Photo bubble/spot question...

[WDW4ME]

I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX7 5mp Camera I got 2 years ago as I wanted something small and easy to carry.

Generally, it takes good photos, but I sometimes get what looks like bubble spots on some photos. I read somewhere that it could be from the flash and dust something, but I do not know much about it.

You cannot see the bubbles on the camera display--it is only when they print that they are visible. At first I blamed the processing of the photos, but it has happened too often to be that. Do I need a different camera?

Any suggestions? Thank you for your help!

 

[Groucho]

Are you seeing little blobs in areas that should be solid color? That only show in the prints but not the original photo? And you're looking at the photos on your monitor when examining them, not on the camera's LCD? (Which is too small to see fine detail.)

That's probably a printing issue... I suspect that if you took the picture to be printed professionally (those 4x6 prints from pros are dirt cheap), you wouldn't see those dots. Some printers/ink/paper combinations have a hard time doing certain colors, usually it can be fixed with a little tweaking.

 

[WDW4ME]

Thanks for the reply.

I cannot see the bubbles on the camera lcd, but they can be seen on the computer monitor.

I do not print my own, they are printed at different photo kiosk locations, so I do not think it is the processing.

If I were more computer savvy, I could send one here to show you what I mean. It seems to be inside shots when I use my flash that it is sometimes a problem. The rest of the photo is clear, but there will be a few opaque bubbles floating somewhere in the shot that ruins the photo.

Thanks!

 

[Groucho]

OK, if they are on the original picture, then they're probably "dust orbs" - small pieces of dust in the air that reflect back light from your flash. Because they're out of focus (closer to the camera than what it's focused on) and are bright from the reflection, you end up with a relatively large "orb".

I would assume that they became more prevalent in photos as digital cameras got smaller and the flash got closer to the lens. The closer the lens is to the flash, the easier it is to get a reflection from the flash go straight into the lens - this is what causes red-eye to be such a big issue on small cameras, when it wasn't on older, larger film cameras.

Now, if you go to some places on the internet, they'll tell you that these things are either angels, aliens, haunted spirits, or some other nonsense. Get real, people, it's just dust in the air.

 

[Groucho]

Here's an example from my collection, from my old Fuji 2800 digital point-n-shoot. We were building my home theater in the basement, so there was a good amount of drywall dust and such in the air.

 

[WDW4ME]

That is exactly what is on the pictures!!

And that makes sense about something in the air, like dust would cause it.
One photo I took in a smokey room had a ton of them on it and another of a harley that was driven into a reception hall (don't ask) would have really stirred up the dust as there is lots on it, too.

Most of the time it is just a few--enough to ruin the shot--I had a lot at my daughters wedding reception last year that looked fine on the camera, but later found out the had the bubbles on them.

Are there any small cameras that have have the flash in a better position to avoid this problem? Or is just something you have to live with if you want to
stay with a small camera?

If I have to go to a larger size camera to avoid this, how much larger?

Thanks a lot---I appreciate your help

 

[Groucho]

Are there any small cameras that have have the flash in a better position to avoid this problem? Or is just something you have to live with if you want to
stay with a small camera?

Well, that's just a theory on my part, about the flash being close to the lens, but I do believe that it's probably correct. Anyway, small cameras really have no choice but to have the flash very close to the lens, otherwise they wouldn't be small. I don't think that there's much you can do about it without going to a larger camera. An external flash would help a lot but few small cameras allow you to use an external flash.