Focusing problems S9500.. help..?

[Whiternoise]

Right, i love this camera to bits, but there's one problem that i'd like to check is just me and not the camera.. Focusing. Basically all my pictures seem to come out blurry whether they're taken with a tripod or not.

These two pictures were taken at 1/200 F4.9 ISO200 (10x optical zoom). The first was taken by hand, the second with a tripod.

http://www.struckbylightning.co.uk/DSCF0810.JPG
http://www.struckbylightning.co.uk/DSCF0811.JPG

Thoughts?

Thanks!

[IBM]

Is that straight from the camera, or have you resized and optimised for web?

They don't look too bad, although they're too dark, so can't make out any real detail. Your best bet is to try and replicate the blur in a well lit environment to see if it's a camera fault. Also get a ruler and attempt to focus at a specific point, taking a shot and seeing where the actual focal point is.

Can we see what the original files look like?

What's the native res of the camera? And have you checked your jpeg compression settings to make sure you're not taking at 'low' or whatever?

[Whiternoise]

i resized to 1024x768 from 9MP

This is a sharpened version from PS: http://www.struckbylightning.co.uk/DSCF0812.JPG

(i'll see if i still have the originals - if not i'll take a couple more)

The native resolution should be 9MP (this is on "fine" mode) the compression is fine afaik.

[IBM]

Stick one up fullsize unoptimsed if you can, give us a better idea. It's a really dark shot though, which makes details difficult to make out, especially with optimisation artifacts all over the place.

[Whiternoise]

http://www.struckbylightning.co.uk/DSCF0817.JPG

This one was indoors, at full zoom - but this is the difference, that one came out a LOT sharper, it's only outdoors that seems to cause problems.

http://www.struckbylightning.co.uk/DSCF0815.JPG

There's an unoptimised shot - i'll do a better take tommorow, ie brighter.

[Whiternoise]

Ok.. quick update, this was taken in the daytime and looks to be ok

http://www.struckbylightning.co.uk/DSCF0822.JPG

So i guess my question is how can i improve the sharpness if shooting in low light.

[headbrace]

What sort of aperture were these taken with? Most lenses have a sweet spot for sharpness often about f/8.0, and at other f stops they can go a bit soft, even if in focus.

[Whiternoise]

I think these were around f/4.6. I'll look into it

[Bobster]

right so at the 10x end of the camera = 300mm so unless you have a steady hand 1/200 is too slow by 1/100th, for low light shooting, use a monopod or a tripod, or bump your ISO to increase shutter speed..

Headbrace, its all well and good saying that, but this isn't a DSLR its a compact DSLR (built in lens) so this particular models range is 2.8-4.9, so it was at maximum anyway..

[Stoo]

Exif says different:

Camera Make: FUJIFILM

Camera Model: FinePix S9500

Image Date: 2007:03:13 14:30:01

Flash Used: No (Auto)

Focal Length: 66.7mm (35mm equivalent: 309mm)

CCD Width: 7.78mm

Exposure Time: 0.0007 s (1/1400)

Aperture: f/8.0

ISO equiv: 200

White Balance: Auto

Exposure: program (Auto)

and the previous shot:

Camera Make: FUJIFILM

Camera Model: FinePix S9500

Image Date: 2007:03:11 20:50:01

Flash Used: No

Focal Length: 66.7mm (35mm equivalent: 309mm)

CCD Width: 7.78mm

Exposure Time: 0.013 s (1/80)

Aperture: f/6.4

ISO equiv: 200

White Balance: Manual

Metering Mode: Spot

Exposure: Manual

Exposure Mode: Manual

I'd say it's just down to getting to know the camera's settings a little more

[Bobster]

that exif made me think i had the wrong camera, but i read the spec wrong yesterday! DOH!

1/80 @ 300mm (309) hand held is looking for statue like holding when going for a static shot..

[Stoo]

1/80.. without a tripod.. *shudder*

[med2003]

There are several things you can do with your 9500 to help. Setting a higher ISO, for instance try setting it to 400, would be a good thing to start with.