Good camera, bad shots.

Zoom Raider

I took some pictures of a couple of people yesterday. turned out bad... to me. Even they say the shots were fuzzy. It was bright outside and I set it to Auto and also to the portrait setting. The flash still popped up even though it was so bright outside.

I didn't even try to attempt it in another setting that would prevent the flash from popping up,`cos I thought it would cause the shots to be blank. Is it me not setting the settings correctly or is the camera falling apart already?:scratch

I hope it's me!:D

Harryb

Zoom Raider wrote:

I took some pictures of a couple of people yesterday. turned out bad... to me. Even they say the shots were fuzzy. It was bright outside and I set it to Auto and also to the portrait setting. The flash still popped up even though it was so bright outside.

I didn't even try to attempt it in another setting that would prevent the flash from popping up,`cos I thought it would cause the shots to be blank. Is it me not setting the settings correctly or is the camera falling apart already?

I hope it's me!:D

Basically the auto settings suck. You are a lot smarter than that stupid camera. Try to get away from the auto settings. Perhaps if you posted one of the pics and the exif data we could give you more feedback.

Not to worry though. Almost all of my shots with a new camera suck too. Its a learning experience and you just have to learn about your new tool.

Richard

Zoom Raider wrote:

I took some pictures of a couple of people yesterday. turned out bad... to me. Even they say the shots were fuzzy. It was bright outside and I set it to Auto and also to the portrait setting. The flash still popped up even though it was so bright outside.

I didn't even try to attempt it in another setting that would prevent the flash from popping up,`cos I thought it would cause the shots to be blank. Is it me not setting the settings correctly or is the camera falling apart already?

I hope it's me!:D

You are using good equipment. If you post a shot along with the EXIF data it would be easier to help.

Cheers,

Zoom Raider

I would post the shots, but I ridded them`cos they're so sad looking.

I took some others right after getting the camera and they looked good. Not perfect, but good. These people don't want their shots on the internet, so I can't post them either. Actually, none of them do.Those shots were taken with my Quantaray 70-300mm, set at 70mm though.

The ones from yesterday were taken with my Sigma 18-50mm, set at 24mm. They came out pityful. That's why I was afraid it's the camera wearing out already. I also had it set yesterday on "JPEG Fine". The others from several days ago were set on "JPEG Normal". Could that be a reason? I don't see that it is, but I dunno.

Well, be back around 1am EST.

Thanks!

Mitchell

Zoom Raider wrote:

I would post the shots, but I ridded them`cos they're so sad looking.

I took some others right after getting the camera and they looked good. Not perfect, but good. These people don't want their shots on the internet, so I can't post them either. Actually, none of them do.Those shots were taken with my Quantaray 70-300mm, set at 70mm though.

The ones from yesterday were taken with my Sigma 18-50mm, set at 24mm. They came out pityful. That's why I was afraid it's the camera wearing out already. I also had it set yesterday on "JPEG Fine". The others from several days ago were set on "JPEG Normal". Could that be a reason? I don't see that it is, but I dunno.

Well, be back around 1am EST.

Thanks!

Somehow, I doubt your camera is "wearing out". Please go and take some pics that you can post on the internet along with the EXIF data. I'm sure someone here will be able to assist you.

ScottMcLeod

Also, focus manually and stop down your lenses a bit (don't shoot wide open).

The two lenses you have aren't the sharpest glass available for the D50. The standard Nikon kit lens would've probably been a better choice than the sigma.

If you focus manually and stop down a bit, you can see if it's the way you're processing the photos, or just something wrong with the camera.

Keep your shutter speeds over 1/60th if possible, and you should be fine, (well over 1/125 or 1/250 for the 70-300)

wxwax

You didn't happen to have the Auto/Manual focus on the lens switched to manual, did you?

Zoom Raider

Mitchell wrote:

Somehow, I doubt your camera is "wearing out". Please go and take some pics that you can post on the internet along with the EXIF data. I'm sure someone here will be able to assist you.

Okay, I'll try to get a a couple shots in here tomorrow. I hope tomorrow will be a nice day, then I might go to the lakes/parks.

Zoom Raider

ScottMcLeod wrote:

Also, focus manually and stop down your lenses a bit (don't shoot wide open).

The two lenses you have aren't the sharpest glass available for the D50. The standard Nikon kit lens would've probably been a better choice than the sigma.

If you focus manually and stop down a bit, you can see if it's the way you're processing the photos, or just something wrong with the camera.

Keep your shutter speeds over 1/60th if possible, and you should be fine, (well over 1/125 or 1/250 for the 70-300)

I hope it isn't the camera,`cos I do not feel like having to pack it up and send it to Nikon and wait weeks to get it back or a brand new one in exchange. One reason why I bought a Sigma lens is`cos I've heard of Sigma and a couple others ever since I was a kid. Just wanted to stick with something I knew of.

I use to have a Quantaray 28-90mm which took great shots with my N75. I still have my Quantaray 70-300mm, and even set at 300mm, it takes better pictures than this Sigma set at 50 or 18mm.

After buying this Sigma lens at Superior Camera, the owner said it was a better quality glass than Nikkor. Some guy at Wolf Camera said the same thing, (even though they never have any Sigma's in stock and they try so hard to sell ya their Quantarays).

The owner of Superior Camera never seems order anything but Sigma (new). Any other brands are used. I'll be getting a Sigma 70-300mm sometime. Hope it will do good. It's on sale for $189. I got the Sigma 18-50mm for $139. I noticed after I attached it to my D50 that it had no aperture ring. At first, I thought that was why my pictures are bad.

Zoom Raider

wxwax wrote:

You didn't happen to have the Auto/Manual focus on the lens switched to manual, did you?

I had it set on both auto and then manual. I have 20/15 vision, so I dunno what's up. Just me not knowing how to work this camera yet, I hope. I hope it isn't the camera nor the lens either.

Be back after 11pm.

ScottMcLeod

Zoom Raider wrote:

I hope it isn't the camera,`cos I do not feel like having to pack it up and send it to Nikon and wait weeks to get it back or a brand new one in exchange. One reason why I bought a Sigma lens is`cos I've heard of Sigma and a couple others ever since I was a kid. Just wanted to stick with something I knew of.

I use to have a Quantaray 28-90mm which took great shots with my N75. I still have my Quantaray 70-300mm, and even set at 300mm, it takes better pictures than this Sigma set at 50 or 18mm.

After buying this Sigma lens at Superior Camera, the owner said it was a better quality glass than Nikkor. Some guy at Wolf Camera said the same thing, (even though they never have any Sigma's in stock and they try so hard to sell ya their Quantarays).

The owner of Superior Camera never seems order anything but Sigma (new). Any other brands are used. I'll be getting a Sigma 70-300mm sometime. Hope it will do good. It's on sale for $189. I got the Sigma 18-50mm for $139. I noticed after I attached it to my D50 that it had no aperture ring. At first, I thought that was why my pictures are bad.

*shrug* Sigma *does* have some nice glass. Their 70-200 f/2.8, their 10-20 and 12-24, etc...

I've heard good things about their 18-50 f/2.8, though apparently quality control is bad, but if you get a good copy, you get a really good copy.

I've tried the sigma 18-50 3.5-5.6 on my Rebel, before I moved to my 10D, and I didn't like it much. My 18-55 from Canon produced sharper images.

My biggest beef with sigma are their slow autofocus motors...

Zoom Raider

Finally, a picture.
Here's one that I took today from the porch of Superior Camera with my Sigma 18-50mm F3.5-5.6. It was set at 50mm on Landscape mode. That's all the EXIF data that I can remember,`cos I deleted it out of the camera. I didn't think to jot it down first. It had been raining and it was about to again, therefore this pic may not have enough light to it... (exposure, I guess it the word).

This IMG is not as sharp as the one on my comp,`cos for some reason, not all of my pictures are coming up on here big enough. The one I "Previewed" on here before this one, was like a lil' sqaure. I'm using PhotoBucket and lately not all of my pictures are even coming up to the size that you all see now. So I had to crop it by 55% just to get it to this size on here, so now it's not as sharp as my original.

The quality of what this $139 lens is okay with me now that I found out today from the owner of Superior Camera that it was the way I had one of the settings. The D50 wasn't directly focusing on any of the objects/subjects that I was taking pictures of. But I know this isn't enough knowledge for me to get even better pictures than I got today and before I screwed up the settings. There is still so much to learn. Those pictures that I took of a couple of people last week were just terribly fuzzy and with wrong colors... like too much yellow.

Anyway, let me know how decent this slightly pixelated picture looks like. I need more knowledge. And feel free to make the image better and repost it if you like.

Thanks!

Owen

The EXIF data is embedded in the image and can be pulled out at anytime.

Zoom Raider

Thanks! I forgot that I can do that, but it's still not showing everything, such as ISO. All it's showing is...

Focal Length: 50mm
Aperture: F10
Shutter: 1/250

Everything else is blank and saying "Unknown". I'm guessing the ISO could have been around 600, but I could be way off on that.

ScottMcLeod

Looks appropriately sharp.

Do me a favour, on the original, scale it up to 100% and take small crops from the corner and center.

Upload them at 100% then post them, so photobucket isn't resizing/resampling them...

(that, or get a smugmug account) ^_^

Khaos

Me thinks good cameras are only as good as the photographer using them.

I've read my camera manual at least 20 times and I'll probably go back to it again as a refesher at some point. I've read my external flash manual even more. Read, practice, read, practice, practice, and from what you learned ask informed questions that allow others to help you.

ScottMcLeod

Khaos wrote:

Me thinks good cameras are only as good as the photographer using them.

I've read my camera manual at least 20 times and I'll probably go back to it again as a refesher at some point. I've read my external flash manual even more. Read, practice, read, practice, practice, and from what you learned ask informed questions that allow others to help you.

I was trying to get to that tactfully after eliminating the hardware, but you've pretty much hit the nail on the head.

Practice practice practice.

Liza

Not only should you practice, but you might also consider purchasing better quality glass. Quantaray lenses are not known for their superior image quality. Try a simple 50mm prime lens for starters. They're inexpensive and produce much better images than most consumer zooms.