Cameras that takes idiotproof shots.


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mikesclee

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Mar 22, 2005
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I have a Canon S5 IS and the Olympus E330. I've tried using my wife's Sanyo C6 (Video and 5MP Still) Video Camera. The still shots are fantastic in the sense that every picture does not have any blur images which I was told the camera is basically taking snap shot of the video. Hence everything turn out very clear. I don't care about DOF, colour saturation, blah, blah blah. All I want is what I see is what I get, just like in the video. I was told to get the new Canon HD camera and use the still camera function (Sony only allows 3 still shot at a time). Video is just a bonus feature. Does anyone know of a camera that can do that. Not too sure if the new Panasonic iA is able to achieve that. Intent to get rid of both S5 and E330 and settle for the Canon HD Video or the new Sanyo HD camera.

Tried the Olympus E3 at the Sitex show and was very impressed with all the shots taken in P mode. Extremely fast with superb images. The guy told me to leave it on P mode and everything should turn out perfect even in night shots and I can still use my kit lense and FL-36 flash.
 

I don't get you at all. Why can't you get what you see with a normal camera? :)
 

I duno, but from what you say, I think most compact cameras will fit the bill. My friend wanted a camera that shot well in low light, so I said a dSLR would probably do better in that setting. But otherwise, there's nothing wrong with getting a nice compact camera that's light, cheap and shoots perfectly good 6R-8R pics. They're pretty, too, after all =p
 

Quite often, I get blur pictures when an object is moving (subject heads turn or kids running about) and indoor shots not bright enough even with flash on. I use only the P or A mode and I expect the picture to be perfect. In other word, an idiotproof camera that can give sharp pictures without having to figure what setting to use. I don't bother with creative photography, all I want is to capture the moment and store in in my pc. Never print any of my shots. Just keep the photos more for memory sake.
Curious, if the still pictures from a video camera can produce blurfree pictures regardless of moving subjects, why can't a dedicated digital camera do the same?

Is anyone familiar with the new Panasonic iA features. Based on what I've seen on their website, even the owl with the head turning, the shot is still very still. If it is really like that, I'll get it. The sample night shots is also just as good. If the new Olympus E3 can produce the same result, I don't mind getting it.
 

Forgot to mention, most time when taking a shot, the foreground subject is clear but the background is blur even with the so called stabilizer on. Apparently the Auto function is still not good enough for me as the picture taken is still not picture perfect. No problem with the still shots from the video camera. Which camera can eliminate all these problems and give me a picture perfect shots everytime at P/A setting.
 

Forgot to mention, most time when taking a shot, the foreground subject is clear but the background is blur even with the so called stabilizer on. Apparently the Auto function is still not good enough for me as the picture taken is still not picture perfect. No problem with the still shots from the video camera. Which camera can eliminate all these problems and give me a picture perfect shots everytime at P/A setting.

:think: foreground clear........ok, background blur..............nothing wrong what.
 

if you take pictures indoor with low lighting even on P mode you'll get either handshake or movement blur.

understanding the basics of shutterspeed, aperture and exposure will tell you that on P mode, low lighting causes the shutterspeed to increase (shutter open for a longer time) to compensate for a better exposure. There are no two ways about it. even if you up the ISO(as high as a useable image allows) and make the aperture wide open, it'll be difficult to produce blur-free images or movement free (if kids are running around). I think D3 can but it costs a bomb.

what i'm saying is DSLRs(and all cameras) in low light have a tendency to be subjected to the blurs i've mentioned. Unless you bring in the flash, then we're talking about a different thing altogether.

no such thing as idiot proof.
 

Forgot to mention, most time when taking a shot, the foreground subject is clear but the background is blur even with the so called stabilizer on. Apparently the Auto function is still not good enough for me as the picture taken is still not picture perfect. No problem with the still shots from the video camera. Which camera can eliminate all these problems and give me a picture perfect shots everytime at P/A setting.

erm.. thats just physics in action? cos video cams use much smaller sensors, so DoF is very large..
 

Forgot to mention, most time when taking a shot, the foreground subject is clear but the background is blur even with the so called stabilizer on. Apparently the Auto function is still not good enough for me as the picture taken is still not picture perfect. No problem with the still shots from the video camera. Which camera can eliminate all these problems and give me a picture perfect shots everytime at P/A setting.

wah.. how to help sia. if you don't want OOF parts i think buy a Point and Shoot better. i think all dslrs will produce the blur. It has NOTHING to do with your image stabilizer btw.

someone wanna help explaining?
 

You are better off with a P&S. Firstly, don't blame the camera. It's because you do not know how to use and maximize the camera's potential. You get blur pictures because of a slow shutter speed. So bumping up the ISO will allow you to have a faster shutter speed, freezing motion.

I think the iA feature you talking about is image stablisation. Please NEVER believe those adverts you see, where the person shakes the camera like crazy and it still is sharp. They are gimmicks. Image stablisation only helps to elimiate shaky hands and vibrations, not like what you see on TV. A fast shutter speed is still needed to maintain a blur free photo.

The Olympus E-3 still the same. If you do not know how to get a fast shutter speed, you will still get blur images. In fact, all still cameras are the same. I don't know about the workings of a video camera, so I can't comment on that.

Regarding the background being blur, I believe it's the DOF. May I know what lens you used for that?

If you want blur free pictures, set the camera to P mode, and change your ISO to 800/1600. You will get your blur free images. But a trade off, grain and noise in your image. Seriously, learn how to use the camera. Or else, get a video camera then.
 

You are better off with a P&S. Firstly, don't blame the camera. It's because you do not know how to use and maximize the camera's potential. You get blur pictures because of a slow shutter speed. So bumping up the ISO will allow you to have a faster shutter speed, freezing motion.

I think the iA feature you talking about is image stablisation. Please NEVER believe those adverts you see, where the person shakes the camera like crazy and it still is sharp. They are gimmicks. Image stablisation only helps to elimiate shaky hands and vibrations, not like what you see on TV. A fast shutter speed is still needed to maintain a blur free photo.

The Olympus E-3 still the same. If you do not know how to get a fast shutter speed, you will still get blur images. In fact, all still cameras are the same. I don't know about the workings of a video camera, so I can't comment on that.

Regarding the background being blur, I believe it's the DOF. May I know what lens you used for that?

If you want blur free pictures, set the camera to P mode, and change your ISO to 800/1600. You will get your blur free images. But a trade off, grain and noise in your image. Seriously, learn how to use the camera. Or else, get a video camera then.


agreed...btw why buy a dslr to constantly shoot on P mode?

P mode is good but sometimes i call it Professional-Auto mode..lol
 

agreed...btw why buy a dslr to constantly shoot on P mode?

P mode is good but sometimes i call it Professional-Auto mode..lol

Because the TS doesn't want any creative shots. Just blur free and sharp shots. :bsmilie: I started off with P mode, but after learning how to play with settings, I never went back. Now at aperture priority. :)
 

Would like to attatch a sample picture taken with the S5 but need to know how to insert the jpeg image to this thread. The Insert Image icon need a URL which i don't know what to do.
I've just came back from the recent CES in Vegas. Taken a lot of shots along the Strip with the S5 set as Custom with F2.7/ISO400 as recomended by the Canon showroom guy. Somehow some pictures looks ok and some really too dark even with flash on.

Will now set the ISO to 800. Why does the picture in the LCD screen looks ok but not in the PC? I assume that what I see in the LCD is fine, the shots should also look ok in the PC.
 

I have a Canon S5 IS and the Olympus E330. I've tried using my wife's Sanyo C6 (Video and 5MP Still) Video Camera. The still shots are fantastic in the sense that every picture does not have any blur images which I was told the camera is basically taking snap shot of the video. Hence everything turn out very clear. I don't care about DOF, colour saturation, blah, blah blah. All I want is what I see is what I get, just like in the video. I was told to get the new Canon HD camera and use the still camera function (Sony only allows 3 still shot at a time). Video is just a bonus feature. Does anyone know of a camera that can do that. Not too sure if the new Panasonic iA is able to achieve that. Intent to get rid of both S5 and E330 and settle for the Canon HD Video or the new Sanyo HD camera.

Tried the Olympus E3 at the Sitex show and was very impressed with all the shots taken in P mode. Extremely fast with superb images. The guy told me to leave it on P mode and everything should turn out perfect even in night shots and I can still use my kit lense and FL-36 flash.


Just set the resolution to as low as you can get with the digital camera and there you go!
 

erm.. thats just physics in action? cos video cams use much smaller sensors, so DoF is very large..

Digital PnS doesn't use much any bigger sensors than consumer video cameras.
 

Would like to attatch a sample picture taken with the S5 but need to know how to insert the jpeg image to this thread. The Insert Image icon need a URL which i don't know what to do.
I've just came back from the recent CES in Vegas. Taken a lot of shots along the Strip with the S5 set as Custom with F2.7/ISO400 as recomended by the Canon showroom guy. Somehow some pictures looks ok and some really too dark even with flash on.

Will now set the ISO to 800. Why does the picture in the LCD screen looks ok but not in the PC? I assume that what I see in the LCD is fine, the shots should also look ok in the PC.

iso 400

oh dear.. for a prosumer, i can imagine how grainy your images look, no wonder you think the e3 looks a lot better

it's a s5, there is a hot shoe, get a better flash, and all your problems will be solved
 

Will now set the ISO to 800. Why does the picture in the LCD screen looks ok but not in the PC? I assume that what I see in the LCD is fine, the shots should also look ok in the PC.

if you shrink your picture on the PC screen to the same size on your camera LCD screen, they should looks similar with the PC looks probably slightly better.

if all you need is to minimize handshake and partially on motion blur, and if you dun care about exposure and depth of field, try setting at shutter (duration) priority exposure mode and maybe set it to 1/1000 s. they should all look pretty "freezed" with no visible handshake. if the environment is brighter, push to 1/500 s. what i'm saying here relates only to your concern about having no blurring and what a video camera does, at the expense of everything else. but if that is the case (of your expectation as stated in the 1st post), why dun u just use the video camera for simplicity sake? still shot from video camera cannot compete with the quality of a still camera, regardless of shutter duration, but at least you dun have to worry about blurring, like what you say.

alternatively, flash at everything, again that will be the expense of some other factors.
 

I find it hard to believe that under the same condition a videocam can achieve better still pictures than the S5. These two devices work on similar optical and electrical principles, but are optimised for different jobs - still vs. moving pictures.

By same condition I mean:
- bare minimum: shooting the same subject under the same lighting condition.
- using the same shutter speed, aperture, ISO. Videocam still pictures have shutter speed and aperture values, I'm guessing they should have exif data in their pictures as well so you can check. ISO I'm not so sure. If you really want to compare, you should set the S5 to the same values as those used by the videocam and take some shots for comparison.
- view the images on the same screen, eg. the computer screen that you use at home, and not on the devices themselves. If you really want to just view pictures on the devices, then I'm guessing all you need is a PnS with a beautiful 3' LCD.

If you don't want to spend time doing a proper comparison with the same settings, at least try zoossh's suggestion about using a fast shutter speed on shutter priority mode, then view the pictures on the same screen.

Oh, and you can put your E330 aside and forget about the E3, they're not going to give you your desired result of everything-sharp as easily as the S5.
 

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