Picture Qaulity problems

[tomoisyourgod]

My work uses a £500 camera, and all the pictures are blurry and bad qaulity... what is the default settings to sort this out and to achieve crystal clear sharp images?

I'm no photographer, so I wouldn't know much about this field.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated!

 

[epicwelshman]

I suppose it could be a number of things. In terms of quality, try and dig through the menus to make sure that the camera is on the highest quality settings. As for the blurryness (sp?), I suppose make sure the camera is focusing properly. Hold the shutter button halfway for it to auto-focus before taking a photo.

Do you know what kind of camera it is?

 

[M@lew]

I'm sure this isn't the case, but are you remembering to focus the camera before taking the pic?

 

[Coheebuzz]

There are no magic settings to use, it all depends on the situation. Blurry images can be caused by camera shake/slow shutter.

There are many things you can do to achieve a faster shutter speed, like shooting at a wider aperture, cranking up the ISO or finally if everything else fails use a flash or some external lighting. Also for static shots a tripod is essential for crisp shots.

Watch out not to increase the ISO too much (800+) as it will cause a lot of noise in the image.

A basic rule to follow is to choose a shutter speed that's the equivalent of your lenses focal length. For example if you are using a 50mm lens then you'll need a speed of 1/50 or more to get sharp results.

Now if you are sure that you are using the correct settings and you still can't get a sharp shot then you may have a problem with the lens, but first try to experiment with the settings.

By the way what model camera/lens is it? Also some sample pics could help.

 

[tomoisyourgod]

There are no magic settings to use, it all depends on the situation. Blurry images can be caused by camera shake/slow shutter.

There are many things you can do to achieve a faster shutter speed, like shooting at a wider aperture, cranking up the ISO or finally if everything else fails use a flash or some external lighting. Also for static shots a tripod is essential for crisp shots.

Watch out not to increase the ISO too much (800+) as it will cause a lot of noise in the image.

A basic rule to follow is to choose a shutter speed that's the equivalent of your lenses focal length. For example if you are using a 50mm lens then you'll need a speed of 1/50 or more to get sharp results.

Now if you are sure that you are using the correct settings and you still can't get a sharp shot then you may have a problem with the lens, but first try to experiment with the settings.

By the way what model camera/lens is it? Also some sample pics could help.

It's a Canon DS126071 on a tripod, with a white light cube... all the kit is there...

Ideally this USB dongle needs to be crisp and background as white as white can be!

Also is it possible to use PS3's Camera RAW to read the Canon file extension?

 

[koobcamuk]

It's a Canon DS126071 on a tripod, with a white light cube... all the kit is there...

Ideally this USB dongle needs to be crisp and background as white as white can be!

Also is it possible to use PS3's Camera RAW to read the Canon file extension?

What size are you taking the photos in? Some cameras allow the file size to be changed. This looks like a tiny file size or something. I don't understand why it's so rubbish...

 

[tomoisyourgod]

2496 x 1664 px @ 72 dpi....

 

[compuwar]

It's a Canon DS126071 on a tripod, with a white light cube... all the kit is there...

Ideally this USB dongle needs to be crisp and background as white as white can be!

Also is it possible to use PS3's Camera RAW to read the Canon file extension?

That shot may be inside the minimum focusing distance. Does it have a macro mode, and was this shot in it?

 

[The General]

You probably don't have the lens for taking pictures like that...

Perhaps instead of complaining about the camera taking bad pictures, you should learn how to use the camera.

Here's the manual, read it cover to cover:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/2a41yf

Oh, I'm assuming that by Canon DS126071 you really mean Canon Rebel XT.

 

[tomoisyourgod]

You probably don't have the lens for taking pictures like that...

Perhaps instead of complaining about the camera taking bad pictures, you should learn how to use the camera.

It's the people who take the pictures keep giving me these images to prepare for web and print publication... I've finally got annoyed with it and have started to read the manual, plus ask for advice...

"If ya want sumthin doin, do it yaself"

So today I've started to get on the ball!

 

[The General]

You should give the manual to all the people who use the camera, tell them to read it all the way through.

 

[drgnmstrnik]

Yeah just combine all the suggestions you have here. Your suffering from both low lighting and too close of an image (plus your ISO seems to be pretty high as well cause your getting quite a bit of noise).

To get images like that you really need an expensive lens and if you are just doing it for one or two images it really isn't worth it to spend the money on the lens, especially for a photo that is as common as the one you showed. Try getting some stock photography for your site instead.

A good starting place is istockphoto.com but there are hundreds of other places. You could also try hiring a photographer...there is a reason photographers get paid for what they do.

 

[tomoisyourgod]

Many thanks for your help on this matter it's very much appreciated!

I will take all your suggestions and hopefully get a good picture

As I said, I'm new to photography so with a good read of the manual and your input things will be looking better!

Once again, thanks very much for your advice

 

[tomoisyourgod]

A lot better!

Just to show you all, things are looking a lot better!

Many thanks for your help....

 

[maxi]

White balance is off.
Under strange lighting situations it's preferable to use the PRE mode. Look in the manual how to do that. I never used canon so I don't know how you do it, but you normally take a picture of a white object under the same lighting conditions and use it to preset the camera to that WB.
That should help getting the background white.

 

[Lovesong]

^^^
Also, you might want to increase your depth of field (i.e. stop down the aperture a bit). The front tip of that bluetooth headset is a bit out of focus.

 

[kainjow]

I'm seeing a lot of blurry photos. I was trying to take a lot of pics of my niece the other day when she was walking around and such (just medium-speed movement). In every picture, she came out blurry, although everything else was fine. I didn't have the flash on since we were indoors and I don't like flash pics. I was playing with the ISO settings and that helped a little but they were noisy. What else could I have done? Would a tripod have helped in that situation, or no? I have a Nikon D40 by the way.

 

[compuwar]

I'm seeing a lot of blurry photos. I was trying to take a lot of pics of my niece the other day when she was walking around and such (just medium-speed movement). In every picture, she came out blurry, although everything else was find. I didn't have the flash on since we were indoors and I don't like flash pics. I was playing with the ISO settings and that helped a little but they were noisy. What else could I have done? Would a tripod have helped in that situation, or no? I have a Nikon D40 by the way.

1. Pay lots of money for a very fast lens such as the Sigma 30mm f/1.4.
2. Use flash.
3. Freeze the kid.

Note with 2- if you're using a modern Nikon flash system, you can used balanced fill flash, dial in a little negative flash compensation and get well-lit pictures that don't look like the deer-in-the-headlights over-lit flash pictures you're used to.

Moving subject + low light + slow glass is a problem. You might want to check the histograms on the noisy pictures though, if you add under-exposure to the mix you get more noise- make sure you're shooting with the highlights right at the right edge of the histogram, or dial in compensation.

 

[tomoisyourgod]

This is a portable speaker... you can see the problem,

ISO is set to 100
Exposure 1/13s at f/10

 

[compuwar]

Exposure 1/13s at f/10

@1/13s, you're going to need to be on a tripod. Why shoot at f/10 for a shot like this where the depth of field is way deeper than the elements in the shot could ever use? Granted, if you're using a kit lens you may only have 2-3 more stops, but 3 stops might help you. Finally, for this shot are you outside the minimum focusing distance for the lens you're using?

 

[Abstract]

Zoom out as far back as you can, shoot at f/6.3 or something, and use ISO 200. See if it turns out better. Even if you handhold the camera while shooting, it should turn out a lot better.

 

[tomoisyourgod]

nice one thanks mate i will try that

 

[tomoisyourgod]

Zoom out as far back as you can, shoot at f/6.3 or something, and use ISO 200. See if it turns out better. Even if you handhold the camera while shooting, it should turn out a lot better.

that worked a treat! nice one for that