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09/17/2002 02:17:32 AM · #1 |
As I've said a million times, I have a cheap digital camera and can't quite afford a better one right now. So, does anyone have any suggestions on how I might be able get this cheap, battery sucking thing to do a little better for me. First of all, on my F&V picture, I figured that I was obviously trying to get it to do more than it could. Like a regular point and shoot camera, the ViviCam cannot focus in on close objects. In an attempt to do the shoot better, I tried to pull away and use my computer to pull in the shot. However, it becomes blurry and when I try to sharpen the image you can tell from the looks of it what happens.
I felt that some of the problem was lighting. After my poor performance in F&V, I decided that I would take all my pictures out doors and not try to do any up close photos with this camera. I'm finding that many shots outside turn out the same way. My negative space shot turned out a lot better because it was taken with natural light, but I'm finding a lot of times I still get those spots (what are they called?) To get rid of them, I end up with a somewhat out of focus shot. I have fiddled with the resolution settings. That is about all I can control. Let's see, I have a choice between 63, 119, 239, 478, and 955. However, the higher the resolution, the smaller the picture it gives me to work on, the smallest being just the right size for submission to the challenges if I happened to have a picture I didn't need to crop. I can get great pictures on the smaller size, but then when I increase the size to submit, I lose the quality. If you look at the thumbnail of my picture, it actually looks much better.
Hey, I've tried some of the fancy stuff that I see you guys do in the challenges with my 35mm SLR and I've come up with some cool stuff. Unfortunately, I've wasted a lot of film in the process. I like the freedom with digital cameras. I just wish they weren't so expensive. My daughter has a cheap point and shoot regular camera that takes much better pictures than my point and shoot digital. I have to be doing something wrong.
Thank you in advance....Connie
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09/17/2002 02:59:54 AM · #2 |
Funny you should mention that connie...I just did a tutorial on "cheap enhancements for "low end" digital cameras" on photosig. The link is here...
//www.photosig.com/viewarticle.php?id=548
Sorry I don't know how to insert links, so you'll have to cut and paste. I think you will find it very helpful, as you even have more features in your camera than I do on mine. I know exactly how you feel. Definately check out the article I wrote, as I feel your frusteration.
Hope it helps!!
~Heather~
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09/17/2002 03:12:15 AM · #3 |
Hi Connie,
Your "resolution" settings are telling yo how many photos you can capture to available memory (you might want to photo a 1000 tiny mug shots or bits of art...) At your best resolution you are getting only 640x480 pixels. If you want to crop away ANY of the background you will have to resample up and lose quality. Very little can be done to compensate for that; maybe try sharpening LESS than usual.
Your best bet (besides a newer camera) is to avoid things known to cause problems: lots of tiny detail, grids, plaids, and especially diagonal lines and edges. For examply, a still-life of some solid-colored ceramic cannisters would probably fare better than a vase full of assorted flowers.
Try to frame as accurately as possible so you don't have to crop. One of the changes coming "soon" to the site will be more flexible aspect ratios and image sizes, which should also help -- your image may be small, but of better quality.
BTW: My dad (GeneralE) wrote these notes...he's logged into my account to upload my entry and couldn't stay out of the forums...so you should probably address any further questions to him.
* This message has been edited by the author on 9/17/2002 3:19:03 AM. |
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09/17/2002 03:16:23 AM · #4 |
Originally posted by hbunch7187:
Funny you should mention that connie...I just did a tutorial on "cheap enhancements for "low end" digital cameras" on photosig. The link is here...
//www.photosig.com/viewarticle.php?id=548
Sorry I don't know how to insert links...
~Heather~
Click on the "Insert Link" button on the upper right. You will be prompted for, first the complete URL, and then for the text you want people to click on. Then just continue your post after the string of code which gets inserted at the end.
PhotoSig Article Link |
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09/17/2002 03:29:29 AM · #5 |
[Connie,
I just looked online at your camera. It has some good features (i.e. 2.11 mp resolution) and some bad ones that I can make you aware of. I work in retail and actually sell these wonderful toys of ours. One disadvantage that you have is your zoom - it's digital. Stop using it! Yes, you zoom in closer to your subject; yes you keep the file size small, but you always receive a very pixilated image when you print 5x7's and larger. You might also think about investing in a good photo editing software program; something simple, but with great abilities. I would recommend Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0. It retails for about $100, but it̢۪s worth it. It's very scaled down from Adobe's premiere package (Photoshop 7.0 @ $650), but it has a lot of sizing, resolution, and color management tools. Also, there are a lot of articles in consumer magazines on how to manage these programs.
Play with the camera; experiment and have fun. One thing that I used to do was place a magnifying glass about three to four inches away from the lenses and see what kind of image you get. It's pretty wild.
Don't be discouraged though. I liked your F&V submission. It shows your creativity and imagination. I started with a 1.0 mp camera and learned the hard way about digital zooms.
IGJOE sends....
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09/17/2002 03:53:16 AM · #6 |
Connie,
I didn't realize your camera went to the higher resolution. I always shoot in the highest -resolution file I have available (1600x1200), usually with best-quality JPEG compression on, very occasionally in uncompressed TIFF (like if I had a "paying" photography job). |
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09/17/2002 09:52:23 AM · #7 |
Thank-you for your responses to my question. I am axious to try out these suggestions. #1 on my shopping list....magnifying glass and Photoshop Elements. I'm looking forward to being able to submit different sized photos for submission.
BTW, Heather, I really liked your tutorial. Thank-you so much
Connie |
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09/17/2002 12:06:15 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by CLarson557:
Thank-you for your responses to my question. I am axious to try out these suggestions. #1 on my shopping list....magnifying glass and Photoshop Elements. I'm looking forward to being able to submit different sized photos for submission.
BTW, Heather, I really liked your tutorial. Thank-you so much
Connie
No problem at all. I had a great time doing the
tutorial at photosig.
I have gotten lots of emails about it. There was a comment on here to stop using the digital zoom, however, you can use the digital zoom with the mag. glass. It really puts the pixles back to where they are suposed to be. You might not be able to use the highest digital zoom, but the smaller ones turn out nicely with the mag. glass. You will have to play around with it a bit. The mag. glass doesn't work if you are trying to take photos of something far away with zoom...only of things close up with zoom. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out a good way to use zoom on far away objects.
I just wanted to play with inserting a link, so I hope it works. See, I even learned something today. :)
Have fun and good luck with your photos!
Yea!! My link worked!
~Heather~
* This message has been edited by the author on 9/17/2002 12:06:35 PM.
* This message has been edited by the author on 9/17/2002 12:07:36 PM.
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