CANON REBEL XTI - BLURRY PICTURES ??

I've tried everything possible to eliminate blur in my pictures with no luck. I do alot of indoor pictures at auto conventions because that is related to my job and most of those always come out blurry. If I shoot in auto the pictures come out ok but lacking in light or too much light. I have adjusted every possilbe setting on my camera but I still new to photography so what can I do. I posted some shots I took while back home in New York that came out OK but I still feel they are not sharp like I want them to be. I am running out of ideas on what to do and even thought maybe my camera was the problem. I also try to carry my tripod as much as possible but sometimes I simply can't or don't have access to it.......please someone help.

Some technical details would be great. What shutter speed/aperture/ISO were you using for these? I assume these were mostly with the 10-20mm.

Could be camera shake; an IS lens can help alot with that.

What camera settings are you using? The EXIF is stripped from your posted shots so we can't see for ourselves.

Are you shooting handheld or with a tripod?

As a general rule for handheld shots, your shutter speed should be at least 1.6 X your focal length - so at 18 mm you'd need 1/30 second, at 85 mm you'd need 1/150. I try to make it 2X, myself.

What ISO are you using? Night shots like these (if handheld) are more likely to be free of camera shake if you shoot at ISO 800. Or higher.

-js

Yes most were taken with a wide angle lense. SJ I will have to get some of the histogram details for you and maybe I'm missing something.

Lucky the wide angle lense is NOT an IS so could that be it even though I sometimes do have a tripod. I guess it might be worth the extra coin for the IS lense.

number six wrote in post #5873590
What camera settings are you using? The EXIF is stripped from your posted shots so we can't see for ourselves.

Are you shooting handheld or with a tripod?

As a general rule for handheld shots, your shutter speed should be at least 1.6 X your focal length - so at 18 mm you'd need 1/30 second, at 85 mm you'd need 1/150. I try to make it 2X, myself.

What ISO are you using? Night shots like these (if handheld) are more likely to be free of camera shake if you shoot at ISO 800. Or higher.

-js

Well I think I did use a low ISO setting however if I use a high ISO are my pictures subject to more noise?

Thanks for the quick replies people I greatly appreciate it.

Ed 718 wrote in post #5873607
Well I think I did use a low ISO setting however if I use a high ISO are my pictures subject to more noise?

Thanks for the quick replies people I greatly appreciate it.

Yes, there will be more noise at higher ISOs. But often the choice is between a bit of noise or a blurry picture.

You can reduce noise a great deal in post processing, but blur from camera shake can't be fixed.

Try higher ISOs and see what your pics look like for yourself...

EDIT: for the last few days I've been experimenting with ISO 3200. Noise depends very much on exposure and the type of background.

-js

If you were using low ISO and the 10-20, I would bet on camera shake. You need to be using a higher shutter speed, even if you have to boost up the ISO. A slightly noisy picture is WAY better than a (unintentionally) blurry picture.

We really need exposure details to help you out. Saying "I did use a low ISO" doesn't help that much.

But, yeah, in general, if you want low-light handheld pictures, you need to crank the ISO up. It does increase noise, but also enables you to get rid of the slow shutter "blur."

Hi,

In addition to the shutter speed and ISO, it would be useful to know the aperture (f stop) that each image was shot. Wide apertures tend not to deliver the maximum sharpness that a lens is capable of.

Best Wishes.

I will supply the settings for you guys and maybe that can help.

I just wanted to tell you that I think your photos are beautiful.
You really captured the night of the city, and it's a pleasure to look at those photos.
Just thought I'd let you know.

The_Terminator wrote in post #5874012
I just wanted to tell you that I think your photos are beautiful.
You really captured the night of the city, and it's a pleasure to look at those photos.
Just thought I'd let you know.

Thank you

If you shoot 10mm, forget about focusing, set it at 1 meter, or slightly past that, and shoot. If you try to focus, sometimes the camera will screw up and go to min distance or past infinity, neither of which is a good thing for blur. If you use a tripod, make sure you have the camera on self timer or with a remote release, often tripod+pressing buttons=more blur than hand holding. Oh yea, and for NYC especially, try to overexpose a bit more then bring it back in Lightroom/PS/DPP. It'll both reduce noise and let you get better shadow areas, which will be a majority of the photo anyway.