Help with blurry pictures from my Nikon Coolpix S9100??

[TwingleMum]

I use a Nikon Coolpix at work and like it. Its a P&S. So when I got myself a new camera I bought a Nikon Coolpix S9100. I am a real beginner and wanted a no trouble point & shoot but with good features. It has a pop up flash , wide angle and power zoom. The problem is a lot of my photos are blurry and I have trouble holding the camera steady enough. Can anyone help me???? I have not touched anything the camera is set at the factory settings. I want to be able to take nice pictures of my 4 boys at Christmas. Thank you.

 

[wbeem]

There could be so many things. Could be a slow shutter speed, could be focus problems, etc. Can you post a photo to show an example?

 

[TwingleMum]

I'm not good at posting pics. I'll see if my DH can help me. But isn't the point () of a point and shoot that its care free???

 

[Frantasmic]

I believe your point and shoot expectations are a bit on the naive side.

If you are in full automatic shooting, your camera is making adjustments based on pre-selected parameters (long shutter speed for low-light conditions for example). If YOU the photographer do not know what the camera is doing (and vice versa) you may be moving when you need to be perfectly still.

If you are taking low light pictures, a tripod should help. If you are having problems even in good lighting conditions, it is probably operator needs to read the manual.

 

[disneyboy2003]

I'm not good at posting pics. I'll see if my DH can help me. But isn't the point () of a point and shoot that its care free???

Yes, the "point" of a point and shoot camera is that it is carefree...but only up to a certain "point". (Ha ha...okay, I'll stop...)

Point and shoot cameras are excellent at taking easy daytime photos when there's plenty of light. However, when things get a little more challenging, such as in low-light conditions, point and shoot cameras need additional instructions from the photographer to tell it how to take a proper picture. When a point-and-shoot camera sees a low light condition, its automatic reaction is to brighten the entire low-light scene. Cameras typically do this by using a slow shutter speed to let more light into the camera. Unfortunately, using a slow shutter speed means that the camera *must* be held perfectly still (i.e. placed on a tripod, table, or steady surface).

When the camera is in automatic mode, the camera does not know whether you want the dark scene in front of you to stay dark. For example, have you ever tried taking pictures at a nighttime or indoor show? Usually, the entire stage is dark except for a bright spotlight on the performer. When you yourself see this scene, your eyes know that you want to see the performer as clearly as possible. However, when your camera looks at the same scene, it sees a vast dark scene that it automatically wants to brighten. In that case, that's why your camera sets a slow shutter speed to let more light into the camera and to brighten the entire scene. However, this means that the spot lit performer is way overexposed (way too bright).

Or, how about in situations where you're trying to take a picture of a fast-moving object, such as in sports photography or a child jumping off a diving board. How does the camera know that you're taking a picture of a fast-moving object in front of you, without you telling it?

These are examples of how the photographer knows best what she is trying to shoot, and that you can't always depend on a point-and-shoot camera to know what kind of picture you had in mind.

Again, in bright light or daylight situations, point-and-shoot cameras do an excellent job on Auto. However, when things are more challenging (such as in lower light situations), I personally would not blindly depend on the camera to automatically decide how to take the picture.

 

[TwingleMum]

for example I was trying to take a photo of my son getting his Boy Scout Merit Badge and it was blurry and I was 20 ft away decent light and the camera has a pop up flash.

 

[Frantasmic]

What was the lighting like? Was it a church fellowship hall or something like that?

 

[disneyboy2003]

for example I was trying to take a photo of my son getting his Boy Scout Merit Badge and it was blurry and I was 20 ft away decent light and the camera has a pop up flash.

A few things to consider...

1. Even though it may have been "decent light" to you and me, in general, any indoor shots will be considered "low light" to the camera. "Decent light" to the camera is pretty much anything brighter than an overcast day. "Not decent lighting", in general terms, would probably be anything that's indoors or darker.

That's probably why your camera automatically popped up its flash, because on Auto it believed that the overall lighting wasn't too good and it wanted to brighten the photo.

2. Did you zoom in? Your camera has a variable maximum aperture. Aperture is the size of "hole" that allows light into the camera. The larger the aperture (the larger the "hole"), the more light gets into the camera. Because your camera has a variable maximum aperture, the maximum aperture gets smaller when you go from wide-angle to zoomed-in. So if you zoomed in for a nice, tight shot of your son, the aperture probably got lots smaller, letting less light into the camera. The camera probably had to compensate for this by using a slower shutter speed. Again, with slower shutter speeds, it's harder to get a sharp picture when handholding the camera.

3. The pop-up flash probably didn't do much to light the scene or your son. Pop-up flashes are notoriously weak. They're usually pretty good at lighting stuff very close by, such as maybe 6 feet away. I have a feeling that 20 feet away is probably pushing it (ie. too far) for a pop-up flash.


Again, without seeing the picture, I'm only guessing that these were the problems that you & your camera faced. Actually, if you're able to post a picture, we can all look at the camera settings that the camera chose and give you a better answer. Camera settings (known as "EXIF data") are digitally embedded into photos, so oftentimes, we can all look at your EXIF data and see what the camera "guessed" were the correct settings. (unless you or your photo-hosting Web site chooses to remove all the EXIF data...then none of us can see what the camera settings are...)

 

[photo_chick]

I'm deleting this one because I realized I repeated myself 12 hours later. LOL

 

[sjs314]

I know with my camera, a p&s but not a nikon, if I try to take a picture in low light without using a flash the picture will come out blurry but it will be fine if I use the flash. I believe the shutter is staying open longer to compensate for the low light and without using a tripod its next to impossible to keep the camera steady.

 

[rossb]

Are you having problems with indoor flash? You post was not clear. If indoor flash is the problem I would do the following:

* Take the camera out of "Auto Scene" mode and put it in plain "Auto" mode. This prevents the camera from auto picking a Scene mode. This is important as it will stop the camera from picking a slow shutter speed with flash.

* Make sure the flash is on Auto mode.

* Make sure the ISO value is set to Auto.

* When shooting indoor flash do not zoom in and hold the camera very steady. Make sure you are not moving it during the exposure. A good practice for beginners is to hold it steady for a few seconds before and after the exposure.

* The pop-up flash probably cannot throw decent light further than about 10-15 feet max.

 

[photofr33k]

I use a Nikon Coolpix at work and like it. Its a P&S. So when I got myself a new camera I bought a Nikon Coolpix S9100. I am a real beginner and wanted a no trouble point & shoot but with good features. It has a pop up flash , wide angle and power zoom. The problem is a lot of my photos are blurry and I have trouble holding the camera steady enough. Can anyone help me???? I have not touched anything the camera is set at the factory settings. I want to be able to take nice pictures of my 4 boys at Christmas. Thank you.

I own a Nikon Coolpix S9100 and I found out that BSS "Best Shot Selection" is my best friend using this camera found in "Continuous", it takes 5 photos real fast and saves the best shot, however a Tripod is a must. When I first purchased the camera I made a mess of photos. When you're taking photos in low light " Go To" menu and select "Party/Indoors" You have like 14 settings to choose from and the 15th is your Panorama setting. They make a big difference in the photo you're trying to get. Also use "Fill in Flash indoors" or "Slow sink" and find out which one is best for your shooting situation. I have some really amazing shots with this Nikon S9100. From the Moon to a Bee collecting pollen. Really clean shots and Video. Shooting video use 720p if you don't have a Class 10 SD Card inserted or the video will flinch using 1080p. Also unless you have "Really Good Lighting" you wont get a descent Video inside. The Nikon S9100 takes some very surprising night photos outside using most settings on the dial but "Night Landscape" and "BSS" is the two that I use the most.

 

[photo_chick]

I'm not good at posting pics. I'll see if my DH can help me. But isn't the point () of a point and shoot that its care free???

If that were the case professional photographers would be out of a job.

It's funny, point and shoots with their blurry often poorly exposed pictures satisfied many back in the days of film. But now we see how good photography can be from looking online and seeing the work of others. But the fact is the camera is just a tool. Auto will only get you so far and when it comes to indoor situations it tends to fall far short of expectations. It's up top the photographer to know when auto isn't cutting it and they need to step in and take control.

 

[My2Girls66]

I don't know if this could be the problem but something I have noticed with the new digital p&s's that we have is that they choose the focus area for you, often seems to end up being whatever is closest to the camera. I found my new little Coolpix focusing on something off to the far left of the scene when the subject I was taking the photo of was in the center. I went into the menu and found a way to keep the focus area in the center. The camera(Nikon P310) has to be in P,A or S to utilize this focus override. In 'auto' it goes right back to the camera choosing the subject to focus on. All of our older p&s's seem to focus in the center of the frame which I feel is where people are used to putting their main subject.
Just a thought