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enter image description hereI shot my first roll of film on the Olympus infinity stylus zoom DLX that I got recently (and paid a lot of money for). I used Kodak 400 film and all of my shots turned out fuzzy and blurry? Not sure if this is a camera issue, or the type of film I used maybe being old, should I have used a different ISO film? Or is this a developing issue? I heard 400 was pretty safe for point and shoots if you’re not strictly doing indoor/outdoor. I like some of these shots but i feel as though it’s not supposed to be as fuzzy 😞

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    \$\begingroup\$ Posting full-size extracts of the picture (spine of the books, car license plate) would help people determine the kind if blur (motion vs focus) and allow them to make useful suggestions. \$\endgroup\$
    – xenoid
    Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 9:19
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    \$\begingroup\$ How were the negatives scanned? \$\endgroup\$
    – Bob Macaroni McStevens
    Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 11:14
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    \$\begingroup\$ I'm going to jump ahead and ask a different question: Why are you shooting film? Is it just for fun? For a "lo-fi" look? Or are you trying to achieve the "best executed" photos possible with the medium? If it's the latter, then I don't recommend a "point & shoot" camera. While Olympus made some reasonably good ones, my opinion is that there's just no comparison to using a SLR, with its greater control/flexibility and generally sharper lenses. \$\endgroup\$
    – osullic
    Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 11:54
  • \$\begingroup\$ ISO 400 film is indeed a good choice for a point & shoot camera. Probably the best general choice. On the point of how much you paid for the camera - a positive side-effect of buying film cameras is that there generally isn't much depreciation with them anymore. Once you don't break it, you can often resell a camera for close to what you paid for it. \$\endgroup\$
    – osullic
    Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 11:57
  • \$\begingroup\$ @osullic depends on the camera and what was paid. If there’s a buzz around it, that supports a stable price. But it is also easier to pay in excess of what actual demand tends to support because a small market segment buys most cameras…what I mean is it sounds like the OP might not have as many film cameras as I do, and while I might buy an ordinary point and shoot at a bargain store price, I am unlikely to buy one at the price where there are always some for sale on eBay…in part because resale is likely to be difficult. There is a very limited market for most film cameras. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bob Macaroni McStevens
    Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 17:23

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This doesn't look like there's anything wrong with the film. You can get old stock, but what is sold usually is new (see best-before date on the box). ISO 400 is fine. Apparently, your camera can handle ISO 50 to 3200.

Please check, if the lens is not fogged in any way. Also the rear lens element behind the lid. A good clean may help. You never know how well the previous owner looked after/stored the camera.

Did you order prints, or are the pictures digital scans? In my experience, no lab does "real" prints anymore. Negatives are scanned, and printed on inkjets. Unfortunately, the result always looks a bit fuzzy and smeared. I suggest, you take a good look at the negatives using a magnifier (or even a slide projector). You'll see, if the picture itself is fuzzy, or just the print/scan.

Last but not least: Keep in mind that the image quality of point-and-shoot cameras is not terrific. Certainly not if compared to (D)SLRs.

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Seeing as the Olympus infinity stylus zoom DLX is fully automatic, I would check the battery.

Also, are you using the viewfinder? Are the images sharp there?

And one last thing: seeing a lot of "the quality of images from the film camera is worse than digital". I wouldn't look there for answers. If there was an issue with sharpness coming from a camera with zoom literally in the title, consumers would've aided the discontinuation of this camera years ago. The focal lens is apparently not adjusting completely in step with the shutter, and with fully automatic cameras, the battery can indeed be the culprit!

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