Camera Experimentations...

[DisneyFanJen]

I've got a Sony DSC-52 which was the new mid-range digicam when I bought it, but I've never had much luck taking pictures of the nighttime parades or fireworks with it.

So after having a read of the tips on here, I decided to do a bit of experimentation to see what it could do.

All 4 of these were taken with the flash turned off in a moderately lit car park.

Excuse the mis-spelling of Manual in this one but I only just spotted it and it's not worth re-editing. Also excuse the blur but it's the best I could get in this test.

The big thing I noticed was that in manual (where I could alter the ISO) the camera took a lot longer to process the image and was much more prone to blur. I have a sneaking suspicion that changing the ISO is actually changing the shutter speed (I know that shouldn't be the case, but as soon as I put the ISO up, the picture took a lot longer to process and tended to blur).

Personally, even though it's darker I think that the fully auto picture wins out but please give me your comments & suggestions.

 

[DisneyFanJen]

Wow, replying to myself, so nerdy! :lol:


Well, I've decided that a fair bit of my problem is my shaky camera work (always had a problem with it, don't know why) so I was thinking of splashing out on a <!-- model -->Konica Dimage Z3 as it has the anti-shake system in it.

Anyone got any personal experience of it?

 

[Tim G]

The Fully Auto.... Imo

 

[Laura]

Personally if I were going to do auto for that picture I would have tilted the camera down and set the exposure on the cars (so the camera wouldn't realize there were lights in the photo) and then I would have tilted it back up and snapped the shot. I'm not sure if the result would have been better than what you posted, but that's what I tend to do when there are bright lights in the pic I'm taking.

Also, you can use anything for stability. At Disney I don't like carrying around a tripod so I get up close and personal with the trash cans and railings.

I don't know about the anti-shake thing, but I can't imagine an anti-shake would give you a clear hand held night photo. You can get a mini pocket tripod for a smaller digital camera for $5.

 

[KeithVH]

In the price range of a Z3, I'd say a MUCH better choice would be the Panasonic FZ-5. Check the reviews and forum postings over on http://dpreview.com for details. If you watch dealnews.com you could probably get that or a Canon S2 or Sony H1 for all about the same price. And those three are the leaders in this price range.

 

[DisneyFanJen]

Personally if I were going to do auto for that picture I would have tilted the camera down and set the exposure on the cars (so the camera wouldn't realize there were lights in the photo) and then I would have tilted it back up and snapped the shot. I'm not sure if the result would have been better than what you posted, but that's what I tend to do when there are bright lights in the pic I'm taking.

Also, you can use anything for stability. At Disney I don't like carrying around a tripod so I get up close and personal with the trash cans and railings.

I know what you mean but I was deliberately trying to simulate something similar to taking a pic of Spectro (dark bg, + bright lights) best I could do at short notice.

I don't know about the anti-shake thing, but I can't imagine an anti-shake would give you a clear hand held night photo. You can get a mini pocket tripod for a smaller digital camera for $5.

I've done some homework on these and cameras with anti shake tech can make a big difference, especially when zoomed or in places where you need longer exposures (such as low light).

Given my naturally shaky camera work it'd be a godsend.

 

[DisneyFanJen]

In the price range of a Z3, I'd say a MUCH better choice would be the Panasonic FZ-5. Check the reviews and forum postings over on http://dpreview.com for details. If you watch dealnews.com you could probably get that or a Canon S2 or Sony H1 for all about the same price. And those three are the leaders in this price range.

Thanks for that.

I'm off to my local camera specialist today (Jessops) to test drive a ew cameras but I have a couple of pre-reqs.

1) some sort of anti-shake.
2) not too complicated if I don't want it to be (just point and shoot)
3) Complicated if I need it to be (ability to play with all the settings)
4) Compatible with the memory I already have if poss (1GB MMC Card)

Which is why I thought Z3.

I'll see what Jessops has today.

 

[Laura]

I know what you mean but I was deliberately trying to simulate something similar to taking a pic of Spectro (dark bg, + bright lights) best I could do at short notice.

Ahhh ok - don't forget that the Spectro floats are moving. I am generally a decent night photographer but I don't even attempt taking pics of Spectro.

 

[DisneyFanJen]

Ahhh ok - don't forget that the Spectro floats are moving. I am generally a decent night photographer but I don't even attempt taking pics of Spectro.

I know a fairly big task, but at least if I can get a camera that can handle it then the only thing left is for me to handle it.

Speaking of cameras I now have my new and improved camera that should do the job, and all I can say is I shouldn't be let loose with a credit card!

Went through the three specialist shops in the area, "hmm, not quite what I had in mind", "hmm, not happy with the design..." Until my self imposed budget of £250 jumped through the roof and I'm now the proud owner of a Konica Dynax 5D Digital SLR. :lol:

Well, I can't say that it's the camera's fault anymore!

As soon as I've worked out what all the pretty buttons do (Ooh Buttons.... ) I'll fire up a few comparison pics.

UPDATE:

Here's the first attempt with the new camera on a frosty morning (still darkness here) in the fog no less....

As you can see it turned up the ISO by itself and got a really good rock seady image. The lights are still bright with high ISO, but they're not as overbearing as the earlier pics, and given it was trying to work it out in a good level of fog here I think it did an excellent job. I personally would turn down the ISO and open the apature a bit more but on fully auto it's an amazing effort (didn't even try and turn on the flash). Oh, and see the abandoned drinks cup on the wall in the bottom of the image? Before the image was resized you could actually make out it was a BK cup!

The saying is true, you get what you pay for.

Loving this camera already. :sohappy: