your shooting jpeg on a bland style that is one possibility

Some samples would be nice.....

Shooting in RAW can sometimes look bland until you do the post. They do on my t3i many times.

John37 wrote in post #14858707
Shooting in RAW can sometimes look bland until you do the post. They do on my t3i many times.

That is what I bought, but still CANON usually are very nice colors.....they shine.
I told her to shoot raw, but usually jpeg is vibrant too

Sounds like user error to me.
Pics with exif would be nice so we can get a better idea of what ids going on.

One of the picture styles...Neutral or Faithful (I cant remember which) is pretty dull in colors, if memory serves from when I first got my T2i and was playing with the different options. But shooting in RAW won't really improve her colors, since RAW's are typically a little on the dull side, because they require PP. Check which picture-style your friend is on.

But pictures would be good to see. Worse comes to worse your friend can tweak the photos herself in PP - if she does that with her photography. Point and Shoots (at least the ones I've used) usually over-saturate the crap out of the photo. My phone does the same thing, to give the impression of "high-res" and colours.

MT Stringer wrote in post #14858802
Sounds like user error to me.
Pics with exif would be nice so we can get a better idea of what ids going on.

I know what you mean, but I'm not a beginner, I will try to see what could be the problem.....
Yesterday I was concerned more about taking pics and trying different approach
But Its still funny,

Post some Sample Images!

Try different modes like AV or TV. Surely, there is a simple adjustment that will get the camera back on track. I like the previous ideas about the picture modes.

Since it came from a camera store, there is a chance someone tinkered with it (in a bad way).

Has to be picture style or the exposure compensation is not at zero. Read up on those settings and confirm they are set properly.

Also another thought, is the metering set on spot, if you happen to use spot and shoot a dark subject the rest of the photo can be over exposed. For basic shooting use evaluative.

MT Stringer wrote in post #14858856
Try different modes like AV or TV. Surely, there is a simple adjustment that will get the camera back on track. I like the previous ideas about the picture modes.

Since it came from a camera store, there is a chance someone tinkered with it (in a bad way).

I was shooting in Manual mode, and still, the colors are washed out, even with white balance at it's worst usually Canon makes them shine a little more than what I see, the pics are funny when taking landscape or when shooting on the street, there is no contrast also.

T2i4me wrote in post #14858866
Has to be picture style or the exposure compensation is not at zero. Read up on those settings and confirm they are set properly.

Also another thought, is the metering set on spot, if you happen to use spot and shoot a dark subject the rest of the photo can be over exposed. For basic shooting use evaluative.

Was not on spot, in was center weight.
But I will get her camera and make a few pics, and will try to post em here.
It would be better

user error like everyone has been saying

The T2i's built-in Picture Styles settings can be very easily adjusted to increase an image's saturation. Information on how to achieve this can be found in the camera's instruction manual, which is available for a free download if you lost it or never read it.