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I am looking for advice on some sort of software that will reliably fix the effects of unwanted motion blur. Preferably a freeware or maybe shareware product. I have Photoshop 6 and Elements 6. Couldn't find anything in Photoshop but what I found in Elements didn't do the job well.
The motion blur I have is not extreme (well, in my view anyway). It is noticeable in small text and was caused by not having enough maneuvering space to accurately pan a moving object.
I have tried Focus Magic (trial period) but it wasn't as good as I expected. Maybe I am expecting too much but that is hard to say without knowing what is possible. Perhaps an example of one or two of my pics in question would help explain what I am looking for ? Is there any where to post such examples ?
I am not looking to upgrade the versions of Photoshop or Elements. A good plugin would do very nicely. I did see that GIMP had a plugin which claimed to do this but I couldn't find any download sites for a Windows version. Only saw Linux ones and one referecne to a Windows version which seemed to point to a dodgy site.
Any reasonable advice would be appreciated.
Quote: Is there any where to post such examples ?
You can post them right here in the forum.
In my honest opinion I cannot see how you can recover a soft image unless you spend hours editing in fine pixels.
I would love to see some feed back on this should be an interesting read.
OK this is an example of one of my motion blur suffering photos. At first glance it looks fine but when you look at the close up you will see the extent of motion blur on the text beneath the cockpit and on the nosewheel door.
It would help perhaps, if you'd post the EXIF and some details re. the camera and lens etc. The kind of thing that you'd be asked to upload if this was the critique gallery.
As it is, it's very hard to tell, particularly at this size, whether that is, in fact motion blur, or whether the image is just a bit soft.
Quote: Personally I don't think it's worth the time or effort, an out of focus image will always be just that, despite any miraculous claims by software manufacturers.
My thought exactly, however I thought by miracle that someone would come up with something not that I ever have, when i get a soft image which to be fair is quite a lot when doing fast action shots like wildlife i tend to bin them, simples...
Saying that why have you got a soft image with such a large object? my thoughts are you have not got the shutter speed up enough and that surprises me because of the nice sunny day the image in-tales.
What settings were used for this shot?
Very true.
If it was possible to cure lack of focus in software, none of us would need to bother with it in camera.
Definitely motion blur. I know I was not getting the best amount of panning space due to the gap I was shooting through and the fact I had to stoop very slightly. Looking at highlight areas it can be seen there is some direction to the blur.
Shot with EOS550D and Canon EF 75-300 (not image stabilised) at quite a wide focal length.
EXIF as follows:--
ImageWidth - 5184
ImageLength - 3456
BitsPerSample - 8 8 8
Compression - 6 (JPG)
Make - Canon
Model - Canon EOS 550D
StripOffset - 56852
Orientation - Top left
StripByteCount - 1390845
XResolution - 72
YResolution - 72
ResolutionUnit - Inch
DateTime - 2012:08:09 18:42:40
Artist -
Copyright -
ExifOffset - 422
ExposureTime - 1/800 seconds
FNumber - 8
ExposureProgram - Aperture priority
ISOSpeedRatings - 200
ExifVersion - 0221
DateTimeOriginal - 2012:08:09 18:42:40
DateTimeDigitized - 2012:08:09 18:42:40
ComponentsConfiguration - YCbCr
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/790 seconds
ApertureValue - F 8.00
ExposureBiasValue - 0
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
Flash - Flash not fired, compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 125 mm
UserComment -
SubsecTime - 40
SubsecTimeOriginal - 40
SubsecTimeDigitized - 40
FlashPixVersion - 0100
ColorSpace - sRGB
ExifImageWidth - 5184
ExifImageHeight - 3456
InteroperabilityOffset - 46078
FocalPlaneXResolution - 5728.18
FocalPlaneYResolution - 5808.40
FocalPlaneResolutionUnit - Inch
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Auto
White Balance - Auto
SceneCaptureType - Standard
Maker Note (Vendor): -
Macro mode - Normal
Self timer - Off
Quality - RAW
Flash mode - Not fired
Sequence mode - Continous
Focus mode - AI Servo
Image size - Large
Easy shooting mode - Manual
Digital zoom - None
Contrast - Normal
Saturation - Normal
Sharpness - Low , -32769
ISO Value - 32767
Metering mode - Evaluative
Focus type - Auto
AF point selected -
Exposure mode - Av-priority
Focal length - 75 - 300 mm (1 mm)
Flash activity - Not fired
Flash details -
Focus mode 2 - 65535
White Balance - Auto
Sequence number - 0
Flash bias - 0 EV
Subject Distance - 0
Image Type - Canon EOS 550D
Firmware Version - Firmware Version 1.0.9
Owner Name -
Camera Serial Number - 1935050731 (735634795)
Sharpness (0D) - 0
File number - 000 - 0000
Sharpness (A0) - 3
Thumbnail: -
JpegIFOffset - 46436
JpegIFByteCount - 10415
I'll stand to be corrected here (Ian!) but I should have thought that with those settings, your shot would be sharper overall than it is. Although I suppose we are looking at a somewhat reduced-in-quality version to allow it to be uploaded to here.
So! To answer your question, I don't think that there's much you can do about it. I'm assuming that your original is sharper than this and that's probably the best result that you're likely to get.
I don't know of a programme or plug in that could rectify this. As the others have said, if an image is out of focus, you can't get it back.
Yes it WOULD have been much sharper without motion blur at these settings and such a small focal length if the gap I was shooting through was not so restrictive as to not let me pan as I would normaly like to. As for the "throw away and learn". Not really an option due to the light fading earlier as the summer seeps away, this plane arrives in the evening and they are getting rid of this type at the end of the year. Nothing to "learn" either. I've been shooting for long enough. The thing I could learn here would be to take a chainsaw to the fence I was at but I don't think the authorities would take too kindly to that 
was just saying this to a friend today...
better a noisy sharp shot, than a noise-free blurred shot!
so get that ISO up and bang out those fast shutter speeds
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