Any tricks? - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

03/06/2005 11:56:00 AM · #1

I did ask this question in another thread but didnt get any replies. So here goes.

Another interesting thing I was trying to do was click a snap in a darkish envioronment without flash. But I couldnt get a crisp result. I was shaking badly when I was snapping.

ok I think I should be more specific, I was travelling in a bus early in the morning. So it was dawn outside and little light. There was a very pretty girl friend of mine sleeping on the next seat and I wanted to click her like that without waking up half the bus and her. So I know I needed faster shutter speed but then the aperture wouldnt be open wide enough. And the shaking bus didnt help matters either. So i tried this trick wherein I focussed outside the window to get a faster shutter speed but invariably the final image would not be blurred but darkish. I tried various different scene settings also and nothing seemed to work better. I know its the limitation of my automatic snapper but does anyone know of any tricks to figure out a way around these limitations?

Konador

Canon EOS-500D Rebel T1i

03/06/2005 11:58:38 AM · #2

The best thing to do is to get a crisp but dark photo then make it brighter in Photoshop. Do you have Photoshop CS? If you do then the Shadow/Highlights feature works wonders bringing out detail on dark pics. If you dont, send me one of the dark but crisp photos and I'll run it though photoshop and show you the results :)

Canon PowerShot Pro 90 IS

03/06/2005 12:01:27 PM · #3

Right sirrie. I dont have CS. I am not at home so I will send you the pics tomorrow. And Shall see what magic you can create. ;-)

coolhar

03/06/2005 01:04:32 PM · #4

Use your widest (lowest number) aperture. Get ready to take your picture and then fire the shutter just when the bus comes to a stop. Rest the camera against a seat, or something solid like that. You may be able to get the shot you want if you can snap it at precisely the right moment.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

03/06/2005 01:17:12 PM · #5

if your camera has a multi-shot mode, use that and shoot bursts of 3 or more. Chances are one out of the three will be sharper. This works in combination with the other suggestions.

Exposing for the light outside will just make the picture underexposed inside the bus

zagman

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

Tokina AF 12-24mm f/4.0 AT-X Pro DX

03/06/2005 01:26:47 PM · #6

Originally posted by coolhar:

Yes that is sound advice. I have tried several ways to capture people on trains and buses as well. The best way to stop camera shake is to set aperture to widest setting, and hold seady. This is easier said than done. On the bus sit on the sunny side, and shoot with the sun on your back. On the train sit in the center and set WB to "Can" lighting.
And yes it does not always work. Here are some examples of shots on public transportation in California anyways.

People on bus
Guitar Guy

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

03/06/2005 01:35:44 PM · #7

Set the camera in aperture priority mode, set aperture as wide as it will go, and zoom in so you can meter the inside of the bus. Note the recommended shutter speed.

Now set the camera in full manual mode, and set the aperture wide open and the shutter at the recommended speed. If that speed is too slow for hand-held work, change the speed to one you can live with (probably 1/30 of a second) and make underexposed pictures. A sharper, underexposed picture can be better-rescued in PS than a blurry, correctly exposed one.

Finally, Gordon's advice on using burst mode is absolutely correct. Antime you have to hand-hold at slow shutter speeds use burst mode. The first picture will almost always show blur, as there's a small amount of camera movement introduced when you press the shutter release.

Robt.

Konador

Canon EOS-500D Rebel T1i

03/06/2005 01:45:25 PM · #8

I don't think that camera has any manual modes does it?

03/06/2005 01:46:30 PM · #9

Thanks for the advice.

See I was sitting on the aisle side and she was sitting on the window side. I did get results like the 'guitar guy'. I wanted sharper but I guess thats not possible. Bus stops were not possible as it was a long distance bus ride. discretion was another high key element ;)

Since I am not a member I cannot upload the image but I will send a copy to Konador tomorrow and maybe he can upload temporarily so we can have a look at my sneaky pics ;)

I dont know how to use the widest aperture setting. I thought focussing on the bright spot and then moving to the dark spot is supposed to do that. ofcourse using manual camera would have gotten me brilliant results. How else would one control the aperture on an automatic p/s ?

03/06/2005 01:49:34 PM · #10

Originally posted by Konador:

I don't think that camera has any manual modes does it?

Apparently not: "The eight-position mode dial offers quick access to the four most common scene modes (portrait, landscape, sports and night portrait) as well as the movie mode and setup menus. There are no real manual or semi automatic exposure modes on the 4800."

Robt.

03/06/2005 01:50:19 PM · #11

True it does not have a manual mode. All it has is scenes and other portrait modes but nothing to control the shutter speed or aperture settings.

In a manual camera I think what I would have done is very simialr to what Robt. suggests.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

03/06/2005 01:52:26 PM · #12

Originally posted by saurabhv:

I dont know how to use the widest aperture setting. I thought focussing on the bright spot and then moving to the dark spot is supposed to do that. ofcourse using manual camera would have gotten me brilliant results. How else would one control the aperture on an automatic p/s ?

As far as I can tell, you can't. I didn't realize the 4800 was so limited in its controls. A slightly more sophisticated camera would allow shutter priority, aperture priority, full manual, and full atomatic modes, and this gives you a lot more flexibility.

Robt.

Konador

Canon EOS-500D Rebel T1i

03/06/2005 01:54:12 PM · #13

Originally posted by saurabhv:

I'm guessing 'Sports' mode would give you the shortest shutter speed with the most open aperture to let most light in, as the subjects would be moving very fast, and that mode would be designed to cope with them. Try that :)

03/06/2005 01:59:07 PM · #14

hmmm... right sir. I am currently researching some good cameras to pick up for me self till I can save up enough for a dSLR. I have narrowed down my search to

Fuji finepix 5500
Canon S1 IS (current fav)
Panasonic z3

Any other suggestions ?

And also is there a s/w which can compress jpg's all together instead of one by one?

03/06/2005 02:01:43 PM · #15

Originally posted by Konador:

Right, never thought of using that bloody dial. damn, missed my chance this time around. Next time definately ; ) I think you're right about that.

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

03/06/2005 02:07:43 PM · #16

//www.jpegcruncher.com sells a very sophisitcated batch processor for jpg images. Ther may be free tools that do this also, I don't know.

You can buy my model Nikon (5700) for well under $500 if you shop around online. It's a metal camera, not a plastic one, with very good glass and a full range of controls. A 5 Mp model. The 8700 is 8 Mp, but it is pricier.

Robt.

faidoi

Pentax K10D

03/06/2005 02:10:55 PM · #17

Originally posted by bear_music:

....or the even pricier Nikon 8800, just like the 8700 but with 10X zoom and IS.

coolhar

Canon PowerShot Pro 90 IS

03/06/2005 02:15:40 PM · #18

Originally posted by saurabhv:

You're on the right track but I think you have that backwards. Focusing on the dark (interior of the bus) is more likely to get you a wide open aperture; unfortunately it will also get you a fairly long shutter opening. Holding the camera steady is going to be key to success. Increasing the ISO setting to it's highest will help some. You'll get a noiseier (grainier) image, but it may clean up nicely with a noise reduction program like Neat Image.