Can't get a sharp picture

I recently bought an Olympus SP800UZ. Tonight I was trying to take some flash
pictures, inside, of a new guitar. Shots were taken from four to six feet away.
Not one of about a half dozen shots were as clear as I would expect from the
camera. As I said, I used flash, I have the AF illumination turned on as well as
image stabilization. I was using the camera hand held, as my tripod was down in
my car. What else, short of a tripod, could I have done to try and get a sharp
image?

On 27/05/10 8:34 PM, wrote:
I recently bought an Olympus SP800UZ. Tonight I was trying to take some flash
pictures, inside, of a new guitar. Shots were taken from four to six feet away.
Not one of about a half dozen shots were as clear as I would expect from the
camera. As I said, I used flash, I have the AF illumination turned on as well as
image stabilization. I was using the camera hand held, as my tripod was down in
my car. What else, short of a tripod, could I have done to try and get a sharp
image?

Unfortunately, the SP800UZ does not support a more powerful external
flash, so short of a tripod there's little you could have done. Well not
totally true since the FL-36R and FL-50R flashes will work wirelessly
with the SP800UZ. Alas they are quite expensive compared to D-SLR flashes.

On 28/05/2010 04:34, wrote:
I recently bought an Olympus SP800UZ. Tonight I was trying to take some flash
pictures, inside, of a new guitar. Shots were taken from four to six feet away.

That is fairly close so even the weedy flash unit on a P&S should manage
that distance OK. Sounds to me like the autofocus didn't lock onto the
guitar properly. A bit more ambient light might help with that.

4-6 feet is in the range that most cameras ought to be able to focus.
Default when it sees no focus assist signal back is to assume infinity
focus which may well be what happened here.

Is the guitar by any chance a black one?

Not one of about a half dozen shots were as clear as I would expect from the
camera. As I said, I used flash, I have the AF illumination turned on as well as
image stabilization. I was using the camera hand held, as my tripod was down in
my car. What else, short of a tripod, could I have done to try and get a sharp
image?

Try and hold the camera steady and squeeze the shutter release. Are you
sure that the flash actually fired? Flash photography will usually
freeze movement so you get a tack sharp bright image with a dimmer
motion blur from the image formed by the ambient light.

It would help to see a sample image. It is hard to guess what went wrong
from your description. If you try to photograph the same guitar from the
same distance outside in natural sunlight can you get decent images?
That would eliminate bad camera technique from the equation.

Regards,
Martin Brown

On Fri, 28 May 2010 10:08:01 +0100, bugbear
wrote:

****in' Jackoff Know-Nothing Idots wrote:
On Fri, 28 May 2010 00:55:39 -0700, Paul Furman
wrote:

wrote:
I recently bought an Olympus SP800UZ. Tonight I was trying to take some flash
pictures, inside, of a new guitar. Shots were taken from four to six feet away.
Not one of about a half dozen shots were as clear as I would expect from the
camera. As I said, I used flash, I have the AF illumination turned on as well as
image stabilization. I was using the camera hand held, as my tripod was down in
my car. What else, short of a tripod, could I have done to try and get a sharp
image?
Try zooming as wide as it'll go and move closer. This will give more
light,

Wrong.

He's using flash. Moving closer *will* give more light.


Pay attention YOU ****INGLY ILLITERATE DLSR-MORON TROLL! He's shooting at
4-6 ft!


faster shutter,

Wrong.

And more light *does* allow a faster shutter speed.

(and more exaggerated perspective distortion,

Partially correct.

Pretty much Correct. The wide angle end of most P&S zooms *do* have
substantial barrel distortion.

which may or may not be desirable).

Really Paul, get your ****in' head out of your ass. At LEAST use the kinds
of equipment that you give advice about before you even attempt to give
that lame advice.

You're full of ****.

BugBear

Did you enjoy making a total ass out of yourself again and proving to the
WHOLE world that you don't even know how to use ANY camera?

But those of us that know you, already knew that ... LONG ago.

Go crawl back into that hell hole of an ass where all your photography and
experience comes from.

On Fri, 28 May 2010 10:29:48 +0100, Martin Brown
wrote:

On 28/05/2010 04:34, wrote:
I recently bought an Olympus SP800UZ. Tonight I was trying to take some flash
pictures, inside, of a new guitar. Shots were taken from four to six feet away.

That is fairly close so even the weedy flash unit on a P&S should manage
that distance OK. Sounds to me like the autofocus didn't lock onto the
guitar properly. A bit more ambient light might help with that.

4-6 feet is in the range that most cameras ought to be able to focus.
Default when it sees no focus assist signal back is to assume infinity
focus which may well be what happened here.

Is the guitar by any chance a black one?

Do you often pretend to give advice about which you know NOTHING about?

The bright bronze or silver strings alone are enough to focus on.



Not one of about a half dozen shots were as clear as I would expect from the
camera. As I said, I used flash, I have the AF illumination turned on as well as
image stabilization. I was using the camera hand held, as my tripod was down in
my car. What else, short of a tripod, could I have done to try and get a sharp
image?

Try and hold the camera steady and squeeze the shutter release. Are you
sure that the flash actually fired? Flash photography will usually
freeze movement so you get a tack sharp bright image with a dimmer
motion blur from the image formed by the ambient light.

It would help to see a sample image. It is hard to guess what went wrong
from your description. If you try to photograph the same guitar from the
same distance outside in natural sunlight can you get decent images?
That would eliminate bad camera technique from the equation.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Yet another KNOW NOTHING ROLE-PLAYING PRETEND-PHOTOGRAPHER TROLL.

****in' Jackoff Know-Nothing Idiots wrote:
On Fri, 28 May 2010 10:08:01 +0100, bugbear
wrote:
You're full of ****.

BugBear

Did you enjoy making a total ass out of yourself again and proving to the
WHOLE world that you don't even know how to use ANY camera?

But those of us that know you, already knew that ... LONG ago.

Go crawl back into that hell hole of an ass where all your photography and
experience comes from.

My mistake.

You're full of **** *and* you've got anti social tendancies.

BugBear

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