Non SLR digital tips?

[astralis]

I have experience with SLR film cameras and had a year of photography courses in college, but it's been a while. The camera I'm using now is just a simple 10MP digital camera by Fuji but all of my images seem fuzzy. What tips can anyone give me about maximizing a camera like this to take better pictures? I'm going to Paris over Christmas and really want nice pictures without buying a digital SLR.

Here is my Flickr photostream to give you an idea of what my images look like with the camera.

I never use the flash on the camera and I have the resolution settings at the highest. Also, I only use the optical lens to get closer to the subject, and rarely use it.

I look forward to your wise advice.

Thanks in advance!

[Sime]

Hi Welcome.

So, I had a quick look through your photo stream and one thing seemed to pop up often... iso 800!

Let's take this little kitty for example...


You've got a very slow shutter speed ( 1/8th ) and you have a high iso, which with a compact / bridge camera can introduce noise very quickly...

See, Kitty in this shot, he's (she's) fine...



Because you're introduced some natural light into the image... so, for you it's about getting enough light (natural or flash and don't be afraid to experiment with your flash) to get the ISO down (equiv of Film Speed - ASA800) and your shutter speed up a bit.

In Paris at night, the Eiffel Tower is nicely lit :-) (And also copyright at night, yeah.. uh huh, police that!?) and in daylight, your camera should / seems to do just fine..

Try playing with your flash, it's digital you're not wasting cash - try and try again - till you're happy with the exposure..

Hope to see some of your shots of Paris on your return!!

Sime

[astralis]

Wow...nice lesson! That truly summarizes the problem. The camera will let me set the ISO but it won't let me set the speed. The flash lighting that I've taken has been horrible, but your lesson has made it clear that the issue is the high ISO and low speed with the automatic settings. I'm definitely going to experiment now that I know what to look for.

I'll be sure to take some illicit images of the Eiffel Tower at night!

Thank you very much!

I'll be back...

[inkista]

Best tool you can get for a P&S camera is a small light travel tripod, like a gorillapod or ultrapod. That will let you do lower light at longer shutter speeds without introducing camera shake blur (although there's no way to avoid subject motion blur). You can get great night-time shots or shots of yourself with a tripod and a timer (I tend to travel solo a lot ). Here's a lowlight shot I once got with a handy bench, an ultrapod, a 3MP Canon S30, and the timer feature:


iso 80, f/3.5, 2/5s.

Note the low-low ISO setting, the extremely slow shutter speed, and the motion blur on the people, but also that there's no camera shake blur because I used the tripod.

You also don't have to use a tripod, just find some kind of support (handrail, bench, trash can) and use the timer so any shake you introduced when you pushed the shutter is eliminated by the time the shutter opens.

Also, learn to use the tungsten white balance setting when shooting in incadescent light. Good thing to learn. That way kitty won't be all orange.