Why are my photos blurry?

Telling camera shake from subject movement from missed focus — the three causes look different and need different fixes.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 20 min
Read: 3 min

Short answer

Look at what is blurred. Everything blurred in the same direction is camera shake, so use a faster shutter. Only the moving thing blurred is subject movement, also a shutter problem. Something else sharp instead of your subject is a focus problem.

Blur has three causes and they are distinguishable by looking at the photo carefully. Diagnosing which one you have takes ten seconds and points at a different fix each time.

Step by step

Zoom in and look at what exactly is blurred.The whole frame, only the moving subject, or a subject that is soft while something behind or in front of it is sharp. These are three different problems.
Diagnose camera shake.Everything in the frame smeared in the same direction, often with points of light drawn into short streaks. Caused by a shutter speed too slow for how steadily you are holding the camera.
Fix shake with shutter speed.As a starting rule use at least one over the focal length — 1/50 second on a 50mm lens, 1/200 on a 200mm. Raise the ISO to get there rather than accepting the slow speed.
Improve how you hold the camera.Elbows in against your body, left hand under the lens rather than gripping the side, breathe out and squeeze the shutter rather than jabbing it. Lean on a wall or a post when you can.
Diagnose subject movement.The background is sharp and only the moving person, child, dog or car is blurred. Again a shutter speed problem, but a faster one — 1/500 and upwards for people moving, faster for sport.
Diagnose missed focus.Something in the frame is sharp, just not the thing you wanted. Look at where the sharp plane actually falls — usually behind the subject or on a higher-contrast edge nearby.
Take control of the focus point.Set a single focus point and place it on the subject rather than leaving the camera to choose. Use eye detection if the camera has it.
Watch depth of field at wide apertures.At f/1.8 close up, the sharp zone can be a couple of centimetres deep. Focusing on the nose leaves the eyes soft. Stop down to f/2.8 or f/4 if you keep missing.
Check the obvious causes.A fingerprint or smear on the front element softens everything. So does shooting through a dirty window, or a very cheap filter.
Consider whether the lens needs light.Autofocus struggles badly in dim, low-contrast scenes and hunts. Focus on a defined edge, add light, or switch to manual focus with magnification.

Tips

Zoom in before you diagnose. The pattern of the blur tells you the cause.
Shutter speed at least one over the focal length, hand held.
Single focus point on the subject. Leaving the camera to choose is why it focused on the wall.

Common mistakes

Blaming the lens for softness that is camera shake — Shake and missed focus look like poor lens quality on a small screen. Zooming in shows directional smearing for shake and a sharp plane in the wrong place for focus.
Keeping ISO low at all costs — It forces a shutter speed too slow to hand hold. Noise can be reduced afterwards and is tolerable; motion blur cannot be undone.

If it doesn't work

Whole frame smeared in one direction

Cause: Camera shake — Fix: Faster shutter speed, better hand-holding technique, or a support.

Background sharp, subject blurred

Cause: Subject moved — Fix: Raise the shutter speed to 1/500 or faster and use continuous autofocus.

Wrong thing in focus

Cause: Camera chose the focus point — Fix: Select a single focus point and place it on the subject.

Everything slightly soft in every photo

Cause: Dirty front element or filter — Fix: Clean the lens with a proper cloth and remove any cheap filter.

Autofocus hunts and fails

Cause: Too little light or contrast — Fix: Focus on a hard edge, use the focus assist light, or focus manually with magnified view.

Questions people ask

Does image stabilisation solve this?

It helps with camera shake, typically buying two to four stops. It does nothing at all for subject movement, because the subject is still moving during the exposure.

Why are my photos sharp on the camera screen but soft on a computer?

The camera screen is small and generous. Always judge sharpness at 100% on a proper screen — a lot of images that look fine on the back of a camera are not.