Digital camera blurriness (1 Viewer)

[teapot2001]

I have an A75 Canon camera, and it seems a lot of my indoor pics are blurry.

I use it in automatic mode, with the flash turned off (which I've heard is hardly ever to be used). I try to keep the camera as still as possible, but even the slightest movement will blur the picture. However, I've noticed that with the flash on, a little movement will still keep the picture sharp. Also, outdoor pics are always good. Is this how most digital cameras are?

Also, what I find odd, is that if I push the shutter button all the way down, without focusing and with the flash off, the indoor picture turns out sharper with slight movement than with the use of focus by pushing the shutter halfway down. Nowhere in the manual does it mention using this method to obtain a better picture.

~T

 

[Scott Kimball]

Do you know what ISO and shutter speed the camera is setting (check the EXIF data on the image file). How about focal length?

In my experience, Point and Shoot cameras need the flash in low light, due to the small sensor and slow lens. True, the on-camera flash tends to make things look flat, but that's one of the drawbacks of a P&S (I'm not knocking them, I have one as well as a DSLR).

There should be some kind of shake warning (an indicator light) if it is too dark to handhold in the given light. This indicator will light after the metering (half-press of shutter release). I think the shake warning is an amber light near the viewfinder - but check your manual since I don't have that model. It may also flash the Av reading.

Try changing from Auto to "P" (Program). Then, set your ISO to 400. Keep the lens zoomed out as much as possible. This will still give you auto metering, but it will force the camera sensor into the higher ISO (more sensitive). The short end of the zoom will also allow an extra stop or so of light to strike the sensor, besides that fact you can handhold easier at shorter focal lengths. Note that a 400 ISO will result in "grainier" images.

-Scott

 

[Jeremy Stockwell]

Thi, this sounds to me like a camera shake issue involving the physical pressing of the shutter release. When you press the shutter release halfway in auto mode, the camera makes all of it's calculations and then when you go ahead and press the shutter release the rest of the way down, the camera opens the shutter almost instantly and your motion to press the shutter release is captured in the image.

When you go ahead and press the shutter down entirely, the camera still makes it's calculations and opens the shutter to capture the image without further motion from you. By the time the camera opens the shutter, you've had a second or two to get control of the camera, so you're more likely to get pictures without camera shake.

There's a better, more detailed explanation HERE.

If your camera has a continuous shooting mode, where you can hold the shutter release down and it takes multiple pictures as quickly as it can, you might want to try that. The first couple of pictures might look similar to what you're getting now, but after those, you've had a chance to get control of the camera and later images might look better.

JKS

 

[Ryan Tsang]

Depending on your ISO, it's very hard to take indoor pic without flash. Anything slower than 1/30second, it's hard.


There are a few ways to correct this problem. I haven't checked if they apply to your model:

In-camera fixes:
-Use shutter-priority mode. Set shutter speed to 1/60 second, let your camera figure out ISO, aperture
-increase ISO to max (1600 available?)
-Use aperture-priority and use a larger aperture (lower f-numbers like f2.8)
-any combo of the above

Off-camera fixes:
-increase light on the subject. Use flash or move to light sources or windows
-use a tripod, monopod, brace against a table or wall




No offense but that's silly. In low light, if shutter speed is slow (ISO, aperture not chosen), then the camera will just take three or how ever many pics at that low speed. If he can't hold it still thruout the duration, he will get three blurry pics. The camera won't go into paparazzi mode. If it does for some strange reason, the pics will be too dark, cuz not enough light reached the sensors. And I doubt his camera can shoot continous with flash; recycle time can't be that fast on a P&S. I get what you're trying to say though: that holding it still for the subsequent frames will introduce less shake than physically pressing the shutter for the first one.

 

[Ryan Tsang]

Flash throws more light onto your subject and thus your camera can select a higher shutter speed so as to not make the hand-holding obvious. Daylight is the same thing. No, this doesn't apply just to digicams, it applys to all of photography.

 

[teapot2001]

Thanks guys.

~T