Is my camera not good enough?


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jones24

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Jul 7, 2009
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I bought a QX100 lens camera recently.

I took some night shots and well i feel that the leaves that it takes doesn't look too good at night. I know that night pictures tend to be blurer and produce more noise when you increase the ISO but please tell me if these types of pictures are what most cameras will produce.

No tripod stand used all hand held.

Picture size at 17 - 20mp so they are much larger than a HD screen.


This is taken with full zoom function. The shutter speed was i think around 6400 or higher i forgot. Appture at 1.8 i think

O3qyfXm.jpg


Picture looks kind of grainy here for these 2 shots

9LCEJ3Z.jpg


rTm2f2C.jpg




Is my camera ok?
 

I guess that's as good as you're going to get with this sort of camera - without a tripod. If you can keep the camera/phone steady (via a tripod) you can reduce ISO to a much lower setting, and even stop down aperture to a smaller setting, and you will get much better results. I don't remember if the QX100 has a tripod socket though

Oh, and if you zoomed in fully, you wouldn't have been able to use max aperture of f1.8, it would've been f4.9, which means the ISO needed to be higher, and even then the shutter speed would've been slow, resulting in the bit of blur you can see
 

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I guess that's as good as you're going to get with this sort of camera - without a tripod. If you can keep the camera/phone steady (via a tripod) you can reduce ISO to a much lower setting, and even stop down aperture to a smaller setting, and you will get much better results. I don't remember if the QX100 has a tripod socket though

Oh, and if you zoomed in fully, you wouldn't have been able to use max aperture of f1.8, it would've been f4.9, which means the ISO needed to be higher, and even then the shutter speed would've been slow, resulting in the bit of blur you can see



Yes it has a socket to insert a tripod in.


What do you think of the pics by the way? Are they blur or do they look ok?

What sort of camera would produce better results?
 

please don't be offended, can I tell you
if you have to handheld for night shooting landscape ,a static subject, then you are not using the right technique.

since you do not have a tripod on hand you can improvise using objects at hand. I have even used my dinner of mutton murtabak as a beanbag to stabilize for a half second shot

I hope you don't take my bluntness as harshness. even with a 1DX or 3D or top end Hassy you will still not be able to get proper shots because of wrong technique
 

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I concur with Shizuma here.

The image looked blur & grainy from the high ISO sensor noise.

1 & 2 pictures looks better, the objects close to the camera are quite sharp. The background is smeared by the noise.

3rd picture has motion blur.

For night shots, it is best to use a tripod and shoot at base ISO for best image quality.

Don't worry, your camera is fine. It is your technique as mentioned by Shizuma.
 

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please don't be offended, can I tell you
if you have to handheld for night shooting landscape ,a static subject, then you are not using the right technique.

since you do not have a tripod on hand you can improvise using objects at hand. I have even used my dinner of mutton murtabak as a beanbag to stabilize for a half second shot

I hope you don't take my bluntness as harshness. even with a 1DX or 3D or top end Hassy you will still not be able to get proper shots because of wrong technique

You mentioned 6400 iso earlier? That's shutter speed. I need to check camera settings again.
 

You mentioned 6400 iso earlier? That's shutter speed. I need to check camera settings again.

that's amazingly fast shutter then .
because only higher end DSLR have above 1/4000 sec. and also you did not express the speed as a fraction of time unit, I can reasonably guess that you are neither handheld for 6400ms aka 6.4 seconds nor 1/6400 which would probably mean at f4.9 you may be doing ISO sensitivity at 100 000 to expose properly with 1/6400
 

Hi i also do not think there is a problem with your camera but you have very poor technique because you are trying to shoot this handheld at ISO6400 when you should be using ISO100 instead and a tripod
 

If dun have tripod, maybe rest it on some steady area. Any decent camera can take decent enough photos with right technique and setting.
With that smaller sensor, iso6400 will be very noisy & lost quite lot of details. (I guess the nos 6400 is the iso instead of shutter speed).
If it a windy day, the trees & leaves may be moving so likely there will be motion blur too.
 

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your camera is fine. just learn how shutter speed, iso and aperture affect each other for exposure. once you learn that, grab a tripod and apply what the guys here have said so far =)

Remember to work on composition too. cheers
 

that's amazingly fast shutter then .
because only higher end DSLR have above 1/4000 sec. and also you did not express the speed as a fraction of time unit, I can reasonably guess that you are neither handheld for 6400ms aka 6.4 seconds nor 1/6400 which would probably mean at f4.9 you may be doing ISO sensitivity at 100 000 to expose properly with 1/6400


I don't know how fast it goes just ubder shutter setting I can select 12400 I think which is the highest for this model. The qx100 is something like the rx100 just that it allows u to pair up with a smart phone
 

I don't know how fast it goes just ubder shutter setting I can select 12400 I think which is the highest for this model. The qx100 is something like the rx100 just that it allows u to pair up with a smart phone

based on the previous link to the specs, it states that the iso can reach 25600. But you can be sure that it will be very grainy if you used that option.

Also, from how things looks now is that you shot a landscape scene at iso 6400, with aperture f1.8.

As others pointed out, you may be using the wrong technique.

Usually, for landscape scenes, we will try to keep the iso low and place the camera on a stable support like a tripod then let the camera take it's time to expose the scene properly. (It will usually run into a couple of seconds or more depending on your settings)
 

Just shoot with a tripod, low ISO and smaller aperture, the images come out much much better
 

it will be more productive and wise have the knowledge to maximise the tool you have now.
try spend the time the learn the basic photography and know more about the camera you have.

recommend two books for you to you.

$understanding_exposure.jpg

and this

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/DSC-QX100#Manuals


One can be found in our National Library, and the other come with your camera.

it won't cost you much, but it worth to spend some time reading them if you want to see results.
 

in short...try using a tripod..apply the correct technique..

if still sucky..means lens got problem lor.
 

camera owner believes otherwise.
wrong believing will lead to wrong living

Maybe TS has a special-edition with pro specs :bsmilie:

I don't know how fast it goes just ubder shutter setting I can select 12400 I think which is the highest for this model. The qx100 is something like the rx100 just that it allows u to pair up with a smart phone

You don't need to know. We are telling you it is 1/2000 based on the specs listed by Sony :bsmilie: Unless you have a special-edition QX100 that has different specifications from what the general public is able to purchase, the '6400' and '12400' figures you have been referring too most definitely falls under the ISO setting ;p

Most of us are aware what the QX100 is.

Looking at this screenshot, shutter speed is the left-most setting, followed by aperture, then ISO.

sony-qx100-shutter-priority.jpg

via: http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/18/sony-qx-and-playmemories-mobile-updates/
 

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Maybe TS has a special-edition with pro specs :bsmilie:



You don't need to know. We are telling you it is 1/2000 based on the specs listed by Sony :bsmilie: Unless you have a special-edition QX100 that has different specifications from what the general public is able to purchase, the '6400' and '12400' figures you have been referring too most definitely falls under the ISO setting ;p

Most of us are aware what the QX100 is.

Looking at this screenshot, shutter speed is the left-most setting, followed by aperture, then ISO.

sony-qx100-shutter-priority.jpg

via: http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/18/sony-qx-and-playmemories-mobile-updates/



Hey i didn't know there was that setting there. I never selected that.


Ok turns out i was selecting the iso all along. I finally selected shutter speed. Wow not bad. Able to take someone walking by in a split second without blurring.
 

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You can see the guy clearly and the taxi license plate clearly both were moving and going to become out of sight at the last minute. This was taken with zoom and picture was cropped and resized.


FK3nCaI.jpg
 

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