blurry pictures

[MattyFresh]

Last trip I was disappointed with the way some of my night shots turned out. I am looking to possibly buy a new camera before our trip this october. I am looking at the sony dscw80. The ISO is around 3200, it has image stabilizer, and 7 megapixels. I didn't know if anyone has this camera or might have some opinions as to what else I might need to consider. I know I don't want to have to take 5 or 6 shots before I settle with the less blurry of them all.

 

[wdwmagic]

Those high ISO cameras definately arent the way.
Check out this article on the subject http://www.dpreview.com/articles/compactcamerahighiso/

Night shots are all about tripods (or some other support). If you clamp the camera down perfectly still, even using ISO 100, you can get very sharp pictures, even with a compact camera.

Digital SLRs are more suited to night shots, so if you are really interested in that area, consider an SLR.

 

[Amber]

Garbage cans work well as tripods. And set the self-timer so there is no camera shake when you push the button.

 

[Surf Fish2285]

Garbage cans work well as tripods. And set the self-timer so there is no camera shake when you push the button.

Im glad im not the only one who uses trash cans! Every time I do this people look at me like im nuts!

 

[Laura]

ISO 3200????!!! Why on earth would anyone want that!

Even an ISO 800 picture is WAAAAAYYYY too grainy for my liking. I've only gone up to 800 or higher a couple times as a last resort (such as trying to take pictures during a nighttime Christmas hayride which was extremely bumpy).

Off topic, but I also don't understand why anyone would want a 10-12 megapixel camera. Unless you're making all of your prints poster sized, what is the point? I tend to keep my digital rebel on the lowest resolution setting (probably around 3 MP?), which is barely big enough for 4x6 prints. No reason to go any higher because it just eats up space on my hard drive and I almost never print larger than 4x6.

 

[MattyFresh]

Those high ISO cameras definately arent the way.
Check out this article on the subject http://www.dpreview.com/articles/compactcamerahighiso/

Night shots are all about tripods (or some other support). If you clamp the camera down perfectly still, even using ISO 100, you can get very sharp pictures, even with a compact camera.

Digital SLRs are more suited to night shots, so if you are really interested in that area, consider an SLR.

I was told that the high ISO would help with the low lighting.....I am getting all cornfused now

Can't really swing an SLR......little out of my price range.

 

[KeithVH]

For a P&S, the Fuji F30 is considered the lowlight champ. While IS is a nice feature, if it's coupled with a crappy sensor, it's not getting you much. Too, more pixels is not necessarily a good thing. Trying to cram more info onto the same size sensor can degrade the image.

Confused more now? Sorry. This is a tough call. I would suggest either the Fuji or a Canon A630 (or 640). Why the Canon? Because it has a much larger sensor than just about every other model in the same price range. And in this case, size matters. Honest. Also look into purchasing a min-tripod and practice outside around your house at night experimenting with the settings before you go so you're not fumbling with it when you get to the World.

 

[wdwmagic]

I was told that the high ISO would help with the low lighting.....I am getting all cornfused now

Can't really swing an SLR......little out of my price range.

High ISO can be viewed as amplifying the signal that comes from the sensor. While the system amplifies the details that you want in your photo, it also amplifies electrical noise from the sensor. So on the good side you get better low light performance with high ISO, but the bad news is that you also get more noise. The amount of noise increases as the ISO increases. In your photos, noise is viewed as weird colors, blocks, and general nasty looking images. Compact cameras have noisy sensors. The noise isnt really noticeable at ISO 100, but as you increase it from that, it gets worse and worse. So technically, high ISO does help with capturing low light, but the problem is that noise in the picture gets so high, it looks terrible.
Digital SLRs have better sensor performance, and can therefore deliver less noise, and perform much better with high ISOs. However, even digital SLR high ISO pictures can approach looking pretty lousy.

 

[wdwmagic]

Off topic, but I also don't understand why anyone would want a 10-12 megapixel camera. Unless you're making all of your prints poster sized, what is the point? I tend to keep my digital rebel on the lowest resolution setting (probably around 3 MP?), which is barely big enough for 4x6 prints. No reason to go any higher because it just eats up space on my hard drive and I almost never print larger than 4x6.

Other than what you said (posters), its pretty handy to have massive resolution if you need to crop heavily. With 10MP, you can crop a small area, and still have enough pixels to produce decent size images.

 

[MattyFresh]

For a P&S, the Fuji F30 is considered the lowlight champ. While IS is a nice feature, if it's coupled with a crappy sensor, it's not getting you much. Too, more pixels is not necessarily a good thing. Trying to cram more info onto the same size sensor can degrade the image.

Confused more now? Sorry. This is a tough call. I would suggest either the Fuji or a Canon A630 (or 640).

Probably will not buy a Fuji, girlfriend has one now and its been a little over a year and it half works and thats only when it wants to. So I have a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to Fuji.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Look at some Canons and Panasonics. They have some that will likely satisfy you.

You didn't specify if your going to be using a flash at night, if you are test the cameras in the store and see how long it takes them to recharge the flash after a shot, some cameras are very slow and that can be a shot killer.

 

[MattyFresh]

I imagine I will have to use the flash from time to time. The sony didn't seem to have a long wait. Buy the time I looked at the picture it was ready to go again. Oh decisions decisions

 

[PhotoDave219]

Other than what you said (posters), its pretty handy to have massive resolution if you need to crop heavily. With 10MP, you can crop a small area, and still have enough pixels to produce decent size images.

Good point. I cropped in tight on some tennis jube during NCAAs today and could still make a 10 inch deep photo.

 

[mousermerf]

Mini bendy-leg tripod and a bean bag critter.

Tripod for when you have a flat surface nearby like a ledge or trashcan or something. Bean bag critter (mine's a Doubletree Cookie - so it's a disc with limbs) to put on uneven surface, scrunching its little bean bag body to get the camera tilted properly.

Works for me

 

[BSikor]

I've got a Canon PowerShot SD630 Digital Elph and I LOVE it! I take a ton of night shots and dark shot from in the rides and they come out crystal clear without a tripod.

Its easy point and click if you want or you can do some complex stuff. Its a fool proof easy to use camera.

I swear by it!

 

[Deadmanwalking]

I know your leaning toward Sony, and while the pictures they take are decent - be aware that they use special Sony memory sticks and not SD cards. The downside to that fact is you will end up paying more money for the same amount of memory and if when you decide to upgrade to a new camera in the future you'll either have to get another Sony or have to get all new memory. SD memory is not only the most popular for point and shoot cameras but is gaining ground in dSLRs. So if you think you will ever be upgrading to a better camera remember that buying Sony now will box you in later.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I imagine I will have to use the flash from time to time. The sony didn't seem to have a long wait. Buy the time I looked at the picture it was ready to go again. Oh decisions decisions

While Sony takes decent pics, i would advise against them. You can get better for your money from Canon.

 

[haveyoumetmark]

I've got a Canon PowerShot SD630 Digital Elph and I LOVE it! I take a ton of night shots and dark shot from in the rides and they come out crystal clear without a tripod.

...

Its easy point and click if you want or you can do some complex stuff. Its a fool proof easy to use camera.

I swear by it!

That's the camera I use too and I love it. It's a great camera and I've had for over a year and it works like brand new. Although I would recommend getting a newer camera from the Canon powershot series.

 

[MattyFresh]

I was looking at a Canon sd1000.....it seems to be a newer model from the sd630 but again I am confused with the ISO....it says its 1600 with a high ISO auto setting...wouldn't this put me back into the same problem with the Sony??? Also I don't see anything about image stabilizer :brick:

 

[haveyoumetmark]

This would take your night shots with any camera, image stabilizer or not:
http://www.joby.com/gp1.html

They used the SD630 to model it. :lookaroun

Plus, it all depends on what you're looking for. You've made it clear in this thread, but do you want a point and shoot?

SD1000: You can switch it from auto ISO to hi ISO, or vice versa. I always thought that a high ISO is what prevents blurs in low light situations.

EDIT: A moderately high ISO though, something like 800-1600, not 3200. Re: all the noise in the shots taken with these types of cameras is a direct result of using Digital zoom.