I went digital

[2Bhumble]

I finally bought my first digital camera for my wife and I to use. I never got into photography before but am interested in learning through experience. The camera's a little intimidating now but I'll read through the manual and get practicing! I have a graphics background so hopefully I can integrate some cool photos with that as well kid's soccer photos

I got a Panasonic FZ20...

 

[jdw4jesus]

Wonderful! I love digital cameras! The pictures are free and you can pick and choose your shots!!! Great choice!

 

[Southern Cross]

Jump right in. You really can't break anything in the picture taking process, so don't be intimitated. If you need help... you can come to this forum.

Congrats on your purchase!

 

[Piano Player]

Nice lens on that one. You might want to check out a local class on techiques and issues related to your camera. I recently bought a Nikon D-70. Our local retailer offered a class on it, and while I was not able to attend, a good photographer friend went. He learned a lot, and I was able to solve some nagging exposure issues with flash.

 

[Southern Cross]

Piano Player, if you need help with any aspects of the D70, get in touch. I think I've got the camera nailed by now - I shoot with two of them and the learning curve was pretty steep. What flash are you using?

 

[Piano Player]

Piano Player, if you need help with any aspects of the D70, get in touch. I think I've got the camera nailed by now - I shoot with two of them and the learning curve was pretty steep. What flash are you using?

I use the SB-800. It was constantly underexposing my flash images. I didn't notice at first since I purposefully underexpose fill flash by 1.3 to 1.7 stops. However, when I went to full bounce flash, the pictures were dark. When I took it off "TTL-BL," and went straight to TTL it seemed to fix the problem. My friend who took the class said there was a whole section on how (and why) the SB-800 sometimes underexposes.

 

[Southern Cross]

I've never had that problem with the SB800 on TTL-BL mode. Not sure what's going on there, but then again, there are so many combination settings between the flash and camera that it could be just a minor tweak that needs to be made. The SB800/SB600 units on the D70 by far offer the best exposure I've seen when flash use is required. That's why I didn't go with a pair of Canon 20D bodies. Anyway, my Fuji S2 Pro used to horribly underexpose from time to time with the SB80DX flash unit, thank goodness for the histogram - it at least helped me to know when something was wrong! Enough about that - don't want to hijack a perfectly good thread!

 

[mamabear4]

My camera's just a mini-camera compared to the ones y'all are talking about. I have an Olympus Stylus 300 and the flash pics are also very underexposed most of the time. Even with manually setting the WB they are very dark. But the camera takes wonderful pics w/o the flash. I have a terrible problem with blurred pics, however, even in bright daylight. Is that a problem common to digitals, or do I simply not know how to run this camera?

 

[diamond717]

I just got a new digital camera.

 

[Southern Cross]

Mamabear, blurred pictures can be caused by a few issues. If you are zooming the lens to crop your subject, even the slightest tremble in your hands can cause blurring. Take a picture hand holding it, then put the camera on a solid surface, set the timer, and let the camera take the same picture. If your picture came out blurry, and the timed picture came out clear, you may be unknowingly shaking the camera as you press the shutter.

The flash on some cameras is noticeably weak. A lot of people don't realize those tiny built in flash units only have a reach of 6-10 feet. So if you are any further away, your pictures will come out dark or underexposed (grainy, low contrast).

 

[mamabear4]

Thanks for the suggestions, Southern Cross. I know hand shake is part of my problem and with the screen to focus with instead of the viewfinder, it's even worse. Another problem though is if there's the slightest bit of movement of the subject it will be blurred too. Argh! Not good for group photos that are suppose to go to the paper. Try getting ten people to all hold still long enough to get a clear photo. Someone told me there are two kinds of digital cameras. One for still photos and another kind for action photos. Is that true? I've never seen them advertised that way.

 

[Southern Cross]

Well, it's "kinda sorta" true. There can be several features built into digital cameras that help minimize some of the problems you are experiencing. In the most basic terms, it helps to have a camera that offers a decent range of ISO settings, a powerful flash, and a "fast" lens (capable of larger apertures that allow more light to hit the sensor). I could write pages about the combinations of features available, but it's enough to say the solution really depends on your finances. Fuji, Nikon and Canon all have excellent digital cameras available that will allow a somewhat educated user to capture photographs with finer detail and better exposure quality than the cheaper alternatives out there, but they are several hundred dollars in some cases. But well worth the money if you need good quality images.

 

[Piano Player]

My camera's just a mini-camera compared to the ones y'all are talking about. I have an Olympus Stylus 300 and the flash pics are also very underexposed most of the time. Even with manually setting the WB they are very dark. But the camera takes wonderful pics w/o the flash. I have a terrible problem with blurred pics, however, even in bright daylight. Is that a problem common to digitals, or do I simply not know how to run this camera?

If you are getting out of focus pictures in bright daylight it is most likely a focus problem, not a camera shake problem. Make sure your focus sensor is on the subject you want to be in focus as you start to press the button. You can recompose the picture when the little light goes on to tell you that expose and focus are set. If that doesn't work, the camera may need to be checked out.

 

[mamabear4]

Well, it's "kinda sorta" true. There can be several features built into digital cameras that help minimize some of the problems you are experiencing...... I could write pages about the combinations of features available, but it's enough to say the solution really depends on your finances.QUOTE]

Oh yes, the finances. If it weren't for the finances I'd be a real photographer, not just a get-by photog. But until my ship comes in I'll be happy with my little Olympus, trying to get the most out of what I have. Sort of like a woman/mother/homemaker without a vacumn cleaner, sewing machine or electric mixer. My three girls learned to keep house without any of those and let me say as unbiased as possible that today, they are adults who never have to ask for a job because they are the ones people seek out and are willing to pay them for their resourcefulness. So much for the popular thought that children are deprived if they're not able to have everything they want. (Proud mamabear here taking a bow.) So I'm delighted to have a digital camera at all and I'll continue to make the most of what I have and to hold my camera as still as possible when taking pics. Still photos are definetly better than action. I can't freeze action at all, in any setting. But it takes wonderful pictures in very low light without flash so I love experimenting with that. Here's one I took last week of the table decorations at a special dinner one of our daughters prepared for us and some friends. She'd just returned from Honduras and brought some sea shells and that piece of driftwood so we used them for the table decorations.

 

[Starr SDA Living Word]

I just got a new digital camera. DO YOU LIKE IT?

WOULD U RECOMMEND IT?