Easy to Use yet High Quality Camera?

BrittanyRose428

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I have this problem that has been plaguing me for the past couple of years, and have come to the conclusion that the solution is to buy a different camera. I'm not anywhere close to a professional here, and I don't really know all the technicalities of photography, but if you put a fancy camera in front of me I can figure out how to take nice pictures with it. So here's my problem. I might take beautiful pictures with my camera, but when I hand it off to someone else every picture comes out terrible. And I don't mean that the person cuts off the building in the background or angles the frame to one side, I mean it's blurry, or just downright crappy looking. Usually, if I know I'm about to hand a camera off I'll put it on the sport setting to help with the blurriness, but there are times when this can't happen. For instance, I just graduated from college, and I have some really nice shots of my friends, but all the ones that I'm in are blurry. (Thankfully, we also took pictures with my phone, but I don't want to use my phone all the time for pictures!)

I don't have anything all that difficult to use, they're just point and shoot cameras. It's pretty simple, you push the button and it takes a picture. I do have other cameras that don't seem to have this problem when someone else uses it, but those cameras are much older and don't take as nice of pictures to begin with.

In August I'm leaving to do the Disney College Program, and I really just want to get a good camera that my friends will be able to use if I want to be in pictures. I'm not sure what kind of camera this would be though. I will probably order it off Amazon because I have a few gift cards for there, but basically I need a camera that will take good pictures and not turn them into a blurred mess if someone other than me uses it.

Anyone have any ideas? After having this problem throughout college, I need to figure out a way to get good pictures with myself in them. Especially when it's myself and one other person, it's incredibly frustrating to take non-blurry pictures of a friend, but then all the ones of me are blurred.
 

sporadic

Well-Known Member
Are all the issues just blurriness? What camera are you using? Are you using the built-in flash? Many point and shoots and cell phones have considerable lag in pre-flash situations (red eye reduction, metering) which can cause people to think the picture has already been taken. The blurred mess could be the person lowering the camera thinking the picture was already done?
 

BrittanyRose428

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This is the camera I have now: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Canon-9156B001/35255309#Product+Reviews

The problem is really just blurriness, which is why I've usually assumed that my friends just have shaky hands or something. It's also happened with a couple of different cameras, so there's that too I guess lol. Here's an example of what happens:

This one I took of my roommate:
298279_2139473286461_1649770669_n.jpg

Not saying it's the best picture, but it's not horribly blurry-- you get the idea.

This is the one she took of me:
315736_2139473086456_571920364_n.jpg

See the difference?
 

sporadic

Well-Known Member
Looks like too low of a shutter speed to me. Not a lot of light in that picture and looks like no flash, so I'm sure that Elph was struggling. The Elphs should give you a warning icon I think if shutter speed is low, recall if that was showing? How much are you willing to spend? Do you forsee yourself going deeper into photography and getting outside of the point and shoot realm? Are you wanting to learn photography and learn how ISO, aperture and shutter speed effect your photographs? Are you just looking for a better point and shoot, or looking for something you can grow into and learn photography? With a budget and intentions, I'm sure you'll get some good suggestions. As for the technical stuff, it's pretty easy to pickup and will give you complete control over your photos. Check this site out to play around and get started - http://canonoutsideofauto.ca
 

BrittanyRose428

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Looks like too low of a shutter speed to me. Not a lot of light in that picture and looks like no flash, so I'm sure that Elph was struggling. The Elphs should give you a warning icon I think if shutter speed is low, recall if that was showing? How much are you willing to spend? Do you forsee yourself going deeper into photography and getting outside of the point and shoot realm? Are you wanting to learn photography and learn how ISO, aperture and shutter speed effect your photographs? Are you just looking for a better point and shoot, or looking for something you can grow into and learn photography? With a budget and intentions, I'm sure you'll get some good suggestions. As for the technical stuff, it's pretty easy to pickup and will give you complete control over your photos. Check this site out to play around and get started - http://canonoutsideofauto.ca
I don't think there was any kind of a warning icon showing. I'd like to eventually go outside the point and shoot realm, but for now I'm just looking for a good point and shoot. Basically something that's small and will fit in a purse or pocket than can easily be handed off to others if I'd like to be in a picture. For a budget, I'd like to keep it around $200, but I'd be willing to spend a little bit more if there was something that much better. And that website looks really helpful, thanks so much! :)
 

sporadic

Well-Known Member
I haven't shopped for a P&S in years, but if I was looking for something in that range I'd probably go with a Canon S110. It's not their latest S model, hence much cheaper at $249 via Amazon. It will be a little larger than your Elph, but the menu system should be somewhat familiar since its a Canon. Also, with the S110 you have the ability to play around with full manual mode if you wish. I haven't owned one of the S models, but came close many times. In the end, I decided I didn't need a halfway solution between my phone and DSLR. Maybe someone else with compact experience can chime in with a better option. Size comparison - http://camerasize.com/compare/#418,384

EDIT: Just to note, you'll get blur like that with any camera using a slow shutter speed with a shaky hand. A better camera may net you a faster lens allowing more light and therefore lowering your shutter speed some. IS helps as well, but properly holding / bracing the camera is the first step to reduce blur. Given it was the same gear and lighting conditions in both shots, the problem is your friends shakiness and necessarily the camera :)
 
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