Help - P90 taking really blurry pictures

Hi Diane - is the flash going off? If you have it set to off and there's not enough light this may be causing some blur due to low shutter speed.

Diane, does this happen even in full sunlight or just in low light situations? If you are trying to shoot in low light where there is low contrast the camera may not be locking in focus. The camera needs enough light on the subject to be able to focus. Try shooting with a little more light on the subject.

This definitely happens in low light situations, but I also have enough full light and flash pictures that it happens in to be concerned that I am doing something wrong. I was embarrased when my son in law was going thru some of my pictures and said, "surely these crappy pictures weren't taken with your new camera." I had to reply they were, and then listen to the Nikon criticisms. I have to agree to some extent....my small Nikon point and shoot was taking better pictures. Please....what am I doing wrong? Not always appropriate to use a tripod. Any suggestions??

Diane, just out of curiosity what ISO do you have your camera set for. If it is set to low the camera is doing everything it can to get light to the sensor, unfortunately one of those is to slow down the shutter which can make it real easy to shake or move the camera and blur the pics.

Also is the camera set to auto? If its not something may have been set wrong like shutter or iso under a manual setting.

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Go into your camera's menu and set your ISO to Auto. It's obviously not getting enough light to the sensor to give you the pictures you want. And when you press the shutter, don't press hard......just let your finger slowly push down on the button. And of course, don't jerk it, or you WILL get fuzzy pictures all the time.

Diane, you'er getting all kinds of recommendations which are all good but you first need to determine if the camera is functioning properly. Do a reset of all functions to factory specs. See page 151 of the users manual. Then set the mode dial to auto. See page 4 it's number 2. Turn the dial to the camera picture. (You may already know this). In auto mode the camera will make the decisions as to the settings needed for a particular shot. This is the basic point and shoot mode. Take some shots in good daylight and in light that would require flash, indoor. If the camera is functioning properly you should get good shots all properly exposed and in focus. If the camera is doing it's job in auto mode then you can branch out into other settings and learn how they work.

I have NEVER had it out of auto mode. I think from all the different suggestions and such that I was trying to take the picture just too darn fast. There is a feature which I don't use, and that is to push the button down part way and give the camera a chance to focus, then push it all the way down to take the picture. I tried working with the camera this afternoon and slowing down. I'm still not totally impressed with the pictures, but they are not horrible. I'm still not getting the quality I want. I have it set to fine, I have it set to 12M....something else I should be changing to get better quality?

I hate to say this, Diane, but the problem may be you. People have a tendency to push down on the shutter button instead of gently pressing it. Being well braced will help reduce blurring and shaking, too. Don't hold the camera out if front of you too far. That just sets it up for camera shake. Hold it close to your eye and brace your elbows against your chest, and see what a difference that makes in the quality of pictures. Try this little test: place the camera on something solid, like a table or desk.....take a picture of something (anything at all) hold the camera perfectly still, and gently press the shutter button. How does the picture come out now? If it's perfectly sharp and in focus, then your problem is solved. Let us know how it works out, will you?

I also recommend following Jacks advice. But there is only so much helpful advice that can be conveyed in a posting whether it's here or somewhere else. If Jacks recommendation does not work then I would suggest getting some one on one instruction. The P90 is a much more complex camera than a point and shoot. Sometimes it takes a good bit more effort to learn how to use it. Don't give up on it. We have all been there at some point in time.