Blurry photos, but video OK

[Quietguy]

Hi
Years ago I gave up an sold my then (film) SLR because my eyes were just not good enough to set the focus properly, and I couldn't afford a new camera with auto focus.

Recently I managed to buy a Canon 550D with the 18-55mm kit lens, and a Canon EF 28-135mm IS lens.

Sadly I find the auto focus is not good with either lens when taking pics, but it does seem better, but not always really good, when taking a video.

What I notice is that when tying to autofocus is that it finds what seems to me to be a good focus but sort of overshoots to a blurry pic. But I really only find out how bad the (un)focus is when I get home and download the pics onto my computer

So, do I need a better camera, better lenses, or do I just cut my losses and go back to my point and shoot Panasonic? (or get something like a Canon G11 which I have seen takes good pics)

I had hoped to do nature photos, some macro pics, and some time lapse pics for movies

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as I invested a lot of money in something which doesn't work for me, and will lose heaps by selling it off on eBay etc

[Gemini2261]

Have you set the camera to center point focus? If are you using the auto setting the camera will focus on what it wants & not necessarily what you want to focus on.

Post some pic's so ppl can comment & give you tips on correct camera settings. :)

[feral1]

The best way to help you is to see some images you are refering to.

I would pick a plant or something, do one image auto focus and one image manual focus and put on here with only PP done is resize.
Do not forget if you have not done it yet, to change the diopter to your eye, refer to manual if you do not know what I mean.
I used the 550d the other day, it seemed quite good in focus, the only let down is the slight softness from the kit lens that was on it. I put my sigma lens on, it was better.
if you are in full auto that can make a difference with focus as well.

So post some images for us to confirm what the problem may be.

Peter

[William]

I agree, Post some shots of the images you think are Blurry, I only heard good reports about the 550D , I'm sure it has the same sensor as the 60D , Has to be another problem , Are you shooting in Auto ?

[Quietguy]

[QUOTE=Gemini2261;753924]Have you set the camera to center point focus? If are you using the auto setting the camera will focus on what it wants & not necessarily what you want to focus on.

Post some pic's so ppl can comment & give you tips on correct camera settings.

Here are 3 pics all taken at around the same time christmas day. Camera was set to auto, with IS and auto focus on - these were with the 28-135mm lens649736497464975

[William]

First ones OK In my opinion, The second looks like the camera focused on the roofs of the houses and the third , Maybe focus did'nt lock on , When you take the shot in Auto check to see through the View finder what the camera has locked on to for focus , I dont think you have much choice in Auto other than that , If you use any other mode for shooting you can pick your focus point :)

[Quietguy]

[QUOTE=William;753996]First ones OK In my opinion, The second looks like the camera focused on the roofs of the houses and the third , Maybe focus did'nt lock on , When you take the shot in Auto check to see through the View finder what the camera has locked on to for focus , ....

I guess that is the problem for me, in that my eyes are not good enough to see if the focus is ok or not, so I was hoping to rely on autofocus - at the time all the blurry pics seemed ok as far as I could tell and it was when I got home (500km away) that I found most of my Christmas shots of my grandkids were unusable

[Quietguy]

But thanks for your replies guys - much appreciated

[TOM]

you need to get a diopter attachment for your camera (not sure if you particular model allows that), or another option is to get a rangefinder. A rangefinder is the most reliable of all to focus with, and in your situation probably the easiest, as it uses a different system to an SLR to indicate whether you have achieved focus, and you get to use manual focus lenses again.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5248/5310800109_e47f8f42b9_o.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5088/5311391048_73b7a83bd2_o.jpg

[Kym]

Back to basics... How to obtain tack sharp images (http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showthread.php?65500-Learning-Centre-Appendix-E-How-to-obtain-tack-sharp-images)

Your 550D has a diopter adjustment.
Read this http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showthread.php?51412-Diopter-settings&p=523604&viewfull=1#post523604

[TOM]

Your 550D has a diopter adjustment


cool, well try that Quietguy, it may help.

[Quietguy]

Thanks - I did see that and have adjusted it as best I can - I think the problem for me is cataracts, but...

[pixy]

I am still a learner, but from what I can see is the shots are into the sun, if you want to take from that angle you should use a polarising filter, unless you want that efect,it hasn`t any thing to do with sharpness but will give you a better shot.

Just a thought, it might help.

[Kym]

Very simple PP on the first image (with permission)

In Photoshop
1. Autotone (which increased contrast, and upped saturation a bit)
2. Hi-pass sharpening (USM would have worked as well)

65013

[MaxKlimov]

I would suppose that it could be BACK/FRONT focus issue - the best thing to do is to take you camera to the authorized warranty repair center. To justify the problem try taking photographs of a fense or a brick wall at the 35-45 Degrees and try to remembering (or marking) which brick you intended to focus on and then which brick camera actually focused to. If the problem arises and and the sharpest part of the image is closers or farer from the point you actually focused on the you have your answer and have to take camera for reapir. However - if you shoot auto mode try checking the shutter speed dont let it go under 1/50-1/60 of a second you will get blurry shots as well.

[Quietguy]

[QUOTE=Kym;754694]Very simple PP on the first image (with permission)

In Photoshop
1. Autotone (which increased contrast, and upped saturation a bit)
2. Hi-pass sharpening (USM would have worked as well)

Whew, Kym that made a tremendous difference - thanks

[dulvariprestige]

I am still a learner, but from what I can see is the shots are into the sun, if you want to take from that angle you should use a polarising filter, unless you want that efect,it hasn`t any thing to do with sharpness but will give you a better shot.

Just a thought, it might help.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but CP filters shouldn't be used directly shooting into the sun, one, you can get the best effect when shooting on a 90 degree angle to the sun for landscapes and 45 degree for water and glass, and two, if you shoot directly into the sun you can get bad lens flair as the light can come through, bounce off the main element back into the filter and then back into the lens.

And like gemini mentioned, use the center focus point, my old 450d was crap when using all the focus points, I got much better results using just the center point, even with my 7d I use the center point 98% of the time, about the only time I use all 19 is when I'm tracking a bird in flight against a clear sky, and even then I'm usually using just the center 9 points.