350d with kit len, sharp portraits?

This has probably been asked a million times and there is likely a simple answer for a dumb person like me with 0 photo skill. Being a new DSLR owner, I really can do with some help.

Recently bought a Canon 350d with Kit len. This is my first SLR (or DSLR) camera with no previous experience. Bought this because the old compact digital camera did not have a chance (speed wise) to take any decent photo of our fast moving baby.

Being a red blood male I had the OK from the missus to buy this £360 camera and now faced with the task on getting some good pictures. (Now I know it is not easy)

What is the reason I am failing to get some of these ultra sharp pictures indoor or outdoor?

1. Do I need a tripod? (just shakey hands, practice my stand and hold?) Shutter seems pretty fast in this light. My old little compact camera obviously had some anti-shake mechanism.

2. Lighting? I do not seem to get the ultra sharp result even if I switch on all light in the daytime, or at the park with flash. Do I need special lights?

3. Settings on the camera? (I use standard portrait mode) Is it wrong to use this mode with 2 persons (mother and baby)?

4. Lens. Is the kit lens capable? Do I need better lens or even some special IS lenes?

5. Learn photoshop. Is it down to after processing?

6. Purely down to my crap skill. Forget it all and get it done whenever needed in a studio by professionals. Is the result I was after not generally achievable with non-pro eqipment? Is this beyond my DIY skill?

Any input would be appreciated. I know there are many factors, can someone point out the likely most guilty candidate?

[Radiohead]

Can you post an example of the sort of shot you mean, along with the exif.

There are possibly 3 things causing a lack of sharpness - a soft lens, or more likely camera-shake or motion blur (and possibly both together).

The standard 18-55mm lens is pretty slow, and if you're shooting indoors at the 55mm end I'd expect it to struggle with a decent shutter speed.

[Yandros]

Fuzzy shots will be one of three things - camera shake, subject movement or out of focus. If you look carefully (or post some examples for us to help), you can work out which it is.

For starters, keep it simple. Take some still life shots outdoors, in good light. Make sure that your shutter speed is 125th or higher. That'll make you feel better

You might want to try this next....

Bump the ISO to about 400, and set the 350 to aperture priority. Set the aperture to about f8 (this is usually optimum sharpness of most lenses, and gives you greater depth of field). Note what shutter speed you've got. On a reasonably bright day outdoors, you should be over 1/100th of a second (more will be good, depending on how fast your target is moving).

[senu]

Originally Posted by Radiohead

There are possibly 3 things causing a lack of sharpness - a soft lens, or more likely camera-shake or motion blur (and possibly both together).

The standard 18-55mm lens is pretty slow, and if you're shooting indoors at the 55mm end I'd expect it to struggle with a decent shutter speed.

And soft..
I'm not sure if the cameras default anti aliasing is exaggerated by this lens but the optical way to counteract it is by using the smallest aperture possible ( Using P or Aperture priority AV)
Or by liberal but sensible use of USM is PS or Elements
Certainly.. there is no substitute for a fast ( and sharp lens) , ultimately..unless the camera itself has a fault

I don't think my missus would appreciate I upload her photo onto cyberspace.

I will try get get some photo data together and let you guys 'examine'. What I can get is a reasonably sharp photo of a flower on my dining table if I semi-rest my camera on top of a chair. So I think the camera is OK.

I am also scrapping about easy 10% + of all photo because AF is not that clever. I have since read the AF maybe better on the 400d.

So I guess the problem is there when:
I am holding the camera and 'shooting' people.

Does this mean likely the problem comes from:
1. shakey hands - solution tripod
2. slow lens because of moving subjects - solution better light or faster lens

I don't think better light would help because the outdoor shots were done in fairly good lights.....

[allymac123]

There should be more than enough light at midday wit the sun out to take a photo of someone (standing still) without movment blur from either party. When you focus check to see what focus point the camera is using and where it corresponds to the subject. Also make sure you don't get closer/further from subject between focusing and opening the shutter.

Thinking back, one of the photo had the baby's arm blurred because of arm movement, so I guess faster shutter and higher ISO....

With this kit, would I get noise and loss sharpless if I turn up shutter speed and ISO etc... (provide lighting allows) What is the best way to go about this? Can I get by with settings? If I need a lens, which one is a good candidate for this purpose only?

[toadoftoadhall]

Hi Keyman, dont dispair just yet. Most shots from digital need a bit of encouragement to be sharp, somtimes done in camera and sometimes in PS.
Samples would be good to evaluate though.

Try taking just a shot of the park, without the lady in the shot. Shoot at about f8, and whatever shutter speed you need, tripods are good, but you can rest the camera on benches, trees, etc just to get it steady.
If its still not sharp after a bit of unsharp mask in PS ( try 250% .5 radius threshold 0 ) you may have a dodgy lens.

toad

[bowenjones]

I was in the same position as you when I first got my 350D. Some of the images I took were underwhelming to say the least but, over time, I've become more and more pleased with what I take.
My advice is to practice taking hand held pictures with long exposures of around a second or so. Don't worry about the quality of these as they are almost certainly going to be blurred but concentrate on your technique and keeping the camera as steady as possible. Then take a shot of something at 1/250th or 1/125th and I can guarantee that you will have a rock solid shot. After a while, you'll be taking great shots at 1/60th or less.
The kit lens is rather soft but don't mix softness up with camera shake. Some of the images you have might just be on the soft side. This can easily be rectified in photoshop. I've seen some wonderfully sharp pictures taken with the kit lens and they are all down to technique. Practice, practice and practice more

[Brammers]

You really, really, really need to show us a picture. Even if you're uncomfortable showing shots of your wife or baby, take a soft toy, put it in the same light, use the same settings and shoot that. As soon as you show us the picture it will betray all of your technique and we'll tell you the answer in a split second. At the moment people are guessing as to what it could be.

On the subject of the kit lens - in terms of its sharpness it will be fine - no it's not the sharpest piece of glass ever produced but I promise you that it's a much more advanced piece of equipment than many photographers will ever learn how to use properly! What may be letting you down with it would be the limited aparture range. Again, show us a picture and we can reccomend whether or not you need a new lens.

Final quicky, have you tried a shot using the flash?

[beachy]

this was taken with the kit lens on my D50,(which is much the same as the kit lens on the canon) and a touch of sharpning in photoshop, i would say this is a reasonably sharp shot with the kit lens, so as already mentioned we do need to see some shots so we can judge whats happining,HTH.

[senu]

Originally Posted by Keyman

I don't think my missus would appreciate I upload her photo onto cyberspace.

No problem post something ( someone) else

I am also scrapping about easy 10% + of all photo because AF is not that clever. I have since read the AF maybe better on the 400d.

Yes but if any part of your technique is a weak point, the 400Ds "better" AF will not help much

So I guess the problem is there when:
I am holding the camera and 'shooting' people.

Hmm..

Does this mean likely the problem comes from:
1. shakey hands - solution tripod
2. slow lens because of moving subjects - solution better light or faster lens

Shakey hands: if you have good light ..or use flash unless you jolt the camera you shouldnt always need a tripod unless you are anticipating a long shutter speed
AI servo or Focus should be able to cope with moving objects..
and
There is always manual focus

Unless the lens or camera are faulty , you may be yearning for better without finding out exactly why your current kit is letting the side down.. for know

I don't think better light would help because the outdoor shots were done in fairly good lights.....

Blurry shots come from: camera shake ( operator error). Slow AF ( inappopriate use of one shot AF ) or Slow shutter speed ( because of low light)
This is correctable with tripod, Better lighting, higher ISO... before you consider a faster lens , one with IS or both
As a last resort for focus errors: use manual focus
And if all these still result in "soft", but not blurry pictures there is always USM

Missus OK to upload baby's photo (after some cropping). Some info on this first one.

1/60 5.6 ISO400 portrait mode. Taken outdoor, no direct bright sun light.

Baby's arm is waving but can I improve the overall sharpness.

This one in fact would be one of the better one.

[Radiohead]

1/60s is the culprit - not fast enough to stop that sort of motion. It's, as I thought, the slow f5.6 aperture in average light that's causing it. Upping the ISO to 800 would give you 1/125s.

[senu]

350D kit lens,
bright sunny afternoon USM X1 (only because of uploading) it was sharp enough without: Not quite a portrait