Help! My camera sucks! :(

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

Okay..to start off I'm definitley not someone who knows a lot about cameras...I LOVE photography but am intimidated by how advance/all the choices with cameras these days..the bigs one you focus...yeah...causes anxiety.

So right now I have a Sony Cyershot..DSC-T5. It's the really slim one you slide down the cover to turn on..you know the one with that rocker in the commercial a couple years ago? well I bought into that and bought the camera...and love everthing physical about it except the pictures!

It was so dissapointing during our last trip I couldn't get any fireworks shots or shots at night because they all came out blurry. DH has tried to work with the settings and we can't seem to fix them. I hate to spend the money on a new camera when everything else seems to work fine. Any suggestions or will I never be able to get any good dark/night time shots? thanks in advance!

 

[ukcatfan]

First off, I think you a misconception of DSLRs (changeable lens cameras). They are not ones you focus, although you can focus them manually easier than a p&s if needed. All the turning of the lens you see is the person changing the focal length (i.e. zoom for p&s users). You do it with a button on your p&s, but it is still doing the same thing. Also, all of the entry level DSLRs have completely auto modes. Just set your focal length, point, and shoot. They can be that simple. True, you get the most out of it knowing more, but you do not ever have to learn it.

Secondly, every camera needs a tripod to get really good fireworks shots and almost any camera can take decent firework shots with one. No person can hold the camera still long enough. It also helps if you can use a remote shutter release or at a minimum a timer delay. That keeps you from shaking the camera from the act of pressing the shutter release button. Low light shots with motion you want to freeze (POTC or HM for example) is a different story. You need a DSLR with a good fast lens and some luck to get those shots.

Kevin

 

[YEKCIM]

To get the kind of quality you are talking about, you will have to invest two things:

1. Money (to buy equipment that is adequate to the task)
2. Time (to learn how to use what you buy with #1)

If you are willing to do both, you *can* improve your photos.

~YEKCIM

 

[DizneyNutz]

Okay..to start off I'm definitley not someone who knows a lot about cameras...I LOVE photography but am intimidated by how advance/all the choices with cameras these days..the bigs one you focus...yeah...causes anxiety.

So right now I have a Sony Cyershot..DSC-T5. It's the really slim one you slide down the cover to turn on..you know the one with that rocker in the commercial a couple years ago? well I bought into that and bought the camera...and love everthing physical about it except the pictures!

It was so dissapointing during our last trip I couldn't get any fireworks shots or shots at night because they all came out blurry. DH has tried to work with the settings and we can't seem to fix them. I hate to spend the money on a new camera when everything else seems to work fine. Any suggestions or will I never be able to get any good dark/night time shots? thanks in advance!

Honestly you spent all that money on a vacation and tried to capture the memories with a camera that is practically useless for what you are trying to capture. You may need to spend some time studying what it takes to capture the photos you are interested in capturing and then obtain a camera with those capabilities. Fireworks can be difficult to capture even with an advanced camera. Night shots also require some definative settings and a tripod. It appears you may be expecting too much from your chosen camera.

 

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

I'm confused by the responses? From pictures I've seen other disers post, it doesn't NEED to take too much time or money...I was just looking for suggestions for the right camera. Someone recently posted some pics..she had great night and fireworks shots..she said her camera was $300. I guess I'll check into that.

 

[Daysleeper40]

Maybe you should look at buying a bridge camera - these have many more manual settings than a standard P&S, but will also have automatic and scene modes. That means you can take as much or as little control as you want.

Have a look at the Canon S3/S5 thread that is usually on the front page here and you will see the kind of results some people have achieved with this level of camera. You do of course have to be willing to put in the effort and learn how to manage all of the controls.

I'm looking to get this type of camera and am nearly decided on the Panasonic FZ18. This retails at approx £220 in the UK - which is exactly the same as my Olympus MJU 725 cost a year ago!

 

[The Grays]

Check to see if your camera has any pre set modes. Many of the new camera have the scean modes and may have a fire workes mode. My daughters litthe point and shoot does. A couple of secrets to keep them steady if to fund something to set the camera on as you push the shutter release button to keep the movement to a min. A little bean bag of even a stuffed toy on a can or a ledge may help to kep it steady. Also see if you can change the IOS setting and make it higher. These may all be in your current camera now.

 

[ukcatfan]

I'm confused by the responses? From pictures I've seen other disers post, it doesn't NEED to take too much time or money...I was just looking for suggestions for the right camera. Someone recently posted some pics..she had great night and fireworks shots..she said her camera was $300. I guess I'll check into that.

Like I said before, you need a tripod. Manual controls are also nice, but not always a must. As long as your subject is not moving(or you moving) then night/fireworks shots are not very difficult with any camera. Timing fireworks shots to make them look the best is a skill not related to what camera you use.

If you want low light shots where there is motion involved, you only have two options. Use a flash and deal with the limitations that go along with it or use a DSLR with a fast lens and likely a high ISO. If you get out of flash range, then you only have one option. Moderate lighting is another story. Some of the medium ISOs on a p&s are getting decent with the noise control, so they can often get good shots when the lighting is not ideal, but not really considered low. A WDW example would be IASM. Low light examples would be rides like POTC, HM, and Malestrom. Considering that flash use on these rides is not allowed, a p&s simply will not produce a quality image.

Kevin

 

[maccagerl]

I'm confused by the responses? From pictures I've seen other disers post, it doesn't NEED to take too much time or money...I was just looking for suggestions for the right camera. Someone recently posted some pics..she had great night and fireworks shots..she said her camera was $300. I guess I'll check into that.

People here have given you some great advice.
You have to remember that the camera doesn't take the picture, the camera is just a tool that the photographer uses to interpret his surroundings. You can have a $5000 top of the line digital camera, but if you don't take the time to learn how to use that camera, you still won't get good photos.

1)First figure out what kind of photos you want to take.
2)Sit down with your camera and the manual and learn what all the controls are and how to use them. Learn what your camera can and cannot do.
3) Go out with your camera and the manual and practice practice practice until you are very comfortable with using the menu and controls .
4) Go to one of the larger bookstores and spend an afternoon looking through their basic photography books on composition and exposure- when you find one that is easy to understand buy it and read it and practice some more.
5) If you want to take action photos, go to a little league game and PRACTICE taking photos of the game. If you want to take NIGHT exposures, take your camera out at night with a tripod and practice setting it up and taking pictures of lights in a park.

If you are not willing to put in the time to learn your camera and practice using it, then you will never get good photos no matter how much you spend on a camera.
Good luck and enjoy the process!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

will I never be able to get any good dark/night time shots?

Like others have said, it may be difficult unless you learn a few tricks. Playing with the settings should help, but also you have to keep the camera still when your photographing movement - especially in low light or you'll never get decent shots - (and yes, I'm tempted to say here, with almost any camera).

If you don't want to carry a tripod around, you can improvise by setting it down on a trash can or something still. This should help. Tell your DH to hang out here for a while and he'll begin to understand better. Almost better than reading the manual. Good luck.

 

[webshark3]

I'm confused by the responses? From pictures I've seen other disers post, it doesn't NEED to take too much time or money...I was just looking for suggestions for the right camera. Someone recently posted some pics..she had great night and fireworks shots..she said her camera was $300. I guess I'll check into that.

Sure, a $300 can get good pictures. But in difficult shotting situations, a DSLR and/or high-end lens can consistently get good photos. People spend the money for a reason.

BTW, as much as I know you should use a tripod, I never carry one. Here's my 300D and Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 lens combo. Looks like Photobucket shrunk my photos though.

 

[handicap18]

I'm confused by the responses? From pictures I've seen other disers post, it doesn't NEED to take too much time or money...I was just looking for suggestions for the right camera. Someone recently posted some pics..she had great night and fireworks shots..she said her camera was $300. I guess I'll check into that.

You do need to take time to learn what your camera can and can not do. Even a $150 point and shoot (PnS) digital can take very good fireworks shots, but one needs to take some time to learn how to do it.

A $10 table top tripod attached to a $150 PnS placed ontop of a trash can at Disney will do fine. Set the camera to M (for manual). Set your shutter speed to its slowest (many times on PnS camera's they will only do 3-5 seconds, check your manual) and set your aperture (f/stop) to f/8. Use your self timer to avoid shaking the camera while pressing the shutter. You have to pay more attention to the sounds of the fireworks going to get your timing better, but it can be done. This will also work with taking night shots of the buildings around World Showcase, Space Ship Earth, ToT, RnRC, & the Hat (at DHS). Except you don't have worry about timing the shot.

As for Spectromagic and indoor rides: You can't use a flash on the indoor rides so a PnS wont work. For Spectro, you can use a flash, but the colors of the floats get washed out from the extra light and also most flashes on a PnS aren't powerful enough to send its light more than 10 feet and be effective. These are reasons why one would spend the money on a dSLR with high ISO capabilities AND a lens with a VERY wide opening (aka f/stop). Your opening on a PnS is limited to about the size of the width of a small screw. Where as with a dSLR you can buy a lens that has an opening that is about the size (width) of a quarter.


A suggestion to see how your camera performs. Get a few small books. Stack them on top of each other on the kitchen table. Put the camera on top of them. Put your camera in M (manual mode). Set the shutter speed to 3 seconds. Set the f/stop to 8. Set the ISO to 100 (or what ever the smallest number it will allow). Set the self timer to at least 2 seconds. Turn your lights off or at least turn them down low (best do to this at night). Then press the shutter button. See what kind of results you get. Try different shutter speeds. (2 seconds, 5 seconds, 1/2 second). Typically, the slowest shutter speed a person can hold a camera without getting blurr from camera shake is around 1/50th of a second. Slower than that needs a tripod or at least someting to rest the camera on so it wont move.