A little camera advice...

[bmurr33]

OK, I am pretty sure I am in the right place for tis, so here it goes.

I am leaving in a couple of days for Disney/Orlando, and I am seriously contemplating picking up a new camera. I currently have a Sony CyberShot DSC-W150 which I am not fond of in the least. I picked it up about a year ago, and I must admit, I did not do my due dilligence on it as I should have. I had bought it to replace an older 7.1 megapixel canon elph (I forget the model) which took absolutely stunning pics, and was a pleasure to use. (except fo some reason there was no battery meter, it only warned you when it was about to die) I have learned my lesson, and I am going back to Canon. I have my eye on the Canon SD 1200 IS. I would love to get a digital SLR, but it is just not in the cards right now, so I am going to have to stick with point and shoot. A couple of things..... Does anyone have or use this model canon, and what are your thoughts? Also, I plan on getting a gorillapod for an attempt at fireworks and things, but does anyone kow if there is a remote shutter button accessory available? The gorillapod will keep the camera steady, but I feel as if when I puch the button, it will still cause the camera to shake. Thanks in advance!!

 

[VVFF]

OK, I am pretty sure I am in the right place for tis, so here it goes.

I am leaving in a couple of days for Disney/Orlando, and I am seriously contemplating picking up a new camera. I currently have a Sony CyberShot DSC-W150 which I am not fond of in the least. I picked it up about a year ago, and I must admit, I did not do my due dilligence on it as I should have. I had bought it to replace an older 7.1 megapixel canon elph (I forget the model) which took absolutely stunning pics, and was a pleasure to use. (except fo some reason there was no battery meter, it only warned you when it was about to die) I have learned my lesson, and I am going back to Canon. I have my eye on the Canon SD 1200 IS. I would love to get a digital SLR, but it is just not in the cards right now, so I am going to have to stick with point and shoot. A couple of things..... Does anyone have or use this model canon, and what are your thoughts? Also, I plan on getting a gorillapod for an attempt at fireworks and things, but does anyone kow if there is a remote shutter button accessory available? The gorillapod will keep the camera steady, but I feel as if when I puch the button, it will still cause the camera to shake. Thanks in advance!!

Can we ask what exactly was wrong with the pictures? The W150 is a good camera, I don't see any reason it shouldn't work just as well as any other P&S camera. Maybe post some examples of what it did "wrong"?

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_w150-review/

As for the gorillapod...simply use the timer function...it'll be harder to get the exact timing...but you'll still get good shots if you just keep taking pictures.

 

[bmurr33]

I will post some pics later tonight when I get home, but basically I felt like the majority of the pics were much more grainy than I thought they should be. The colors also did not seem as vivid or bright as my older Canon did. That being said, I am by no means a pro photographer, but I am pretty handy with a point and shoot, hahahahah! Anyway, no matter how I changed up the settings, the picture quality just did not seem to be there. Beside the picture quality, I really don't have any complaints. It is very easy to use, I like the 16:9 option, and the 5X optical zoom is very nice. I just can't seem to get those virbant bright pictures I used to get!

 

[VVFF]

I will post some pics later tonight when I get home, but basically I felt like the majority of the pics were much more grainy than I thought they should be. The colors also did not seem as vivid or bright as my older Canon did. That being said, I am by no means a pro photographer, but I am pretty handy with a point and shoot, hahahahah! Anyway, no matter how I changed up the settings, the picture quality just did not seem to be there. Beside the picture quality, I really don't have any complaints. It is very easy to use, I like the 16:9 option, and the 5X optical zoom is very nice. I just can't seem to get those virbant bright pictures I used to get!

Definitely post some shots that we can comment on. I doubt grainy is going to be fixed by a new P&S camera as that comes from having a small sensor. There are P&S's with larger sensors but they are much more expensive than a Canon 1200 IS.

 

[GrillMouster]

I agree with what's been said so far. Post some pics to illustrate the problems you've having. If your images are grainy, you probably are taking underexposed images and/or have the ISO set too high. Also, do you notice noise in prints or on-screen? Noise usually appears worse on-screen and isn't as problematic in prints around 4x6.

Finally, I wouldn't recommend getting a new camera right before a trip. You should give yourself plenty of time to read the manual and the new camera. You don't want to lose photo-taking opportunities because you're fiddling with a new and unfamiliar camera.

 

[MICKEY88]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but if I recall corectly Canon does more in camera processing and boosts the saturation which yields more vivid colors..

whereas Sony does less in camera processing, leaving it up to the photographer to either boost saturation in camera, or by pc after the shot is taken..

 

[bmurr33]

Thanks for the advice! I will definitely post some pics tonight. As far as the gainy nature of the pictures, I have not printed any, so as you refered to, the grainy look may very well be more intensified bieng on a computer screen.

 

[VVFF]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but if I recall corectly Canon does more in camera processing and boosts the saturation which yields more vivid colors..

whereas Sony does less in camera processing, leaving it up to the photographer to either boost saturation in camera, or by pc after the shot is taken..

Never seen an example of a Canon P&S boosting color more than a Sony. I think most all P&S's take the same path in terms of processing as eachother as the target market is unlikely to PP anything.

Now in regards to DSLRs Canon typically sharpens less in JPG at its default. Nikon cameras below the D90 had high saturation as their defaults for JPG. Not sure about Sony here. I don't tend to put any weight in how DSLRs process JPGs though as I don't typically shoot in that format.

 

[bmurr33]

Also, now that I am thinking about it, the pictures often come out a bit blurry, even in regular light. I do realize the short comings of P&S cameras in low light situations, so in those cases I am much more forgiving.

MICKEY88, what you said in reference to Canon possibly doing more in camera processing than Sony would make sense if they do in fact do that. As I have stated already, the pictures from the Sony just don't seem to pop as much as the Canon did.

I am sure I am just doing something wrong, that is usually the case, hahahaha! Once I get those pics up, you guys will be able to help me out a bit more.

 

[MICKEY88]

Also, now that I am thinking about it, the pictures often come out a bit blurry, even in regular light. I do realize the short comings of P&S cameras in low light situations, so in those cases I am much more forgiving.

MICKEY88, what you said in reference to Canon possibly doing more in camera processing than Sony would make sense if they do in fact do that. As I have stated already, the pictures from the Sony just don't seem to pop as much as the Canon did.

I am sure I am just doing something wrong, that is usually the case, hahahaha! Once I get those pics up, you guys will be able to help me out a bit more.

one thing that would contribute to both graininess and muted colors, would be underexposure

 

[MICKEY88]

Never seen an example of a Canon P&S boosting color more than a Sony. I think most all P&S's take the same path in terms of processing as eachother as the target market is unlikely to PP anything.

Now in regards to DSLRs Canon typically sharpens less in JPG at its default. Nikon cameras below the D90 had high saturation as their defaults for JPG. Not sure about Sony here. I don't tend to put any weight in how DSLRs process JPGs though as I don't typically shoot in that format.

you may be right, I only know what I read in a photography magazines test comparison article.

I do know that Minolta definitely did less processing in camera than the other companies did

 

[bmurr33]

underexposure seems to be a very possible culprit of my situation. Do you know of any steps to try and correct that with the W150? Sony didn't grace that camera with the ability of too many manual adjusments.

 

[VVFF]

underexposure seems to be a very possible culprit of my situation. Do you know of any steps to try and correct that with the W150? Sony didn't grace that camera with the ability of too many manual adjusments.

When you post pictures it will be easier to advise you if the issues you experienced could be avoided. Have you tried shooting in Vivid mode if you like brighter colors?

 

[VVFF]

you may be right, I only know what I read in a photography magazines test comparison article.

I do know that Minolta definitely did less processing in camera than the other companies did

I looked a bit through some Sony reviews at dpreview and it looks like it varies per model. However, this is the closest to the OP's camera

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyw80/page5.asp

Sony seems to emphasize red, Canon possibly blue...tough to know considering I don't know the original colors. However, they do comment on them having "typical Sony" colors so I don't think the OP should have issues with the saturation.

 

[zackiedawg]

I'd agree with most of the advice so far. To the OP, setting the camera's color mode to vivid may help quite a bit. Also, check that the ISO is either set to 'auto', or if you know a little more about how to use it, set it manually to the lowest setting, only raising it when you are shooting in lower light and need it. One other thing to check is the white balance setting - if it's not on auto, it could be skewing your colors.

No question, the W150 should be just as capable as pretty much any other compact P&S model by Canon, Nikon, etc. It's a decently reviewed, good, midlevel compact. Going to a newer camera packed with megapixels on ever smaller sensors is not likely to improve your graininess or noise issues...most modern P&S cameras have actually gotten a little worse than those from a few years ago.

As for colors - I don't necessarily think Canon does that much different in camera for processing, except for the color biases mentioned before. Canons do tend to go for more saturated blues and greens, while Sonys have always tended towards more saturated reds. And in general, most agree at least in compacts, Canon tends to go for slightly more saturation by default than Sony, which does tend to go a bit more natural on many models, with 'vivid' mode being closer to the Canons' saturated look. Personally, I leave my Sony T100 on vivid, as I do prefer the slightly punchier look to the colors.

To the OP - for correcting any underexposure issues, you might have several options that could help. First, what metering mode are you set to with the camera? If you have been using the multi-metering mode (the widest), you could try switching to Center-weighted metering. This will use a smaller area of the frame around the center to meter the shot, meaning your subject is weighted more heavily than the background when metering...this can help avoid underexposing subjects because the sky in the background was brighter, for example. Another option is to adjust the 'EV' setting on the camera. I believe you have one in your menu...by default it should be set to '0'...move it one or two bars towards the '+' column, which would be 1/3 to 2/3 adjustment - that will usually force the camera to expose a bit more where it might otherwise be underexposing.

ALSO - I just realized that your camera has 'DRO', which is dynamic range optimization. If you have this turned on, it may be overcompensating for shadow areas and brightening them, which will typically introduce more noise or grain into the shot, and at the same time, fade the colors and reduce contrast. Try turning this function off, and see if the look improves.

And you might want to look in your camera menu for a function called 'unsharp mask retouch'...you should be able to apply that to your photos in camera to improve the sharpness a bit.

Most importantly, don't judge photos on your computer by looking at them blown up to 100% viewable. Reduce them to the size that they will fit on your screen, since that's the size you'll actually be viewing them at in slideshows and such. As the cameras go towards more megapixels, those 100% pixel-peeping close up views are going to look worse and worse...but zooming out until the photo fits the screen will 'equalize' those extra pixels and show you what the photo will look like when sharing.