Are the pictures from your Canon camera always coming out blurry? It can be frustrating to have your lights and setup ready, but your camera just refuses to cooperate. And, for professional photographers, this is an even bigger worry. You might wonder why your photos are always blurry and what you can do about it.
With a Canon camera, blurriness happiness if the subject is moving or if the camera isn’t still. There can also be an issue with autofocus or if the type of camera limits the aperture. Heatwaves can also interfere, and if you are using a low-quality lens, your final image can appear blurry. Finally, you can also have an issue if your lens has become damaged.
In this guide, we’ll talk about the issues that can cause your camera to produce blurry photos. Read through to learn about and eliminate each issue step by step, so you can identify what is causing the problem, how to know if that is the problem, and how to fix it.
Why Are Pictures From My Canon Camera Blurry?
Let’s get started and understand what causes blurriness in your photos. The first step towards identifying potential issues when you’re out and about is to set up a control.
Create A Control
A control test will help you see the sharpness of images when there are no external variables affecting the camera. For example, no shaking hands or moving objects. This is how you set up the control:
- Place your camera on a tripod that you know is stable.
- Focus on a subject that is fifty times the focal length.
- Use ten times live view, manual focusing on the object.
- You should set the camera to RAW, and the style should be a neutral picture.
- Set the sharpening settings to 1 and the AV mode at an aperture of f/5.6. Also, enable mirror lock-up, and add a two-second delay.
- Take one picture.
- Repeat the process five or six times, and focus each time.
Once you have the images, you can analyze the results. Do not have automatic corrections enabled, and use the sharpest image as your control.
Movement
The most common blurring you will see in your pictures will be related to motion. Either the subject or the camera moves, which causes you to lose some of the sharpness of the image. The way to identify if this is the issue is to look at the photos. They will be blurry over moving objects only, and the blur will have a direction to it. Here’s how to fix the issue:
- Carry out a control test (as described above) to see how your camera performs in optimum conditions.
- Use a faster shutter speed to capture objects in motion.
- If there is blurriness due to your handling, use a tripod.
- Combine with a two-second timer to stabilize the image.
- Consider buying a lens with a higher ISO to maintain quality.
The shutter speed you use depends on how far away the subject is and how fast they are moving. In sports, a shutter speed of 1/2000 is commonly used to capture images.
Improper Autofocus
The calibration within the lens and camera has to be perfect to get the best possible results. Sometimes, the issue is the focusing mechanism itself. When using autofocus, it’s essential to understand that sometimes the agency just can’t recognize subjects as clearly. Therefore, the best way to handle this is to calibrate autofocus again.
- Shoot images of a distant object in the grass.
- Make sure there is enough contrast.
- The grass on the same plane as the object should be in focus. If not, recalibrate your camera with the steps below.
- If you have the Autofocus Microadjustment feature, dial the adjustment back and forth till the focus is corrected.
- If your camera does not have this feature, you must contact a Canon service center to recalibrate your focus.
If you do not have the Autofocus Microadjustment feature, you can also try changing the lens (this may be a lens issue) or manually adjusting the lens to change the focus features.
Related: How to Clean the Viewfinder on Canon Cameras
Limited Aperture
Diffraction-Limited Aperture measures how diffraction can affect the quality of images at certain apertures. The most significant impact is on the sharpness of the picture. You can find this by multiplying the pixel pitch by precisely 1.61. The aperture should always be set lower than the Diffraction-Limited Aperture to maintain the quality of the image.
Suppose you notice that your images are being affected at a narrower aperture. In that case, you will need to calculate the DLA of your camera and set it to a broader aperture accordingly.
Heat Sources
Photographers come across an issue with heatwaves, mainly because they are shooting objects far away. There is always a risk of interference with heat sources in this case. Anything – sand, water, and the roads you stand on can be a source of nuisance in this case. It’s challenging to identify what causes distortion, but a telltale sign is a rippling effect. To troubleshoot this, you will need to:
- Try photographing a nearby object with no known heat sources.
- Test your autofocus to make sure it is still functioning.
- Try shooting at another date or time when heat is not a significant factor.
- Move closer to the subject to avoid heat sources in between you.
Bad Lens
Are you using a low-quality lens and trying to shoot images with higher quality. Since these lenses are limited in capabilities, they may not be able to keep up with the demands of your image quality. A different kind of lens is an investment in the quality of images that you are looking for. Try thinking of a prime lens to solve this issue. They are generally affordable and easy to buy, offer better aperture ranges, and create sharper results. To see if the lens is causing a problem:
- Carry out a control test and analyze the sharpness of images.
- Compare to standard sharpening results online.
- If you are not happy with your results, consider upgrading to a new lens option.
Damaged Lens
Lastly, one of the reasons your lens is not working as it should be that they have begun to malfunction. To figure out if this is what is causing the issue, you will need to follow these steps:
- Carry out the control test.
- Compare to image quality standards.
- If the lens cannot keep up, it must have become damaged.
- Contact the manufacturer to repair the lens.
- Once servicing is complete, carry out the control again to make sure your issue has been resolved.
Conclusion
A faulty or damaged lens can be highly frustrating to a photographer. However, with some diligence, you can identify issues with sharpness early and rectify the situation by getting support.