Help me figure out my camera please :)

[GraceLuvsWDW]

I thought I would ask here as I bought a camera over a year ago and I cannot get it to take any decent pictures. All of the reviews were great but the pictures lack the clarity that I am accustomed to having always used Canon.

The camera I bought is Fujifilm FinePix F505 16 MP CMOS Sensor and 15x Optical Zoom Digital Camera.

When I use it in dark setting it either is too dark or the flash comes out too bright. In daytime shots they are fuzzy or blurry.

I am not proficient on a camera so I would like to be able to just point and shoot, although I was able with my old Canons to select a specific "style" setting and they performed well.

The only settings this camera has are EXR modes and manual modes and when I try to use them the pictures are all bad. I bought this camera because it had zoom capabilities while in video mode-something my old Canons lacked (or were poor at).

Can anyone help me befor I ditch this camera and buy something else? Or point me in the direction of a place I can learn how to use this camera?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

I don't see a 505, but I did find this:

http://www.dpreview.com/products/fujifilm/compacts/fujifilm_f550exr/overview

Is this your camera? If it is, I don't see why you could not get some decent shots with it. I'm not an expert with compact cameras, but the first thing I would do is check the settings on the camera. Ensure they are what you want. Remember that the images with the super zoom compacts can suffer a little. Its a compromise for the extra zoom. With this camera, you may have to learn a little about photography to improve your capture. I would check online for some tutorials that could point you in the right direction.

 

[photo_chick]

Post examples. What you're saying sounds a lot like user issues but it's really hard to get an idea of what's going on from just the descriptions. Blurry could be focusing issues, dirty lens or motion blur. Issues in low light could be a user problem or a limitation of the camera. But without seeing the pictures it's pretty hard to tell.

The first place I'd start to learn more about using your camera is the manual.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Here are some pics I've taken with the Fuji, they seem dark and fuzzy to me (sorry they are so big) Please don't judge my lack of photography skills :

Here are pics taken with my old Canon-see how much more "vibrant" they are (this is just a random sample)?

Please help if possible!

 

[photo_chick]

The daylight shots... I'm seeing a lot of missed focus on those in general. I can see where the camera did focus. Read up in your manual on how your camera's auto focus system works. It may help. They also look tad underexposed.

The indoor shots from TSMM... the camera exposed for the background. It also looks like the camera focused past the kiddos in the brighter lit background area somewhere. Look how sharp the word ants is on the wall on ants in the pants and the awning on the other side.

Your shots from your Canon may be a bit better exposed but the focus isn't nailed on all of them either.

I'd say you can probably get much better images out of the camera you have, but if this was on standard auto then you may have to learn a little about what mode to use when.

 

[DSLRuser]

Rtfm

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

The daylight shots... I'm seeing a lot of missed focus on those in general. I can see where the camera did focus. Read up in your manual on how your camera's auto focus system works. It may help. They also look tad underexposed.

The indoor shots from TSMM... the camera exposed for the background. It also looks like the camera focused past the kiddos in the brighter lit background area somewhere. Look how sharp the word ants is on the wall on ants in the pants and the awning on the other side.

Your shots from your Canon may be a bit better exposed but the focus isn't nailed on all of them either.

I'd say you can probably get much better images out of the camera you have, but if this was on standard auto then you may have to learn a little about what mode to use when.

Thanks, I finally found the manual online and found the AF Mode was set to Multi, maybe this is the issue. I will attempt some photos to see if it gets better. It states to focus you just press the shutter halfway, which is what I had to do on the Canon as well. I sometimes am so pressed for time that I just turn the camera on and press the shutter. I see this camera has a Scene mode I didn't know existed before so I will attempt to put that to use. I guess it's too much to ask to have a camera that just takes a decent picture without having to fiddle with settings before each shot???

Thanks for your help

 

[havoc315]

Spot focus is usually preferable.. Pick your focus spot and then re-position your frame to compose the shot.