Help on pics with blurry subjects
fweddybear
a karate tournament, and all the spectators are not blurry where the two
people doing the moving around are blurry, especially if they are throwing a
kick or blocking with their arms. I think i need to get the image on the
film faster, but am not sure how to accomplish this. I am using an Olympus
digital C 2020 Z. Most setting are automatic, but i understand these can be
changed manually. I am just not sure what settings to use. Its great for
taking still shots, but once you introduce motion, well the pics don't come
ot as great. I have examples of the pics if anyone would like to see what i
am talking about. Any ideas would certainly be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Fwed
John Owens
You should use Shutter priority mode and force a fast shutter speed.
at least 1/500 or 1/1000 th of a second.
Or if lighting level is marginal use aperture priority mode and select
the lowest F stop possible. This will result in maximizing shutter
speed. You might still have some blurring but minimized
You might be able to set the ISO (equivalant to file speed) to a
higher number. This to will result in faster shutter speeds but will
also produce a more grainy picture.
A powerfull external flash unit would help, but your subjects might
strongly object.
One problem I suspect you will encounter is that you will not be able
to take an low f stop picture at very fast shutter speeds. Most
digital cameras use the aperture mechinism as the shutter as well. At
very fast shutter speeds the aperture does not have time to open to
the lower f stops before having to close again.
Just play with it untill you find the best combination.
John
Oh yes! I can't spell worth crap so no need to comment on that.
On Sat, 24 May 2003 17:06:58 GMT, "fweddybear" <fwedd...@cox.net>
wrote:
fweddybear
>You should use Shutter priority mode and force a fast shutter speed.
>at least 1/500 or 1/1000 th of a second.
>Or if lighting level is marginal use aperture priority mode and select
>the lowest F stop possible. This will result in maximizing shutter
>speed. You might still have some blurring but minimized
>You might be able to set the ISO (equivalant to file speed) to a
>higher number. This to will result in faster shutter speeds but will
>also produce a more grainy picture.
>A powerfull external flash unit would help, but your subjects might
>strongly object.
>One problem I suspect you will encounter is that you will not be able
>to take an low f stop picture at very fast shutter speeds. Most
>digital cameras use the aperture mechinism as the shutter as well. At
>very fast shutter speeds the aperture does not have time to open to
>the lower f stops before having to close again.
>Just play with it untill you find the best combination.
>John
>Oh yes! I can't spell worth crap so no need to comment on that.
Thanks John for your input.... Picture lighting if fine... in fact I don't
use a flash, only for dim lit shots.... in playing a little with the camera,
I found an f stop of 2.2 and it looks like a shutter speed of 1/4.... which
was obvisously not correct.... I am trying to figure out how to change that
(reading the manual). I am pleased with the pics it has given me up to now,
but most have been still shots for stuff I would put on ebay. Even the
sunset shots come out looking great.... I did also find that the camera was
set for aperture instead of shutter... thats gonna change too....appreciate
the help!!!
Fwed
Anthony Giorgianni
thing, having been asked to do a pay-shoot of a indoor kids fair for a
public television station. (I am no where near a pro, but they needed my
help and could not pay much).
I was using an Olympus 2100uz, a camera very similar to yours, though the
Uzi (as C-2100uz owners refer to their cameras) has very effective imagine
stabilization, which helps, especially at full 10x optical zoom.
My results, shooting without flash and totally on auto (prog) mode, were
mixed. Many shots came out extraordinary, but many out were blurred. I just
did a lot of research on this. Here are my thoughts:
The problem really is the indoor light. I was shooting in a exposition
center with many overhead fluorescent lights (maybe not actually
fluorescent) that seemed very bright but really weren't. As a result, even
shots in which people were barely moving had slight blur in some places. And
shots of Ringling Bros clowns were mostly unusable, though some were ok -
one actually was great BECAUSE of the blur (you can see this if it will help
to see examples from this shoot www.giorgianni.homestead.com/photos.html)
After encountering these unexpected problems (this was my first general
indoor shoot), my first response was to learn all the aperture, shutter and
ISO stuff during the last few days. Then I checked the exif info on these
photos (you can use Camedia, Irfanview and other programs to do this): It
was VERY interesting. Working without flash, the camera was pretty much
pushed to its limits. All the photos were at max aperture - f/2.8 for the
Uzi. Had I worked in shutter priority or sports mode and slowed the shutter,
I might have had better results. But I would have lost a lot of light, and
there was little to spare
According to the exif data, many shots were at shutter speeds of around 1/15
or even slower. Most resources I have seen over the past days say that, for
normal conditions, you should have a speed no slower than 1/60. I compared
the exif on these photos to what I had on my usual shots - which typically
are taken outdoors. They generally had shutter speeds of a way faster 1/100
to 1/650 with the aperture not completely open (a fully open aperture will
allow more light and a faster shutter speed, but it also will limit depth of
field, which is fine for portraits but bad if you want both close up and
far-back stuff to be in focus - as in landscape mode.)
Based on a question I posted here and on the Uzi users group on Yahoo, I may
have been able to get brighter shots by manually boosting the ISO, which may
make photos slightly grainy.
But overall, it seems like these indoor situations, especially where action
is involved, simply push the camera to its limits.
If I had it to do again - and maybe this is a suggestion for you - I would
try the following:.
First I would set the ISO to 400 (that may be the max on your camera as
well)
Then I might try shutter priority mode (and maybe even sports mode in
s-prog, which is sort of a cross between automatic and shutter priority
mode). In sports mode, I would simply shoot and see what the camera does. In
shutter priority mode, I would manually increase the shutter speed. But I
expect I would very quickly get a warning (a red number in the view-finder -
which you probably have as well), telling me that the shutter setting is too
slow for conditions. The problem here is that, in either sports mode or
shutter priority - or if you boost EV, the camera tries try to compensate
for the faster shutter speed and loss of light by further opening the
aperture. But if the aperture already is maxed, there is no where else for
the camera to go. I should add that, in shutter, aperture and manual modes,
the ISO - if set to auto - will be set at 100 on the Uzi. I am not sure
about your camera. If it is the same, it would be important to set the ISO
to manual and then put it on 200 or 400. If the photo is a bit underexposed,
maybe post shoot editing with imaging software will help. But I wouldn't
count on that.
I think it also will help to get as close as possible to the subject and in
the best lighting. At full zoom, the UZI has a reduced max aperture of
f/3.5, further limiting the light. Someone on the Uzi user group said a
trick is to back off the zoom slightly, which will allow a higher aperture.
Your digicam may be the same. But you don't have the long barrel lens of the
Uzi, so I am not sure. (Remember: the lower the aperture number the LARGER
the aperture and the smaller the depth of field)
The only other thing I can suggest - and has been suggested to me - is to
use flash. I simply hate direct flash. It makes most photos I see look
terrible. And I do not have the spare money right now to get better flash
equipment, which also will require a new set of technical know-how and
experimentation.
Of course working outdoors or in strong light is best.
So that's what I have after having spent days researching this. If I am
wrong or if anyone has other ideas, please feel free to post a response.
I hope this helps you some anyway.
If you are not sure about all these settings, check the manual. It is all in
there, I'm sure. There also is a nice online course here:
http://www.shortcourses.com/using/introduc.htm
Regards,
Anthony Giorgianni
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"fweddybear" <fwedd...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:SENza.74718$_e6....@news2.east.cox.net...
fweddybear
My results, shooting without flash and totally on auto (prog) mode, were
mixed. Many shots came out extraordinary, but many out were blurred. I just
did a lot of research on this. Here are my thoughts:
The problem really is the indoor light. I was shooting in a exposition
center with many overhead fluorescent lights (maybe not actually
fluorescent) that seemed very bright but really weren't. As a result, even
shots in which people
snip snip....
Anthony... I have put the iso to 100 instead of auto... and set it to
shutter priority. I have tried shooting a few shots at 400, and it is just
way too grainy for me..... I do not have a sports priority option. As for
setting the depthof field, I have looked thru the manual and still trying to
figure out how. Although I believe there is some way to adjust this, I
think at certain iso settings, it is just preset. I also am having trouble
finding how to adjust the shutter speed. I also have never heard of exif
info.... and havne't seen it mentioned in my manual. What exactly is exif
all about??
Fwed
John Owens
> Anthony... I have put the iso to 100 instead of auto... and set it to
>shutter priority. I have tried shooting a few shots at 400, and it is just
>way too grainy for me.....
Try ISO = 200 Yes it's still grainy but not as bad as 400 by far.
> I do not have a sports priority option. As for setting the
>depthof field, I have looked thru the manual and still trying to
>figure out how.
Lower F stop = lower depth of field
More zoom = less depth of field
Increase lense to subject distance increases depth of field.
>Although I believe there is some way to adjust this, I
>think at certain iso settings, it is just preset. I also am having trouble
>finding how to adjust the shutter speed.
In manual or shutter priority mode shutter speed can be selected.
Since I don't know your camera I am no help here.
> I also have never heard of exif
>info.... and havne't seen it mentioned in my manual. What exactly is exif
>all about??
Exif is external information embedded in the image file by the camera\
generally all the camera settings and such
>
>Fwed
>
Anthony Giorgianni
Actually I was thinking your camera was the C-720 - an 8x optical zoom with
many of the same functions of the 10x Uzi. Yours is a bit more different,
with no s-prog.apparently for sports, landscape, portrait and night
shooting. But that's ok - you still have the shutter, aperture and manual
modes to do the same thing.
Choosing the mode is a bit different too. From the online review I see, to
select the mode, you turn the dial on top of the camera to A/S/M and then
use the on-screen menu to select Aperture Priority, Shutter Speed Priority
or Manual. To adjust, you then use the buttons on the jog dial. Yes, if you
go too far, the f-stop and shutter speed numbers on the screen will turn red
to alert you. You actually can go to even a larger aperture than I can, 2.0
versus 2.8 on the Uzi.
Again, increasing the aperture opening (smaller number)will limit depth of
field but allow more light. Narrowing the depth of field toward your max of
F/11 will decrease light but allow you to focus on near and far objects -
especially good for landscape. Check your camera manual for info. There also
is this on your camera:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/C2020/C20A.HTM
Yes, the ISO is manually adjustable on your camera, but apparently produces
nosier images than the Uzi at higher ISO.
As far as exif info, as John said, it is info embedded in the photograph
header and includes all of the camera settings, date and time and an image
thumbnail. If you have the Camedia software, you should be able to see the
exif info by opening a photo, and clicking on File/Properties. Keep in mind
that the exif info will be destroyed if you have edited the photo in many
common image editing programs, such as Microsoft Photo Editor. Even rotating
and re-saving a photo will destroy the exif. If you want to preserve it,
download the free exifer program at www.exifer.friedemann.info This will
allow you to back up the info before you edit a photo and restore it
afterwards. But it will be gone for good in any photo you have edited thus
far.
You also can download the free and VERY popular image viewer Irfanview
www.irfanview.com AND the plugins, or at least the exif plugin. This
software will allow you to view the exif info and edit anything without
overwriting it.
A final neat free software is pixvue www.pixvue.com . It adds lots of this
data to the right-click (context) menu and the properties menu. It also has
a photo database function.
All these programs also give you access to the newer IPTC data, which allows
you to embed captions, copyrights, searchable meta data and lots of other
stuff. You also can add a user comment to the exif data. All of this is very
cool and lots of fun!
Good luck.
--
Regards,
Anthony Giorgianni
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email: remove "killspam" from reply address. This email address will be
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"fweddybear" <fwedd...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:2eVza.75911$_e6....@news2.east.cox.net...
fweddybear
Both you guys have given me some valuable info. I must admit that I have
owned this camera for quite some time, and haven't really used it much,
especially for pics with motion... I shot mostly stills and was happy with
them, but when i was shooting the kids karate tournament and found that when
they throw a kick that their leg is hardly noticeable in the pic... well...
either they are as fast as lightening (highly unlikely) or I need to make
adjustments ( which is obvious). I did change to S on the A/S/M setting,
but still can't manually change the shutter speed. I will try M mode and
play a little more today. I will also try to get the f stop as colse to f
11 as possible. From what you guys are saying, that seems like a happy
medium.
I do have camedia and Irfanview software. I also have adobe photo
deluxe which came with the camera. That is what i use most to crop, resize,
and do all the cool stuff with. I will go to the site for the exif software
and download it as suggested.
thanks again for all the help you guys, and if I have any more issues, I
will let you know!!!
Fwed
Anthony Giorgianni
manually, you have to go to the camera's on-screen menu. And photodeluxe
WILL erase the exif info. So you will need to back it up first if you want
to preserve it.
Good luck.
--
Regards,
Anthony Giorgianni
(I prefer that you reply by posting back to the newsgroup. If you must
email: remove "killspam" from reply address. This email address will be
valid for a short time only.)
"fweddybear" <fwedd...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:i15Aa.79359$_e6....@news2.east.cox.net...
fweddybear
Here is something interesting.... i played a little with my shooting and
the new settings... first i got it so that my depth of field was good with
the still shots... (they really weren't all that bad to begin with)... then
with the motion shots... i had one of the kids wave his arm around... not
much better actually... but i found when i used a flash.... what a
difference... i mean it was perfect!!! I then for hahas set the camera back
to auto mode (turning the button to a/s/m) and shot without the flash....
and with... without the flash gave me about the same result as in manual
mode.... and again a perfectly shot pic in auto mode... i guess the flash is
all i really needed....i never thought a flash would get rid of
blur.....does that sound funny to you?? (it does to me) plus i get a mmore
truer color in the pic...i just can't believe the difference!!!
Fwed
\"@invalid >
best way to do stop motion, because light is faster than a shutter.
Anthony Giorgianni
allow a faster shutter speed, which will be more likely to stop motion.
--
Regards,
Anthony Giorgianni
(I prefer that you reply by posting back to the newsgroup. If you must
email: remove "killspam" from reply address. This email address will be
valid for a short time only.)
"fweddybear" <fwedd...@cox.net> wrote in message
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