NEED help taking photos

[Flashanator]

Plz help, Need advice on taking beamshots...


Im a newbie, so All my photos come out blurry, & they don't show what the eye sees at all. In my photos, the lights looks like there 10x duller then with the visable eye. Do you have to have a camera that has certain special features?

My digital camera is a kodak Z650. I tried the night time setting with flash & without, but it still looks pretty bad. I have a new light & I'm dying to take beamshots.


Plz send help.

Regards.

 

[quokked]

I've tried hard to get good beamshots as well for my lights with varying degrees of sucess
Here a couple of tips to get this thread started!

1. Use a tripod!, at night most compact cameras cannot take a still picture due the long exposure times required.

2. Set the longest possible exposure your camera can do

3. Be patient and learn the settings of your camera, manual sometimes looks scary but it gives u more control

 

[Flashanator]

One problem I find is by just pressing the button to take the photo, it casuses camera shake. This can cause the photo to look worse. I really want a remote shutter button, but with my camera there most likely won't be one.

still trying to figger out the exposure time.

 

[Flashanator]

Here is a 130watt halogen light with a very large beam. But with my camera the pic looks like a huge, huge Maxabeam light. Too white & extremely bright.

:thinking:

 

[Norm]

One problem I find is by just pressing the button to take the photo, it casuses camera shake.

Sit the camera on something and use the auto timer.
Norm

 

[Zenster]

Here is a 130watt halogen light with a very large beam. But with my camera the pic looks like a huge, huge Maxabeam light. Too white & extremely bright.

:thinking:

Things to know:

1. Use a tripod!! Not just a tripod, but a GOOD tripod. If you are gentle when you "squeeze" the shutter button (and not "push" it), you should be able to take nicely sharp pics.

2. Use manual settings that allow you to set the shutter speed and aperture opening. What you're looking for is to end up with a pic that looks like what your eyes see. The best way to do that these days is to simply take some pics, review them (thank God for digital cameras), change settings, and try again. Repeat until you like what you see.
To fix the photo you posted, you could increase the shutter speed, use a smaller aperture setting, or both. As I said, experiment until you get what it looks like in person.

3. You probably know that various types of lights emit different colors. So just as you experiment with the basic settings as noted in the previous paragraph, you can experiment with the Color Balance setting on your camera until the pics you get look pretty close to what your light looks like in real life.

4. If you're doing comparison beamshots, be sure not to change any settings for any of the individual pics once you've decided upon a basic setting. Changing any camera settings between comparison shots will completely void any "apparent" results you get.

 

[tussery]

Sit the camera on something and use the auto timer.
Norm

That is the best idea I have heard. I can't believe I never thought of that.

 

[greenlight]

Your camera might have a multi mode where you can take snapshots in burst by holding the button down. I do that sometimes and choose the pic that is the least blurry.

 

[Niteowl]

That is the best idea I have heard. I can't believe I never thought of that.

I use the 2 second option when taking pics with a tripod. I have found it is best for me to not zoom in or be too close and crop the picture later to get the close up details.

The main problem I have is with beam shots as I can't set everything manually. In each manual mode, at least one setting is automatic. Drives me nuts.

 

[Norm]

I bought a cheap second hand 3 mega pixel camera on ebay that has full manual controls, Sony DSC-S75, can be used with aperture priority, shutter priority or fully manual. Fantastic camera for beam shots.
Norm

 

[Flashanator]

I was practicing taking beamshots last night with a tripod + timer mode & night time setting. The pics turned out allot better with less blur & more accurate colour, but still the beam looks way too bright.

Any pics over 1.5MP & they don't look that sharp. I haven't yet tested with aperture & shutter settings, not shore if I can tweak these settings in my camera.

 

[DesertFox]

If the camera allows you to overexpose or underexpose, try underexposing 2 f-stops. If the meter allows spot metering, use it, and make sure that the center spot is in the hot spot of the beam shot.

 

[jumpstat]

tripod and loooots of practice. Vary the parameters for each shot. Evaluat as you go along. You will hit the spot soon enough...

 

[hopkins]

Hi Flashanator
-Just hold a something over the lens to block all light during the 1/2 press
of the shutter button - like a sheet of cardboard.
-Have your camera in full auto focus / auto exposure setting of course.
-Have it pointed at the beam you want to image.
-Don't block the little focus window sensor. Thinks its above and left of the lens
on the front of your camera from the pics I've seen of kodak z650's.
-Then remove the cardboard and fully depress the shutter button.
I know, its so easy I had to be told by someone else too.
-Cheers!

 

[hopkins]

Here's a beam pic of my LED-Lensor 1aaa flex neck flashlight taken with my
Canon SD630 in full auto. I blocked the lens with a piece of cardboard during the
shutter button 1/2 press focus/exposure , then removed it to snap the beam.

http://s238.photobucket.com/albums/ff319/12eric/?action=view&current=LEDLensorflexneck.jpg

To avoid shake put you camera on a table,box,chair, etc to steady it.

I hate reading manuals. They all seem to be written by people who want to confuse you rather than inform.

 

[Flashanator]

My beamshots are improving, still need more practice tho. But ive got this setting on my camera called ISO. The higher the iso the more sensetive the image is to light. The difference between 80 ISO & 400+ is huge, so much brighter. Should I just use the lowest setting? I know its all about trying to get the photo to look like what you see, but I wanna know what setting ppl use, if you do use it.


thanks.

 

[Flashanator]

here is 2 photos of the same settings except ISO. The distant house is on a hill around 300meters away. Ive found that the lowest apeture & longest exposure give best results, but still not close enough to what i see.

 

[macforsale]

...

 

[Flashanator]

Well ive spent a few hours trying all my camera's settings & the main problem is most times the spot of light looks too bright. I think my cheap camera has its limits. This is the best I can get it, but the spot is too bright.

 

[winston]

You got it when you said the ISO varies the "film"'s sensitivity to light. It would seem that a high ISO is best, as it allows for faster shutter speeds (crisper / less camera shake) and/or smaller apertures (greater depth-of-field / area in focus) to be used. Alas, the higher sensitivity comes at a cost. Compare the two images shot at different ISO: The high ISO picture has trouble seamlessly going from one color to another. It ends up being "noisy" It's the difference between 123456789 and 114456699; Or, why you can't make a white sheet of paper into a grey one - simply by drawing a black dot in the middle of it.

The perfect flashaholic analogy: high ISO = ringy beam; low ISO = smooth beam

When I took 2:00am pictures of freeways being torn down, I used ISO 3200 film without a flash. Studio closeups of a beautiful face, well lit - are definitely more like ISO 50.
I hope this was in some way helpful.
-Winston