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shutter speed...

T

TUKIN18S

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 15, 2005
Messages
402
I just have a question. I just bought a cheapie dig cam. It's a DXG 4MP from Tigerdirect. It seems I can't get a decent picture unless I have it attached to a fricked tripod. I would say 7 of 10 pictures I take are blurred, from what I figure it is the shutter being extremely slow. What is a normal adjustment for shutter speed if there is even one available. Or is it just a case of you get what you pay for? Also the manual sux, there isn't any mention of how to adjust the shutter speed.

DXG-409
 
on the website it says
Shutter Speed- 2 - 1/1000 sec.
Click to expand...
so i am assuming that you can adjust it somehow, but i have no idea how to do it. maybe it is just automatic, how is the lighting where you are taking the pictures because if it is dim you will force it to use a longer shutter speed in order to properly expose the image.
 
To be honest it was fairly dark in the room I took some pictures in.

Example of the room environment:
whole.JPG
 
Well, you usually do get what you pay for...

I think in this case, with the lens on that camera that is so small, and the seemingly lack of available indoor light, the camera is probably compensating for lowlight by slowing the exposure.

Take a few shots outside in bright sunlight, of some moving cars. That should show you what speed exposure you are getting in light. If you see a blur, slow exposure, if you see a still car, and can make out definition in the wheels like they are stopped, thats a fast exposure.

I dont know much about that model, but typically those teeny cameras dont have very good optics and lowlight ability.

Also keep in mind that more Megapixel is not equal to higher quality pictures, just more pixels. Optics and in-camera options also play a big part in image quality. Reading the reviews of that camera on Tiger's site, you would think that "4MP = omg!awesome!" Some 3 megapixel cameras out there would probably produce better images than the one that you got, such as the Canon A70, or ones with more manual-setting ability.
 
compslckr said:
on the website it says ... so i am assuming that you can adjust it somehow, but i have no idea how to do it.
Click to expand...
Definitely not true. I think it's very misleading. I was looking up info to comment on some cameras recently (probably this thread), and it took me a minute to realize that even though they gave aperture and shutter ranges, there was no manual control over either.
 
Another misleading thing about that camera is that it doesn't actually have a real zoom. They're marketing "digital zoom" in place of true optical zoom. The 4x is just 4x digital zoom, which is just interpolating image-pixels when no extra real data actually exists...


Incredible Zooming
Get up close to your subject with the high-performance 4x Digital zoom glass lens.

(That's misleading marketing-speak right there)
Click to expand...

BTW, the light collecting ability of that camera's lens is f/3.0. Which is not quite fast enough to work well indoors without a flash...
 
You cant juts "change the shutter speed" or else you'll get pictures that are dark.

Raise your ISO, lower your aperatuer, quit taking pictures of rooms with no light.

The selection of the shutter speed has nothing to do with the camera (aside from the fact that your forced to use a certain aperature).
 
if you turn on the flash the camera should compensate and give you a faster shutter speed, other than that you just need higher lit situations for the camera to choose a faster shutter speed.
 
[TQ] said:
You cant juts "change the shutter speed" or else you'll get pictures that are dark.

Raise your ISO, lower your aperatuer, quit taking pictures of rooms with no light.
Click to expand...
Dark pictures can often be salvaged. Hand-movement blurred photos almost never can, in my experience. Regardless, I doubt the OP will be changing the shutter speed on the camera anyway; it probably lacks manual shutter speed control, and given that, I seriously doubt it has ISO or aperture controls. "Quit taking pictures in low light" is not useful advice.
 
HorsePunchKid said:
"Quit taking pictures in low light" is not useful advice.
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And informing him to take underexposed photographs somehow is?

Right...
:rolleyes:
 
[TQ] said:
And informing him to take underexposed photographs somehow is?

Right...
:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I think the point is that an underexposed photo is more likely to be salvagable than a blurry shot.
 
[TQ] said:
Raise your ISO, lower your aperatuer, quit taking pictures of rooms with no light.
Click to expand...

Widen up your aperature you mean. As in, the diameter of the aperature at f/4 is 1/4 the focal length.

I don't know about your camera, but it seems like using flash or getting into a more lit area is the best idea. Sorry!
 
fugu said:
I think the point is that an underexposed photo is more likely to be salvagable than a blurry shot.
Click to expand...

I know what his point was, mine was that his advice was about as worthless as mine.
 
[TQ] said:
And informing him to take underexposed photographs somehow is?

Right...
:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
HorsePunchKid said:
Dark pictures can often be salvaged. Hand-movement blurred photos almost never can, in my experience.
Click to expand...

Yes. Yes, it is, in the context of this discussion. Your "point" had significantly less merit.
 
HorsePunchKid said:
Yes. Yes, it is, in the context of this discussion. Your "point" had significantly less merit.
Click to expand...

What you say sounds all fine and dandy. However, when you increase the shutter speed to a speed that you could keep your subject in focus, you will not see your subject.

Dont try and bend the rules of photography. The proper exposure is a bucket of water with a hole. If you need a gallon of water from that bucket to get the job done you can have a big hole and a short duration or a small hole and a big (long) duration. You cant have a small hole and a small duartion or you wont have a gallon of water.

Proper advice here is:

Get a faster lens (differnt camera in this case)
Use a flash
Raise the ISO (maybe get a differnt camera in this case)
Use a tripod
Dont try and take pictures when it's too dark

Simply telling him how he can get a differnt looking shitty picture is worthless advice.
 
[TQ] said:
Simply telling him how he can get a differnt looking shitty picture is worthless advice.
Click to expand...
You just don't get it, TQ, once again.

"Don't even try to take a photo if it's too dark" is bad advice. It's just wrong. That was your advice. That was the advice I am taking issue with. As I have already said, underexposed photos can sometimes be salvaged. Call it "bending the rules" if you want, it doesn't change the fact that a hand-jitter-blurred shot will almost undoubtedly be less usable than an underexposed one.

I claim that "get an underexposed photo if you have no other option" is better advice than "don't even bother trying". Do you honestly disagree?
 
[TQ] said:
I know what his point was, mine was that his advice was about as worthless as mine.
Click to expand...

I'd much rather have an underexposed picture than a blurry picture. With the underexposed shot, I can bump the levels and run some noise reduction software. Depending on the picture, it's good for maybe a stop or so, sometimes more. If it's blury, there's really nothing I can do to focus it after the fact
 
You should always try and take the picture, but if it's a dark room then dont expect it to come out perfectly. That was my point.
 
um, I have really no idea if you can adjust the aperture or ISO or what-ever, but if you want shots that are not shaky (regardless of whether or not they let in enough light), you should use a shutter speed faster than 1/60 seconds:

look at the lens -- it has a rating of f3.0 and 7.36 mm. It's obviously not 7.36 mm focal length in the true 35 mm sense because the lense is very very small and positioned close to the sensor. Multiply this value by probably 4 or 5 to get the 35 mm equivalent (disregard crop factor) ... 30 or 40 mm seems about right. use the basic rule handheld shots at focal length x should be 1/x seconds. so by this math you'd need a shutter speed of 1/30 or 1/40 seconds. add a few milliseconds to compensate for your fuzzy math in converting the focal length. I'd say 1/60 to 1/100 should be sufficient, but your photos will probably turn out too dark in a low-lit room. At least you will have solved the shakiness factor.


good luck
 
I had the same problems with my Fujifilm 2mp camera.

It is the shutter speed.

The only options are:
A. to use the flash, that seems to speed up the shutter.
B. Use a Tripod
C. More light in Room
D. Get a better camera

I was able to take decent pictures with my Fuji on a tripod. Just kinda have to get used to it.

Example, No Flash Fuji on a Tripod:
christmas0408.jpg
 
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