Camera Tips needed! My pictures turned out really bad!!!

[bbump]

Hello!

I used 400 film during our 11/5-11/9 trip and was soo disappointed with how the pictures turned out!!!
Evening pictures of the Castle, fireworks, Fantasmic and pictures taken on the inside of rides turned out HORRIBLE!!!! Some of the pictures were so bad that they wern't even developed.

Do I need to purchase a digital camera for our next trip to avoid this dissappointment???
I don't want a camera I have to putz with for hours in order to print pictures.

Any tips or recommendations for next time?
Thanks for your help.

 

[shewelch]

Do I need to purchase a digital camera for our next trip to avoid this dissappointment???

YES- get a digital camera and create a system to file your pics on your hard drive and print only the ones you want- you can get great deals on a digital camera with a photo printer- then you know how your pics will turn out!

AND use the photopass option to get the special poses since their photographers already have the lighting down and you can view them online after your trip!

There is also a photography forum:
http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=97

Sorry you weren't satisfied with your pictures- Hopefully you can pick some good memories out of them and be better prepared for the next go round- good luck!

 

[Mecha Figment]

for indor pictures where thers is not a lot of light.. or nightime shots you want to use a higher speed film such as 800. although it is harder to find in normal stores.. so you might want to look into goign to a photo specific retailer.

 

[MareSINY]

You didn't specify what type of camera you were using. Was it a point and shoot or an SLR? You need to use a higher speed than 400. Basically, this is how I used to describe the different speeds when I worked in a photo store...

100 - outdoor high light photos.
200 - outdoor medium - high light, indoor with a flash (no movement)
400 - outdoor night with flash, no movement. Indoor with a flash, also no movement (meaning photos of people posed, not action shots.)
1000 - High speed photos, sporting events and such like that.

A lot of times a digital camera wont take any better shots than your 35mm. You'll just know you got a crappy shot and wont develop it. Point & Shoot cameras aren't made for taking distance photos with a flash. The flash range is only a few feet. With an SLR you have the choice of a more powerful flash, that along with high speed film and and slower shutter speeds allows people to take photos of things like fireworks.

 

[CleveRocks]

Hello!

I used 400 film during our 11/5-11/9 trip and was soo disappointed with how the pictures turned out!!!
Evening pictures of the Castle, fireworks, Fantasmic and pictures taken on the inside of rides turned out HORRIBLE!!!! Some of the pictures were so bad that they wern't even developed.

Do I need to purchase a digital camera for our next trip to avoid this dissappointment???
I don't want a camera I have to putz with for hours in order to print pictures.

Any tips or recommendations for next time?
Thanks for your help.

A digital camera in and of itself will not cure your problems. Digital cameras are not magical.

As far as film cameras, 400 speed film is not sufficient for nighttime pictures unless you are using a tripod and have the shutter speed set for V-E-R-Y slow. Similarly, 400 speed film isn't going to work well for indoor pictures unless you're using a flash. And even then, flashes only travel about 10 feet or so, so if you're taking a picture of something 50 feet away, the flash is totally ineffective.

Fireworks also just about require a tripod.

If you try to take those same pics with a digital camera, you WILL have to consult the owner's manual and make some adjustments in order to set the camera properly.

THE GOOD NEWS IS, ONCE YOU LEARN HOW TO TAKE GOOD PICTURES IN EACH SITUATION, YOU NEVER HAVE TO LEARN IT AGAIN (digital or film). The key is, try a lot of practice shots around home. Experiment with different settings in different situations. You'll learn by trial and error what works and what doesn't. All of that putzing around (and will be a considerable amount of it), as you call it, will train you how to take great pictures that satisfy your needs. Then, once you return to WDW, you'll be an old pro who will make a few quick adjustments to the camera without even thinking about it, and you will see the great results.

Effortless "point and shoot" is fine for easy snapshots, but for those special circumstances (low light, movement, etc.) you DO need to take some steps to ensure quality. HAVE FUN EXPERIMENTING!

-- Eric

 

[safetymom]

I suggest asking your question on the photography board here on the DIS. You will receive lots of helpful information.

 

[Star Wars Guy]

I use a Kodak CX7430 digital (point and shoot). Two tips that I picked up on that helped me out greatly was 1. When taking any type of night shots of things further than 10 ft away, turn the flash off (as someone previously mentioned), and 2. Use the landscape setting for long distance shots. By combining both of those settings, my pictures of the castle at night with the different colors, my pictures of the Wishes fireworks, Fantasmic! and other pictures I took at night all turned out really well.

As mentioned by another poster, taking pictures of fireworks can be tricky and a tripod is nice to have as it will help cut down on blurring. However, I did all mine by hand and just tried to be as still as possible. I had a few that blurred, but the majority were fine.

 

[Fast Pass]

I have had a digital now for two years and they are so worth it!The number of bad pictures I take have come way down. I stick the camera on auto and let the camera take care of everything itself. When I took Wishes with my digital I simply clicked away and out of every three I got terrific shots that I wouldn't be able to take with a regular film camera(I don't know about most people but messing with the ISO speed and the flash settings is way too complicated)
The printing issues can be kind of complex but what I do is download about fifty or so pictures at a time on a CD R/RW and take the disc to Wal-mart and let them print the pictures.

 

[mansionterror]

My last DW trip I used a Canon Sureshot Z155 with 800 speed film. It is a 35mm camera that zooms to 155. ALL my pictures turned out beautifully...included action shots in the rides.

This year I am taking that camera and a digital.

 

[mansionterror]

My last DW trip I used a Canon Sureshot Z155 with 800 speed film. It is a 35mm camera that zooms to 155. ALL my pictures turned out beautifully...included action shots in the rides.

This year I am taking that camera and a digital.

 

[snyderla]

Your night time shots and fireworks and action shot problems will not be cured with digital. I usually used a 35mm with 400 or 800 speed film until I got my Canon 7mp digital camera. I am happy with the camera in general, but 800 speed 35mm film takes much better night time and fireworks and action shots. As a matter of fact, they looked great on the little 2.5 inch digital screen (fireworks) but on the computer screen, not so hot.

I wouldn't give up my digital now, but I will still take my 35mm mega zoom camera with 800 or 1600 speed film for those fireworks and night time shots.

Lori

 

[bbump]

The camera I used was a Canon Sure Shot with 400 film.
I thought 400 speed would be perfect since I could use it for sunny pics
and for darker pics.
I will have to try 800 speed film for a practice run.

Maybe, if I am daring enough, I might check into an EASY digital camera.
I just don't want to spend alot of time on the computer in order to get pictures printed or downloaded.

Thanks again for helping a picture dork.

 

[elizke]

My opinion is that digital would help. The biggest benefits are that you can view them right away, and you can use a pro's "trick" of taking way more than you need (memory is really cheap) and print only what worked. You can delete right away or look at them later on the computer and then delete.

Being able to review them in the moment will really help you learn what works and what doesn't. And you can choose and change the ISO and other variables on the fly. (Although this varies with how much you spend on the cam.)

However, digital will stil require some effort for good low light shots. And some digitals are better than others, but that's a whole other forum....

You can take the card to Walmart to develop or upload them to an online developer for very good prices.

Just another opinion from a digital convert...

E.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Even putting 800 ASA film into your Canon Sure-Shot is probably not going to solve your problems. Unless you can turn off the flash, put the camera on a tripod, keep the shutter open for at least a second and control the amount of light focussing on to the film you are not going to get the shots you want with fireworks, Fantasmic, Spectromagic, the Castle at night, etc., etc.

 

[Leah and Emily's mom]

I had a few pictures last year that Walmart totally cut me out of and my husbands head off. I took the pictures to a more exspensive developer and was very happy when I picked up the picture of my husband hugging onto Jasmine - I had magically appeared in the picture. The salesperson said that quick places do not look at the pictures and lots of times the pictures can be cropped different and color changes made to improve the picture. You might try calling or stopping by a local place to ask if the pictures can be salvaged.

 

[justcruisin]

Did you carry on the film or put it in your checked luggage?

 

[bbump]

I carried the film with my carryon luggage.

I guess I will need to brush up on my picture skills before our next trip.

THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYBODY FOR YOUR CAMERA TIPS AND WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT.

 

[mansionterror]

Actually my fireworks pictures turned out very well with the sureshot and 800 film...maybe I just got lucky.