looking for various advice (editing, new camera)

[deepblue2]

Hi all,

was intro'd to this site by a fren.

*dunno where to post this, so posted in newbie forum too. sorry if this is annoying. *

been using my fujifilm finepix 2600z (sigh.. so low end) for about 2 yrs now. thinking of upgrading if i can find a suitable camera currently.. though i dunno if there is.

i am not an AVID photographer.. i use it mainly for family functions or holidays.. but i've realised that my photos are turning out worse and worse. maybe i've become more particular about details.

my worst problems are indoor lighting/night shots and pixelation (which is related to indoor lighting/pixelation). whenever my photos come out underexposed or the colors are not right. i'll immediately go to photoshot and edit it. i never contemplated an external flash coz i heard they don't really help much. do they?

i dunno if it's coz of my editing skills or due to the 2mp of the camera, they look alrite on the monitor but come out quite pixelated on print (4r)

here's wht i have
1) fujifilm finepix 2600z
2) 64mb + 32mb smart media
3) 4 x 1800mAh AA gp batteries (my camera uses 2)
4) charger and the standard accessories.

i might buy a new camera if i can find one that is/has
1) > 3mp
2) hot shoe
3) can re-use the smart media (not necessarilly, but would be good)
4) uses AA batteries (hate proprietary batts)

zooming is not such a big deal for me. i prefer the up close and personal type of shooting.

thanks for anyone who helps (negative comments also welcome)

 

[viix]

Originally posted by deepblue2
Hi all,

was intro'd to this site by a fren.

*dunno where to post this, so posted in newbie forum too. sorry if this is annoying. *

been using my fujifilm finepix 2600z (sigh.. so low end) for about 2 yrs now. thinking of upgrading if i can find a suitable camera currently.. though i dunno if there is.

i am not an AVID photographer.. i use it mainly for family functions or holidays.. but i've realised that my photos are turning out worse and worse. maybe i've become more particular about details.

my worst problems are indoor lighting/night shots and pixelation (which is related to indoor lighting/pixelation). whenever my photos come out underexposed or the colors are not right. i'll immediately go to photoshot and edit it. i never contemplated an external flash coz i heard they don't really help much. do they?

i dunno if it's coz of my editing skills or due to the 2mp of the camera, they look alrite on the monitor but come out quite pixelated on print (4r)

here's wht i have
1) fujifilm finepix 2600z
2) 64mb + 32mb smart media
3) 4 x 1800mAh AA gp batteries (my camera uses 2)
4) charger and the standard accessories.

i might buy a new camera if i can find one that is/has
1) > 3mp
2) hot shoe
3) can re-use the smart media (not necessarilly, but would be good)
4) uses AA batteries (hate proprietary batts)

zooming is not such a big deal for me. i prefer the up close and personal type of shooting.

thanks for anyone who helps (negative comments also welcome)

Why not a fuji S602. It's would be easy for u as the menu layout isn't much different, allows AA and SM cards to be used!

 

[deepblue2]

Originally posted by viix
Why not a fuji S602. It's would be easy for u as the menu layout isn't much different, allows AA and SM cards to be used!

yea.. was actually looking at tht.. price ain't that bad either.

but how about the photo editing? am i doing something wrong?

 

[baiyun]

images look ok on monitor cos monitor only uses 72dpi if i am not wrong....

and external flash really helps........and use lower iso lor...and get a good cam with low noise lor.......

i am using g3 now...like it a lot......

 

[Bluestrike]

It would be better if a pic is posted.. after all.. a picture speak a thousand words.

 

[deepblue2]

Originally posted by Bluestrike
It would be better if a pic is posted.. after all.. a picture speak a thousand words.

before and after pics.

before:
http://www.pbase.com/image/19242974

after:
http://www.pbase.com/image/19243052

huge apologies for the file size and photo taking (or lack of photo taking skills)

the "after" pics doesn't show any pixelation on the monitor. but after printing, there are some pretty obvious artifacts at the foregroung (my shirt and jeans)

i would appreciate ANY comments..

most of my outdoor pics turn out like this.

will try and look for some indoor pics to post. but basically the issue with indoor pics is either the flash is too strong.. or there is a yellowish tinge to the entire pic.

 

[viix]

Originally posted by deepblue2
before and after pics.

before:
http://www.pbase.com/image/19242974

after:
http://www.pbase.com/image/19243052

huge apologies for the file size and photo taking (or lack of photo taking skills)

the "after" pics doesn't show any pixelation on the monitor. but after printing, there are some pretty obvious artifacts at the foregroung (my shirt and jeans)

i would appreciate ANY comments..

most of my outdoor pics turn out like this.

will try and look for some indoor pics to post. but basically the issue with indoor pics is either the flash is too strong.. or there is a yellowish tinge to the entire pic.

My guess is it's printed at lo res. Do u print it yourself? Set the DPI in photoshop to 300 @ 4R size and get it printed. It should come out ok (if u print it urself)

if pixelation still occurs, it's gotta be the settings of the DPI. Can snap a pic of ur print with the pixellation? Not the edited photoshop file by the way.

 

[deepblue2]

Originally posted by viix
My guess is it's printed at lo res. Do u print it yourself? Set the DPI in photoshop to 300 @ 4R size and get it printed. It should come out ok (if u print it urself)

if pixelation still occurs, it's gotta be the settings of the DPI. Can snap a pic of ur print with the pixellation? Not the edited photoshop file by the way.

i print it at a photolab. i use the kodak shop here in simei.

here's a weird thing. i never touched the resolution settings of the picture before. i always thought the resolution should be suitable for print.

but i just opened one of the pictures in photoshop. the image size is as below:

width: 1600 px
height: 1200 px
resolution: 72 px !!

is that correct?! or do i need to change it to 300 px before saving/editing/printing?

 

[deepblue2]

Originally posted by viix
if pixelation still occurs, it's gotta be the settings of the DPI. Can snap a pic of ur print with the pixellation? Not the edited photoshop file by the way.

i don't have any of the pics rite now.. they're back home in jb

 

[viix]

Originally posted by deepblue2
i print it at a photolab. i use the kodak shop here in simei.

here's a weird thing. i never touched the resolution settings of the picture before. i always thought the resolution should be suitable for print.

but i just opened one of the pictures in photoshop. the image size is as below:

width: 1600 px
height: 1200 px
resolution: 72 px !!

is that correct?! or do i need to change it to 300 px before saving/editing/printing?

These should print out fine at the photolab. But u can try changing it to 1600px by 1200px at 300DPI resolution.
Again, maybe you can try a better photolab.

 

[Snowcrash]

Originally posted by deepblue2
i print it at a photolab. i use the kodak shop here in simei.

here's a weird thing. i never touched the resolution settings of the picture before. i always thought the resolution should be suitable for print.

but i just opened one of the pictures in photoshop. the image size is as below:

width: 1600 px
height: 1200 px
resolution: 72 px !!

is that correct?! or do i need to change it to 300 px before saving/editing/printing?

Please check the jpeg compression setting when you save your file in photoshop.

What I mean is, when you click save, save as, does your photoshop prompt you on jpeg compression to save as

A 1600x1200 file - what is your file size? This will give you a clue on the compression level.

 

[deepblue2]

Originally posted by Snowcrash
Please check the jpeg compression setting when you save your file in photoshop.

What I mean is, when you click save, save as, does your photoshop prompt you on jpeg compression to save as

A 1600x1200 file - what is your file size? This will give you a clue on the compression level.

the file size is usually around 700kb - 800kb. i try to maintain the compression at the same file size as the raw file (meaning the raw file itself is about 700 - 800kb)