Beginner Why are my photos blurry?

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staedtler

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View attachment 15882 View attachment 15883 Hi, I've been casually taking photos for a bit and I thought I was getting better, but I'm really puzzled as to why my camera is doing this. I have a Canon 600D w/ 15-85mm lens and I was using a tripod (Manfrotto BeFree) because of the slow shutter. The reason why I am really confused is because the first few images turned out well-ish, then it would not focus properly (as in the focus square would go red, instead of the green) and after that, it would focus properly (as in the square would turn green) but the images would not be in focus?

So at night, the settings that I was using were: ISO 100, 10-15 seconds shutter and f5.0/5.6.

I have uploaded two photos, the first when there were no problems and the second showing the third scenario where it would 'focus' but I'd get a blurry image. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, if something is wrong with the camera. Thanks for your help!
 
In low light your camera is going to struggle to focus, I'm sure if your think about the focus point you were trying to use in the second one it was in a darker area and so it wasn't able to AF even thought it may have given AF confirm...

If you'd picked out to focus on the lights in the scene it would have had no issue auto focusing however in low light really once focus is achieved your best to then switch to manual focus until you re-composed, the only issue on the second is that it's completely OOF as the focus will be at the minimum distance point on the focal range

There's nothing wrong with the camera

Matt
 
Could be that the lens fogged up?
 
MWHCVT said:
In low light your camera is going to struggle to focus, I'm sure if your think about the focus point you were trying to use in the second one it was in a darker area and so it wasn't able to AF even thought it may have given AF confirm...

If you'd picked out to focus on the lights in the scene it would have had no issue auto focusing however in low light really once focus is achieved your best to then switch to manual focus until you re-composed, the only issue on the second is that it's completely OOF as the focus will be at the minimum distance point on the focal range

There's nothing wrong with the camera

Matt
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Okay that makes sense, thanks! Regarding the second point, surely the focus is beyond the minimum distance (0.35m) point? Is there a possibility that the lens is "fogged up" as StephyB says?

StephyB said:
Could be that the lens fogged up?
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Sorry, I'm not too familiar with that. How would I confirm that/how do I tackle such a problem? When I'm back at home, I was planning on cleaning both my lens/camera (I haven't done this before). Is it easy to do, or should I give it to a professional in case I damage either part?
 
Umm, I'm not a sure really how you would confirm. Maybe test under the same conditions?

I've had mine fog up when taking shots at night on numerous occasions - it's like when windows on the car fog up.
 
staedtler said:
Okay that makes sense, thanks! Regarding the second point, surely the focus is beyond the minimum distance (0.35m) point? Is there a possibility that the lens is "fogged up" as StephyB says?



Sorry, I'm not too familiar with that. How would I confirm that/how do I tackle such a problem? When I'm back at home, I was planning on cleaning both my lens/camera (I haven't done this before). Is it easy to do, or should I give it to a professional in case I damage either part?
Click to expand...

Simple question would be, was you camera wet/covered in condensation? If not then the lens will not have fogged up, in dubious it would be that if I'm honest as it doesn't look consistent with fogging issues as I'd expect there to be a lot more flare...

As the focus, the camera will hunt through the entire focus range looking for focus, I say it's at the minimum end as if it were at the maximum I'd expect at least the stars and moon to be in focus
 
StephyB said:
Umm, I'm not a sure really how you would confirm. Maybe test under the same conditions?

I've had mine fog up when taking shots at night on numerous occasions - it's like when windows on the car fog up.
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Oh right, that's what you meant! In that case, I'm pretty sure it wasn't fogged up :/

MWHCVT said:
Simple question would be, was you camera wet/covered in condensation? If not then the lens will not have fogged up, in dubious it would be that if I'm honest as it doesn't look consistent with fogging issues as I'd expect there to be a lot more flare...

As the focus, the camera will hunt through the entire focus range looking for focus, I say it's at the minimum end as if it were at the maximum I'd expect at least the stars and moon to be in focus
Click to expand...

No, it was not. Okay, cheers.

If I were to go about cleaning my camera/lens, should I buy the stuff online/bring it to a shop?
 
staedtler said:
Oh right, that's what you meant! In that case, I'm pretty sure it wasn't fogged up :/



No, it was not. Okay, cheers.

If I were to go about cleaning my camera/lens, should I buy the stuff online/bring it to a shop?
Click to expand...

So long as you follow the instructions there really should be no bother in cleaning your own sensor, I've not looked closely but what is making you think you need to clean your sensor/lens?
 
I'm not sure if it was mentioned but the way I focus low light shots like this is to magnify the back screen on live view. It zooms it in close enough so that you can see what you are focusing on and then manual focus. I hope I explained that right. It works very well.
 
MWHCVT said:
So long as you follow the instructions there really should be no bother in cleaning your own sensor, I've not looked closely but what is making you think you need to clean your sensor/lens?
Click to expand...

Okay. Well not just the sensor, but the camera in general. I thought that as I've had it for a good few years, then maybe it might be time to give it a clean?
 
staedtler said:
Okay. Well not just the sensor, but the camera in general. I thought that as I've had it for a good few years, then maybe it might be time to give it a clean?
Click to expand...

I know many professionals will send their cameras for a service, this will include a clean I'm sure (y) I don't know if this is what you mean? As apposed to just a general clean?
 
staedtler said:
Okay. Well not just the sensor, but the camera in general. I thought that as I've had it for a good few years, then maybe it might be time to give it a clean?
Click to expand...

My view is that if it ain't broke, don't fix it - I've seen more harm come to kit through unnecessary 'maintenance' that it has solved.

Looks like a mis-focus issue to me - the further form the lens the more out of focus it is. Lots of people resort to manual focus in these situations.

Another thing to note is that if the lens has stabilisation then it should be disabled if you are using a tripod.
 
Turn live view on. Zoom in. Use a torch if needed to light up foreground so you can focus. Once you have focus, click into MF.
 
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