Lumix low light problem

[LeslieG]

I have a Lumix DMC-TZ3. I can't take pictures in low light at all. All my pictures from the MNSSHP parade are awful. Just completely blurry. My pictures from Christmas morning are terrible, because the light was low. I had a Kodak before this camera, and it took great pictures in low light. What am I doing wrong?

 

[disneyboy2003]

Can you post a couple sample pictures, and tell us what settings you used?

I have a feeling that if you only used the camera in "Auto" mode, then the camera probably didn't know you were taking pictures of a parade in the dark. So it probably chose a slow shutter speed (to let more light into the photo), and that's why your photos are blurry.

 

[LeslieG]

Yes, I had it on auto. But there's settings to choose from, "scenes" I think they call them, like for fireworks or candlelight, but I tried those too and they didn't make the pictures look any better. My Kodak was always on automatic and always shot low light pictures fine. I assumed this camera would too, but I must have to make some adjustment. I'll see if I can find some of the pictures to post. Thanks.

 

[disneyboy2003]

Yes, I had it on auto. But there's settings to choose from, "scenes" I think they call them, like for fireworks or candlelight, but I tried those too and they didn't make the pictures look any better. My Kodak was always on automatic and always shot low light pictures fine. I assumed this camera would too, but I must have to make some adjustment. I'll see if I can find some of the pictures to post. Thanks.

Hmm...I think it would help if you could post a couple pictures from your Panasonic Lumix camera and a couple of similar pictures from your Kodak camera.

Hopefully, we'll be able to examine the EXIF data (information about the camera settings) for each photo to compare what your Kodak camera's doing and what your Panasonic Lumix camera's doing when taking similar pictures.

 

[seashoreCM]

What ISO did you use? Most likely you would need at least 800.

ISO can be adjusted manually but not necessarily on all of the "scene" choices.

Also, you should use a night mode when shooting nighttime scenes. IN ordinary auto mode, a camera will strive to make the scene look like day:
1. The finished picture won't look like nighttime what you wanted.
2. It almost always slows the shutter speed resulting in blur if you don't use a tripod.
3. This will often wash out Christmas lights i.e. making colored lights come out white.

If you don't have a night mode, try minusing the exposure compensation (zero it out again when you are done with night shots).

Digital camera hints: http://www.cockam.com/digicam.htm

OT: Generally when using a tripod, ISO should be around 100.

 

[zackiedawg]

Definitely post some samples from each camera at night...it really is necessary to compare the two cameras' settings to determine what they are doing differently in Auto mode.

I can say with some confidence that the TZ3 is far more capable in low light than your Kodak - just the fact that the newer cameras handle noise better and have better processing algorithms to reduce noise from the shot without as much destruction, and because the TZ3 seems to be one of Panasonic's better models in low light.

The most likely culprit is that your Kodak was cranking up the ISO, whereas the Panasonic might not be - that could be the way the Auto mode deals with metering, or it could be a setting you have the camera in which can be adjusted. That's why we would need the EXIF information from the photos to figure it out.

If you can't post sample shots, see if you can get the EXIF information from shots from each camera - a good one from Kodak and a bad one from Panasonic, and post that here. You can often get the EXIF of a photo by right clicking on the photo, and going to Properties, then Summary. The main information we will need are: shutter/exposure, Fstop/aperture, ISO, and maybe metering mode, focus mode.

 

[VVFF]

If its like my buddy at work who initially had a kodak and then moved to a Canon. The Canon's images were blurrier due to a longer exposure. The Kodak's were darker because they were underexposed but they were sharp.