My pictures no longer seem to be sharp. I generally use meter to select focus point and use manual settings to click pictures. Since some time i noticed this change. Could this be an issue with my camera or lens? Do i need to change any of them? I got my camera in 2011 and my lens around an year ago.
I am attaching a few sample pictures.
In the following picture, focus is on the tree. Aperture = 1.8. Exp = 1/2500 In the second picture, the focus was on the woman.
Many different things could be going on here but the most obvious is that you are shooting at a very wide aperture that will result in a small depth of field. Try increasing your aperture to allow for a larger range of acceptable subject matter. Something like f/5.6 or f/8 is a good range to try.
Other obvious answers are covered already on this site many many times over such as tripod use to increase sharpness and other hardware related issues and how to correct them (micro adjustment or repair).
This is a good place to start: Why are my photos not crisp?
If you think your focus is off, try manually focusing and see if it improves. I bet it doesn't, the tree looks like it's in focus, to me.
Shooting wide open is rarely sharp, but you can see your Depth of Field covers the tree. Your focus point determines where your depth of field is.
I think the lack of contrast is another reason the first image looks dull (perception).
At the distance you're shooting, your lens will have the entire woman in focus if focused correctly, even when shooting wide open.
Lenses have sweet spots, see this comparison: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=473&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=473&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=5
When using auto focus, give your focus point something with high contrast to focus on. For example: when doing portraits - you use an eye. I like to use single-point auto focus.
Since nobody else has said it, I'm going to suggest that your lens is possibly damaged and is no longer necessarily in focus when the camera thinks it is. I say this because I see two problems that I don't think can be accounted for otherwise.
The first image shows significant diffraction veiling that shouldn't be there unless it was an exceptionally hazy day. Normally this would occur with a very dirty lens, or internal fungus/mineral bloom, but possibly also if optically misaligned due to damage.
The second image shows what looks like camera shake, but if you're saying it was shot at 1/2500th then that's pretty unlikely. I can replicate this effect on damaged lenses, particularly ones that have taken a whack from the front (e.g. dropped while on the camera).
I suggest you do some tests on a tripod, both autofocus and manual. You should be able to repeat the problem and then fiddle with the lens to see if it improves in different scenarios. If the lens is damaged it can possibly be repaired, but that particular lens is possibly more economical to replace.
