Need help with unsharp pics and removing a blemish

[rastoma]

Well, I know this is a general question and has been asked by others here. I have tried to read as many as I could. I hope most of you don't get bored reading this and can help

I just don't understand why I can't get a sharp, clear picture with my Digital Rebel?

I have a few years old Olympus C3030 that takes beautiful pics. I even have a cheaper HP M305 digital camera that does a mighty fine job for the most part.

I took some pics at a friend's wedding this past weekend and wanted to have some nice ones so I borrowed a Canon 20D thinking it would do better than my Digital Rebel. The pics looked identical on what I took with my regular Rebel. Soft looking, not real sharp.

Also of note.... the majority of the problems I have are when taking shots indoors. Almost always, outdoor sunny shots come out beautiful on my Rebel.

Yes, most of the time I have been using the automatic setting on the camera as I'm getting familiar with manual controls. But I'm having a hard time grasping why the 'automatic' setting on a $90 HP camera takes a better picture than the automatic setting on a $600 camera (was $600 when I bought right when it was released).

On top of that, the 20D apparantly had some debris somewhere that caused a blemish on about 100 pictures.

I'm not very good with Photoshop. Any suggestions you can offer to remove this blemish? Luckily most of the pics are in one spot and the blemish is on a solid background.

Below are some samples. These are just candid pics taken in between the shots of the 'pros' that were there.

http://www.picnuts.com/ourfamily/a433

If those don't show enough detail I can upload the raw images for download.

 

[xfloggingkylex]

looks like some hair on the lens. can you post an example (at least 800x600) of one of the pictures that didn't come out clear? I am guessing that it is a problem with the shutter speed being too slow for the focal length resulting in camera shake. point and shoot cameras dont have this problem because they automatically fire the flash when the shutter gets too slow. On the rebel you need to pop the flash up yourself.

 

[outdoorlover]

the spot on the wall willl be easy to fix in PS
I think it is called the healing or clone tool, just look for the bandaid.
You will pick up a sample of the good section and drop it on the part you want to fix.
I have never doone this, so if I am telling him wrong feel free to correct me.
I agree also, post a pick with as mush tech info as you can get and we wil be able to help more

 

[Imagee]

Your soft images are due to camera shake. With Canon equipment, if you set your camera to many settings, including aperture priority, the lens will stay open long enough to give proper exposure to the BACKGROUND!! An annoying feature in my opinion!

To get proper exposure (and no camera shake) with indoor flash you need to set the camera to Manual or Program. In Manuel, set the speed to 1/60 or 1/100 of a second and your aperture to maybe f8. The camera will adjust the flash to insure the image is properly exposed...almost. Most Canons seem to need a +1 or so exposure compensation.
Experiment at home with this. It's easier than you think!

PS...stop cutting off the feet!

 

[EOS_JD]

Even if the shutter speed was ok, I think the problem may also be the depth of field. When you take a shot, the focal length, the aperture and distance to subject will determine how much of the area in front and behind the focus point will actually be "in acceptable focus".

Think about a portrait with a blurred background and you get the idea.

By shooting a large group at an angle, there's a lot of distance from nearest to furthest. To get all sharp you need a small aperture - perhaps f16.

If you use a larger aperture (especially like f4, f2.8 or even larger), the person you have focussed on is likely to be more in focus than any body else. As you move further from the focal plane the more out of focus your subjects will be.

It's tough using the small flash on subjects like this. it doesn't gave the power for a small aperture shot that you'd require for that group shot.

Read "understanding exposure" by Bryan petersen which should explain a lot regards shutter speeds, aperture and controlling depth of field and ISO settings and anything else to do with exposure.

Cheers
Jim

 

[Digital Matt]

Your soft images are due to camera shake. With Canon equipment, if you set your camera to many settings, including aperture priority, the lens will stay open long enough to give proper exposure to the BACKGROUND!! An annoying feature in my opinion!

You are misinformed. There is nothing different about how Canon equipment handles exposure from any other camera, aside from the fancy name of the type of metering. They all have a light meter in the camera that averages the light in the scene and gives an appropriate exposure to render this to middle gray. It has nothing to do with the background. It has to do with all the elements in the scene, and how the light is falling on them.

 

[Imagee]

You are misinformed. There is nothing different about how Canon equipment handles exposure from any other camera, aside from the fancy name of the type of metering. They all have a light meter in the camera that averages the light in the scene and gives an appropriate exposure to render this to middle gray. It has nothing to do with the background. It has to do with all the elements in the scene, and how the light is falling on them.

Nope...NOT misinformed. I had the same problem as Rastoma when I switched from Minolta to Canon, so I called Canon and asked. Since then, I also found it in my manual. Here's a direct quote from the manual for my 350D (page 96): "the main subject is exposed with the flash and the background is exposed with a slow shutter speed". The manuals for my film Canon say the same thing.
Using aperture priority, indoors, with flash on a Canon is not a good idea!

 

[shingfan]

Your soft images are due to camera shake. With Canon equipment, if you set your camera to many settings, including aperture priority, the lens will stay open long enough to give proper exposure to the BACKGROUND!! An annoying feature in my opinion!

To get proper exposure (and no camera shake) with indoor flash you need to set the camera to Manual or Program. In Manuel, set the speed to 1/60 or 1/100 of a second and your aperture to maybe f8. The camera will adjust the flash to insure the image is properly exposed...almost. Most Canons seem to need a +1 or so exposure compensation.
Experiment at home with this. It's easier than you think!

PS...stop cutting off the feet!

i'm not sure where you learn this from....but canon equipment doesnt behave much differently from other brands......how long the shutter stays open depends on the shutter speed setting on the specific frame.....has nothing to do with which mode you are using.....exposing background or not......that depends on the metering mode you choose........you'll need to learn how the meter works to understand why the exposures behave in a certain way.......most cameras work the same way.......

also.....program mode is no different from any other semi-auto mode except it doesnt allow you to overexpose or underexpose.....but it doesnt give you better picture quality or act differently if you have the same settings (ISO, white balance, aperture, shutter speed) in other mode.....so is Manual mode if the setting is the same

if you feel that your camera always need a +1EV......then it is about time you learn to use spot metering......this way you will get more accurate metering of the subject.....again.......exposure has to do with everything in the scense and the light shining on them....most cameras try to expose for 18% gray......modes has no affet on the captured frame given that the same setting is used

P.S. camera doesnt know what BACKGROUND is......it only meters and catpure the frame as instructed........you need to give correct instruction to get a correct exposure

 

[Digital Matt]

Nope...NOT misinformed. I had the same problem as Rastoma when I switched from Minolta to Canon, so I called Canon and asked. Since then, I also found it in my manual. Here's a direct quote from the manual for my 350D (page 96): "the main subject is exposed with the flash and the background is exposed with a slow shutter speed". The manuals for my film Canon say the same thing.
Using aperture priority, indoors, with flash on a Canon is not a good idea!

Perhaps you should re-read your manual then, and continue reading past the part you quoted.

Against dark backgrounds such as the night scenes, slow-sync shooting will be set so that both the subject and background are exposed correctly. The main subject is exposed with the flash, and the background is exposed with a slow shutter speed.

Because automatic slow-sync shooting uses a slow shutter speed, always use a tripod.

If you do not want a slow shutter speed to be set, set C. Fn-3 (Flash sync. speed in Av Mode) to 1: 1/200sec. (fixed). (p.148)

If you are trying to expose the foreground and background of a night scene using flash, there is no other way than to capture the ambient light in the background via a long exposure. This is a specific technique. No matter what the mode is, the camera has to rely on it's meter to judge exposure. If you know how to use the meter, and understand exposure, then you will get a correctly exposed picture. If you understand how flash and strobe light work, you will use the custom function, or favor shutter priority and set it to the sync speed. Saying that putting a flash on a Canon indoors is not a good idea is just totally ludicrous. Canon cameras are used by wedding photographers all over the world. While your information is somewhat correct, you are indeed misinformed about how to use it.

 

[RacePhoto]

Picture 3 was 1/60th, f/5, iso 400... no flash. Looks like that was wide open for that lens at that focal length. I think you needed to use the flash.

Looks like the lens had lint or fiber stuck to it.

If that was the EF-S 18-55 3.5-5.6 lens, it's the $100 plastic lens that came with the camera. Nice for snapshots. It should be good enough for 4x6 prints.

But the lens is slow, you aren't going get the best pictures possible unless you can stop down a little and bring in more light.

 

[Imagee]

Perhaps you should re-read your manual then, and continue reading past the part you quoted.



If you are trying to expose the foreground and background of a night scene using flash, there is no other way than to capture the ambient light in the background via a long exposure. This is a specific technique. No matter what the mode is, the camera has to rely on it's meter to judge exposure. If you know how to use the meter, and understand exposure, then you will get a correctly exposed picture. If you understand how flash and strobe light work, you will use the custom function, or favor shutter priority and set it to the sync speed. Saying that putting a flash on a Canon indoors is not a good idea is just totally ludicrous. Canon cameras are used by wedding photographers all over the world. While your information is somewhat correct, you are indeed misinformed about how to use it.

Please reread my post. I did NOT say that. I said setting your Canon with flash to aperture priority for indoor flash is NOT a good idea. I have been shooting weddings with flash on a Canon for nearly 10 years. It needs to be in manual or shutter priority..or, if you're really desperate, in P mode. Aperture priority will often give you too slow a shutter speed resulting in camera shake.
READ the manual! I even gave you a direct quote from it!

 

[Digital Matt]

And I gave you a direct quote from it as well (which you left out of your quote), with a simple custom function to force the camera to use a shutter speed of 1/200. I can read, can you?

 

[neea]

*goes searching for camera manual*
I'll be back.

 

[Christie Photo]

Looks like the lens had lint or fiber stuck to it.

I doubt it's on the lens... it wouldn't come into focus like that. Dirt/debris on the lens might soften the image. The bugger here is close to, if not on, the sensor.

Pete

 

[shingfan]

Nope...NOT misinformed. I had the same problem as Rastoma when I switched from Minolta to Canon, so I called Canon and asked. Since then, I also found it in my manual. Here's a direct quote from the manual for my 350D (page 96): "the main subject is exposed with the flash and the background is exposed with a slow shutter speed". The manuals for my film Canon say the same thing.
Using aperture priority, indoors, with flash on a Canon is not a good idea!

Please reread my post. I did NOT say that. I said setting your Canon with flash to aperture priority for indoor flash is NOT a good idea. I have been shooting weddings with flash on a Canon for nearly 10 years. It needs to be in manual or shutter priority..or, if you're really desperate, in P mode. Aperture priority will often give you too slow a shutter speed resulting in camera shake.
READ the manual! I even gave you a direct quote from it!

I dont see how Canon act any different from any other camera. This is how flash photography works. If you want to expose the background (far from subject), you need to use a slow shutter speed. Your flash unit will never reach far enough to give you a good exposoure on the background with a fast shutter speed. This is NOT a Canon issue. Is the same for all cameras. It has nothing to do with aperture or shutter priority. You need to understand how the these modes work when you are using your flash unit. In shutter priority, the aperture is fixed to MAX no matter what shutter speed you choose. Adjustment is done on the flash unit output. Same for aperture priority, the shutter speed is fixed at a certain speed regardless of what aperture you use. You dont get slower shutter speed using aperture priority. It is shown on the camera and you can see it.

you are correct about using aperture priority is a bad idea......because shutter speed is fixed to a rather slow speed for moving object when a flash is used