All Pictures coming out blurry. Need help!

[Nabooly]

I have a Canon powershot sx210IS. I've had it for about 4 years now. I haven't used it as much as I thought I would use it.

But anyways when I first got it I was shooting fantastic pictures. Everything came out clear, zooming worked great, and the pics looked great when opened in iPhoto.

For the past 2 occassions that I used it, everything comes out blurry. It's as if I'm taking the pic without focusing first. If it doesn't look blurry it looks fuzzy. At first i thought it was user error but after taking some test pics at home where I can take as much time as I want, they still come out the same way.

I haven't changed anyhthing in the settings. It's all the same as when I first got the camera. Any help is appreciated.

 

[leighonigar]

If the lenses are clean and you haven't tinkered with the settings it may well be some kind of hardware fault. Feel free to post an example image.

 

[Attonine]

The only advice I can offer is check there is not a smudge or fingerprint on the lens.

I don't know this model of camera, but I have fallen foul of a fingerprint on the lens myself in the past when using a p&s style camera.

 

[Consultant]

You probably changed some settings by accident.

Can you tell if it's motion blur, focus blur, or some other kind of blurring?

 

[ChrisA]

Clean the lens, carefully, then place the camera on a stand or tripod and shoot in daylight using the full "auto" setting. If that does not work you have to decide wetter to repair or replace the camera.

It could help to know if this is a focus error or camera shake or whatever. But in the end it don't matter. If the camera can't do a daytime tripod shot on full auto it's broken.

 

[twitch31]

Check the mode dial that it hasn't been shifted into something other than auto or "P".

 

[Alexander.Of.Oz]

Can you perform a factory reset to get all settings back to default?

 

[Nabooly]

If the lenses are clean and you haven't tinkered with the settings it may well be some kind of hardware fault. Feel free to post an example image.

The only advice I can offer is check there is not a smudge or fingerprint on the lens.

I don't know this model of camera, but I have fallen foul of a fingerprint on the lens myself in the past when using a p&s style camera.

^^

Lenses are clean. I had an issue with fingerprints, and I thought that was the issue. This was when I first noticed that they were coming out blurry. I thought I fixed the problem but nope

You probably changed some settings by accident.

Can you tell if it's motion blur, focus blur, or some other kind of blurring?

I haven't messed around with the settings much. All I have done is set the quality to "Fine" which is the top setting on the camera.

Clean the lens, carefully, then place the camera on a stand or tripod and shoot in daylight using the full "auto" setting. If that does not work you have to decide wetter to repair or replace the camera.

It could help to know if this is a focus error or camera shake or whatever. But in the end it don't matter. If the camera can't do a daytime tripod shot on full auto it's broken.

I have always shot with the auto setting. I don't have a tripod as I don't use the camera often enough and the pictures I take are not meant to be professional or anything.

Check the mode dial that it hasn't been shifted into something other than auto or "P".

Nope it's set on auto. The dial is not loose at all so there's no possibility of it being on one setting and actually using another. The screen also confirms that it is on auto.

Can you perform a factory reset to get all settings back to default?

I am going to try this. Hopefully it'll go back to normal.

Here are two pics for examples...the first is when I first got the camera. The second is how it is now. Now I realize the second one isn't the best shot (in terms of position and what not) but it is exactly how my pics are coming out. There is no zoom and I was as still as humanly possible.

Thanks so much for your guys' help!

 

[leighonigar]

Oh dear. That is quite out of focus. If you haven't accidentally set the camera to manual focus I suspect something important has given up the ghost.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I would try and get a tripod (even a mini desk one) to rule out camera shake. They are pretty cheap.
To my eye, even the first shot is not incredibly focused. Try the tripod of a still subject (fruit or something) in really good lighting. Set to auto and reset the camera settings. If the focus is still of then the camera needs a trip to the shop.

 

[Nabooly]

Oh dear. That is quite out of focus. If you haven't accidentally set the camera to manual focus I suspect something important has given up the ghost.

Yeah it is, and just imagine I took that shot several times.

I would try and get a tripod (even a mini desk one) to rule out camera shake. They are pretty cheap.
To my eye, even the first shot is not incredibly focused. Try the tripod of a still subject (fruit or something) in really good lighting. Set to auto and reset the camera settings. If the focus is still of then the camera needs a trip to the shop.

I want to avoid repair or anything like that. It's out of warranty so I'm sure it will be very expensive to fix it. It would be a better option to replace it. But still it's a 4 year old camera, it kinda sucks replacing it.

 

[neutrino23]

Just guessing but maybe it doesn't focus anymore. Probably something broke. Try focusing with your feet. Try taking a picture of a wall from different distances and see if you can find where it is focusing. I'll bet it always focuses at that same distance.

If you can find the focus distance and get a clean photo then at least you know the lenses haven't been knocked out of alignment.

With this knowledge in hand you can search around and find someone to give you an estimate on the repair charge.

You've probably already done this but have you checked the battery? A four year old battery might be going bad. Perhaps there is not enough power to drive the motor properly? Looks like you can get a replacement battery cheaply online.