Quote: "I think I need a better camera."

Phil, This one is for you. When I commented on your photo greening today, I did notice, but did not mention, the change in color compared to your other 'more naturally' colored photos. It is usually not the camera that causes this different coloring. I'm not sure about your photo expertise, but these comments are for all members and if only one person learns anything so much the better. Photos taken with the same digital camera can come out drastically different in overall color. Some reasons are: Having flourescent lights on in one photo and not in another. The simple addition of a standard incandescent bulb will change the whole color balance of a photo. Another is taking the photo in different room with different lighting conditions. Perhaps this applies to your photo. Beyond general lighting of layouts it is usually not the cameras fault. Make sure your camera's 'white balance' is set to Auto. If you know about picture taking, then remember to change the color correction when using different lighting. I think a minimum of 7.1 mp is the limit for very good photos. My new camera, a Canon A650IS, is 12.1 mp. More than enough. Image stablization is a good thing. I don't know what camera you now have or what you can afford, but there are many good ones these days and few clinkers. Finally, good digital photos are as good as the photo program you store your photos in. The ability to tinker with your photos, trim them, color correct them after the fact, brighten, etc. is invaluable to good photography these days. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

I'll throw in since I used to do this for a living and still do a little bit of simple studio work on occasion. Like Jim said, white balance, especially under fluorescent lighting, which turn everything a sickly yellow-green is important. As Jim also said, the auto setting usually works fine, but there may be a special fluorescent setting, usually a bar with some dashes around it (looks like a fluorescent bulb, right?) in the white balance section of your camera's menu that may work better, especially if you have mixed fluorescent and incandescent or halogen lighting.

Next, tripod, aperture and shutter speed. Taking a shot on automatic setting in most basements or most anywhere indoors is almost always a problem and if you use the flash, you will usually white out or glare out most of the shot. First use a tripod if you have one, or rest the camera on something steady. Change the camera to the manual setting, and adjust the aperture setting to get the field of view you want. Field of view is simply how much of the shot you want to be in focus. If you are doing a scenery shot, use the smallest aperture (highest number) you can to make sure as much of the shot is in focus as possible. If you are shooting a detail, make sure the detail is in sharp focus, then let the backdrop be a little out of focus by opening up the aperture a bit(smaller numbers). A sharply focused foreground draws attention to the detail and provides a focal point for the shot. Then adjust the shutter speed to get the brightness level on the shot. With digital cameras, take several shots at several different shutter speeds, since electrons are cheap, and then pick your best shot afterward.

A trick to help keep the camera steady is to use the self-timer feature on the shutter. Turn it on, then press the shutter button and any vibration your pressing the shutter button causes will be gone by the time the camera takes the shot. Back in the old days we used to use a shutter release cable, but most digitals don't have that any more.

Most people think digital is easy since it has the auto setting, but in most situations for shooting models or layouts, the automatic setting is not your friend. It is great for a quick snapshot outside or with the flash, but anything in low or tricky light easily confuses the small brain in most point and shoot cameras. I think it is usually better in tricky situations to tell the camera what to do and let your eyes be the judge of how to adjust it.

Same with the autofocus feature on most point and shoot cameras. It is easily confused by multiple objects in a shot, so it is usually better to set it on the a center spot focus setting, instead of a multiple focus point or "smart" focus setting. That way it focuses on what you are pointing it at and lets you decide what you want to have be in focus.

With size of the chip in the camera, more megapixels is generally better, up to a point. The bigger the picture and the finer the resolution, the bigger the file. The bigger the file, the harder it is for your pc to process and work with, and the more difficult it will be to use the picture electronically. Most everything on the internet is fairly low resolution, 300 dpi I believe, and most sites like smaller size photos. I rarely take my camera off the lowest resolution and smallest size picture for anything I am using for the internet, because any finer resolution just isn't visible and the bigger picture just takes up more bandwidth. Pretty much any name brand point and shoot available now has more than enough capacity for most people's needs, unless you are going to use a real high quality photo printer or get anything published in a paper magazine, then a high pixel count, like 10-12 megapixels, is a pretty good idea.

I used to use Nikons and film, and still use a Nikon D70 digital SLR every once in a while at work in our little ad studio, but now I use my Sony Cybershot, and it works just fine for most everything I do now. You just can't be afraid to click it off the "A" setting most of the time.

Todd

As said before: a good tripod is the first step, using the self-timer can also help a lot if used with a tripod. For shows I use a monopod, not as good but less hassle in a crowd and better than nothing.

Put your camera in raw if you can and adjust the whitebalance in your processing application. No matter what most model shots are a combination of fluorecent, ordinary bulbs, some natural light and sometimes halogen trown in. No camera can make sense of that itself. Almost all applications let you change the whitebalance (colour temperature). Change it and see your scene change.

Megapixels are fun for your own viewing, but for the net you don't need them. Most photo's on the net are 800x600 or less and monitors are about 72dpi. Shoot whatever you like (raw if you can) and change the size as a last item on your processing. (for the net 3MP is plenty) Change to something webfriendly if you need (and keep the original). Maybe a splatter of sharpening after sizereduction, depends on the photo mostly.

Question, on my old camera, if I mount it on a tripod, all pictures taken end up totally black, even though they look fine in the LED window. Any ideas as to what may be happening? Even if the tripod is mounted loosely, the same thing happens. Everything works fine with the new camera and tripod.

Terry, A bit weird. Send it back to Olympus. There is something causing a short probably. Enjoy your new camera. Cheers, Jim CCRR:unsure:

Thanks Jim, check out the Marklin F7-A photo and let me know if it looks proper. Everything was done manually. Btw, what is the name of that program you use with multiple pictures to create a more detailed photo?

Terry, The F7 photo looks good. The focus program is called Helicon Focus. It is about $115. On the other hand a good tripod and and timer will usually get the same results on scenic views. HF program was designed for macro photography. For example your Bates house trees would have all been in focus using HF. You would have taken about 7-9 photos for it. On the other hand with more light and a timer and tripod you would have the same results without the HF program. Once you figure out depth of field with you new camera most shots will come out focused where you want them. It is the 15% of photos taken in poor lighting that you will need the HF program. Bottom line: If money is no object then buy the HF program. If $115 seems a bit much for 15% of your total photos then pass. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

Thanks Jim, I'll add it to my wish list and hope the kids chip in together and buy it for my birthday. LOL. Your explanation was very helpful.

Jim, once I get use to the camera, I will download the 30 day free trial and try it out,, Thanks.

Terry, one thing on your Olympus: the picture may be dark simply due to insufficient exposure time. When setting up the camera in Aperature mode, most cameras do not stop down (f:) until the photo is taken. In other words, they leave the lense wide open (i.e. say f:2.8) so you can see the shot. The, when you press the shutter release (the Ph.D. button ), the camera now stops down to the requested Aperature (e.g. f:18) to take the picture. If not in Manual, the camera would calculate the Shutter time (it should have already shown you that either in auto or manual) and begin the exposure. The shutter should not release for a long fraction of a second or even longer, depending on lighting and f: stop. In Manual, even though the camera should show you the Shutter time for any chose Aperature, you can still set this yourself and therefore may not have had enough Shutter time resulting in the dark pix.

Was this an SLR or just digital ? If a true Thru-the-lens (TTL), maybe the shutter (mirror) is not flipping out of the way. Definitely send it back.

Jeff
SF Bay Area Z

Jeff, The Olympus main problem is with focus/blurring. Even on a tripod with a timed exposure it is a 50/50 proposition. Happens when used on auto or manual. The totally black pictures occurs when mounted on a tripod. I agree, I think the mirror is not moving out of the way or not moving fast enough or dropping back down. I sent it back yesterday.

As far as the picture of the Bates house, that was taken with the new camera, using tripod and complete manual settings. It was intentionally made dark for effect.

Thanks for the feedback, I give you a shout if I need help with the new camera. I have to dig out my old lighting from 40 years ago and find room to set it up, probably in the basement. Umbrellas and screens take up lots of room, not to mention back lighting and highlight spots.