Nikon D3200 Photos Blurry

Seiorai · Sep 1, 2013

Hi everyone!

I am a total newbie to digital photography (just bought my first DSLR, a Nikon D3200 a few days ago) and I am facing a blur issue or two that most likely are caused by me not knowing how to use the camera (I hope). I tried looking on Google for a solution but could find none that would actively help.

So first thing's first: the camera came with the standard 18-55 lens. No matter how far away the object that I want to photograph is, turning my lens from 18 to 55 doesn't help because it simply produces a blurry image, instead of bringing it closer (as I think it should?). And I'm not talking 2-meter away object, I'm talking 500+m-away. Both foreground and background, so can't say it focused on something close and blurred the background...Tried both Autofocus and Manual, but maybe I'm still dong something wrong?

Second in line is the end-product blur. Here is a photo taken the other day and it looks horrible. I was standing still, holding my breath and holding the camera as the User Manual instructs, to provide max stability. Here is the EXIF data for it which is mostly alien-ish to me since like I said I am new to all this. The lens's VR was on too. Autofocus was on (the A/M slider on the lens). Photo size/quality was Normal/Fine.

Basically out of 700+ photos, about 30-40 are decently usable and you can make out something, the rest are a blurry mess where you have to zoom out/resize to 10% to see a decently clear picture. I have to specify that these were all taken using the same method: camera hold as User Manual instructs, firm on my feet and holding my breath. Even when trying to catch a writing (name) on a jacket 6 ft. away from me, with minimum zoom (18), the name is blurry/unreadable...

I'd really appreciate any help with this, and if I can provide any more info please say.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Here is one of the sharpest pictures for comparison

Juga · Sep 1, 2013

It is VERY far out of focus. Did you check your diopter?

elementgs · Sep 1, 2013

"Focus Mode: Manual" (From your exif)

Check the lens again. Make sure nothing is locking the focus ring in place.

You're firing in manual.

Seiorai · Sep 1, 2013

Juga said:
It is VERY far out of focus. Did you check your diopter?

I turned it from left to right but it looked more in focus at the normal setting, right in the middle of +&-. Once in the middle, it wouldn't turn from right to left at all so I just left it in the middle since it was clear anyway?

elementgs said:
"Focus Mode: Manual" (From your exif)

Check the lens again. Make sure nothing is locking the focus ring in place.

You're firing in manual.

I set it to manual from the camera, but it was set to A from the slider on the lens? Even in manual, I tried to rotate the lens to get a clear focus and the only clear focus was at 18-20 tops. And though it looked clear on the viewfinder, it's..really blurry in the final photo?

ToddnTN · Sep 1, 2013

You need to have both the body and the lens set to auto-focus.
With both the lens and the body set to auto-focus, focus on something with a lot of contrast like a sign with text and then hold the shutter down half-way to focus on the sign. Then adjust the diopter until everything is in focus.

Seiorai · Sep 1, 2013

ToddnTN said:
You need to have both the body and the lens set to auto-focus.
With both the lens and the body set to auto-focus, focus on something with a lot of contrast like a sign with text and then hold the shutter down half-way to focus on the sign. Then adjust the diopter until everything is in focus.

Tried that before these pictures above were taken

Thanks for the suggestion though! I plan to have mostly landscape shots, so in that case I have to go with Manual...right? Since landscapes have a tendency of driving Autofocus nuts.

cgipson1 · Sep 1, 2013

I would suggest reading your manuals... both for the lens and the camera body.

As mentioned... you are in manual focus mode. That means YOU have to focus it or it will not be sharp. Turn it to Auto Focus (switch on both the lens and the body) so that the Lens will Autofocus for you... otherwise... Blurriness.

cgipson1 · Sep 1, 2013

Seiorai said:
ToddnTN said:

You need to have both the body and the lens set to auto-focus.
With both the lens and the body set to auto-focus, focus on something with a lot of contrast like a sign with text and then hold the shutter down half-way to focus on the sign. Then adjust the diopter until everything is in focus.

Click to expand...

Tried that before these pictures above were taken Thanks for the suggestion though! I plan to have mostly landscape shots, so in that case I have to go with Manual...right? Since landscapes have a tendency of driving Autofocus nuts.

NO.... AF works very well for landscapes. I usually use spot focus, so I can tell the camera WHERE I want to focus. Others use other modes....

Seiorai · Sep 1, 2013

cgipson1 said:
I would suggest reading your manuals... both for the lens and the camera body.

As mentioned... you are in manual focus mode. That means YOU have to focus it or it will not be sharp. Turn it to Auto Focus (switch on both the lens and the body) so that the Lens will Autofocus for you... otherwise... Blurriness.

Lenses didn't come with a manual unfortunately, and there is only a brief mention of them in the camera one. I tried looking their manual up on Google but only found their Wiki page. And I did focus manually, for each shot I rotated the lens so as to get the clearest view in the viewfinder, THEN press the shooting button. Is that the wrong way to do it?

cgipson1 · Sep 1, 2013

Seiorai said:
cgipson1 said:

I would suggest reading your manuals... both for the lens and the camera body.

As mentioned... you are in manual focus mode. That means YOU have to focus it or it will not be sharp. Turn it to Auto Focus (switch on both the lens and the body) so that the Lens will Autofocus for you... otherwise... Blurriness.

Click to expand...

Lenses didn't come with a manual unfortunately, and there is only a brief mention of them in the camera one. I tried looking their manual up on Google but only found their Wiki page. And I did focus manually, for each shot I rotated the lens so as to get the clearest view in the viewfinder, THEN press the shooting button. Is that the wrong way to do it?

Again.. until you learn what you are doing... just put it in Autofocus. It works!

Check the diopter, and make sure it is set correctly. If you are going to shoot in manual focus....use the viewfinder, not the LCD. Make sure you have adequate light. If you wear glasses... wear them, and make sure that you can see ok with them. Try something easy first... get something high contrast, like a coke can or something... (something with vastly differing colors and sharp edges at the color change). Or print out a Focus target Free Lens Focus Chart - VFGadgets.com. Put it ten feet (3 meters) away from you... practice focusing on it. Keep your shutter at 1/125 to 1/250 or even faster.... 100, 200 or 400 ISO. Aperture (not wide open as that will not have maximum sharpness... try F8, and adjust ISO as needed). Take a shot... look at it on a computer screen... the small LCD on the camera can be misleading.... try different distances.... try different focal lengths. Also try some of the same exact shots in AF... that will tell you if you are messing up, or if there is a bigger problem.

adjust as needed.... shoot some more.

When shooting in manual focus, try to find something in the FOV that you can clearly see... that you can get a good solid with.

Is this your first DSLR?

cgipson1 · Sep 1, 2013

btw.. Nikon Manuals... https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/13948/~/nikon-product-manuals-available-for-download

18-55 http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/lenses/DX/AFSDX18-55_3.5-5.6G.pdf

D3200 http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/dslr/D3200_EN.pdf

ALSO... remove ANY and ALL filters you may have on the lens... cheap filters cause major IQ problems.....

And in AF, use SPOT Focus... it is accurate

Seiorai · Sep 1, 2013

cgipson1 said:
Again.. until you learn what you are doing... just put it in Autofocus. It works!

Check the diopter, and make sure it is set correctly. If you are going to shoot in manual focus....use the viewfinder, not the LCD. Make sure you have adequate light. If you wear glasses... wear them, and make sure that you can see ok with them. Try something easy first... get something high contrast, like a coke can or something... (something with vastly differing colors and sharp edges at the color change). Or print out a Focus target Free Lens Focus Chart - VFGadgets.com. Put it ten feet (3 meters) away from you... practice focusing on it. Keep your shutter at 1/125 to 1/250 or even faster.... 100, 200 or 400 ISO. Aperture (not wide open as that will not have maximum sharpness... try F8, and adjust ISO as needed). Take a shot... look at it on a computer screen... the small LCD on the camera can be misleading.... try different distances.... try different focal lengths. Also try some of the same exact shots in AF... that will tell you if you are messing up, or if there is a bigger problem.

adjust as needed.... shoot some more.

When shooting in manual focus, try to find something in the FOV that you can clearly see... that you can get a good solid with.

Is this your first DSLR?

btw.. Nikon Manuals... https://support.nikonusa.com/app/an.../nikon-product-manuals-available-for-download

18-55 http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/lenses/DX/AFSDX18-55_3.5-5.6G.pdf

D3200 http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/dslr/D3200_EN.pdf

ALSO... remove ANY and ALL filters you may have on the lens... cheap filters cause major IQ problems.....

Alright, I'll try AF first.

Already checked the diopter, before shooting these as I mentioned before. Never used the LCD, just the viewfinder. Not wearing glasses, and vision is perfect (checked it 3 months ago). The chart seems very helpful, I'll give it a try - thanks for that.

Yes, as I mentioned in the first message I just bought it a few days ago, and I am completely new to digital photography in general.

Thanks a bunch for the links. I have no filters whatsoever, and I'll look up Spot Focus and see what it means.

christop · Sep 1, 2013

Seiorai said:
I set it to manual from the camera, but it was set to A from the slider on the lens? Even in manual, I tried to rotate the lens to get a clear focus and the only clear focus was at 18-20 tops. And though it looked clear on the viewfinder, it's..really blurry in the final photo?

This might be a stupid question, but are you sure you're turning the focus ring at all? The 18-20 you mentioned refers to the focal length of the lens, which is at the wide end for that lens. All zoom lenses have a different ring for focusing. In many (or most) cases the focus ring is at or near the front of the lens, while the "zoom" ring for adjusting the focal length is farther back on the body of the lens.

Braineack · Sep 1, 2013

why are you manually "focusing"?

SCraig · Sep 1, 2013

The depth of field which extends from 4.8' to infinity at the settings you used (f/7.1, 1/200 second, ISO 100, 20mm focal length). Since your focus distance was 3.35 meters (about 10') it didn't matter whether it looked in focus or not, it WOULD have been in focus on the image. However there is NOTHING in that image that is in proper focus so my suspicion is that you punched the shutter release. On a camera with that resolution you absolutely cannot induce any camera shake or it is going to show up in the images, and my guess is that this is what you have done. You MUST press the shutter release without moving the camera in the slightest.

STOP shooting in manual focus. Just don't do it. Autofocus works very well, and at this point in your experience probably better than you can.

Second in line is the end-product blur. Here is a photo taken the other day and it looks horrible. I was standing still, holding my breath and holding the camera as the User Manual instructs, to provide max stability. Here is the EXIF data for it which is mostly alien-ish to me since like I said I am new to all this. The lens's VR was on too. Autofocus was on (the A/M slider on the lens). Photo size/quality was Normal/Fine.

Your focus distance was once again 3.35 meters (10'), and it was once again in MANUAL focus mode, not autofocus mode. Your depth of field extended from 5.39' to 69.7'. Once again there is absolutely nothing in the shot in focus so the problem is most likely camera shake.

Set your camera for a photograph, and put it on a table or tripod, then let the self timer trip the shutter. My bet is that most of your problems will suddenly go away.