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General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Meatwad on October 19, 2008, 05:48:06 PM

Title: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: Meatwad on October 19, 2008, 05:48:06 PM
Went to an airshow saturday, a lot of the pictures sucked

Camera has 10 different picture settings and all with options, and cant ever find the one I need that works the best.

Woe is me  :cry

For example, here is one that sucks. Was zoomed in far, but I guess a 6mp resolution isnt good enough. Dont know why it turned out like that

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/IMG_1386.jpg)
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture
Post by: boxboy28 on October 19, 2008, 05:58:19 PM
i know the feeling, i have an oler olymup 5 mp digital and i have the same prob. most of the time.

Today i saw what looks and sound like 4 B17 flying over head about 5 pm est.

im south of Ashville NC and north of Spartenburg/Greenville SC.

but the 2 mega pix. on my cell couldnt get crap either specially w/o a zoom on it.
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture
Post by: Meatwad on October 19, 2008, 06:00:19 PM
This one looks better, cant remember what I used on it though

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/Img_1388-2.jpg)
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture
Post by: Golfer on October 19, 2008, 06:35:30 PM
Your Megapixel count doesn't have the effect on zoom/clarity that you might think.

To get the best photos you need as much optical zoom as you can get.  Digital Zoom will make your photos look not like you'd expect  ;)

The content is just fine for what it's worth  :)  :salute
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture
Post by: Vulcan on October 19, 2008, 07:03:53 PM
For example, here is one that sucks. Was zoomed in far, but I guess a 6mp resolution isnt good enough. Dont know why it turned out like that

What golfer said, what you see in your piccie is a classic example of 'digital zoom'. Some camera's let you turn digital zoom off, you lose the super zoom in but still retain the true optical zoom. Check your camera's manual and see if it's possible.
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture
Post by: sluggish on October 19, 2008, 07:11:10 PM
Your Megapixel count doesn't have the effect on zoom/clarity that you might think.

To get the best photos you need as much optical zoom as you can get.  Digital Zoom will make your photos look not like you'd expect  ;)

The content is just fine for what it's worth  :)  :salute
He's right.  There's usually two kinds of zooms on a camera: Optical zoom and digital zoom.  Optical zoom mechanically moves the lens around to zoom in and digital zoom zooms in on the photo magnifying the pixels and creating a photo like your first one (which I think is a fantastic shot even though it is grainy).  Your second shot is obviousy not zoomed past the the limits of your optical zoom, thereby giving a much smoother more detailed look.

When looking at your camera's LCD there should be a meter of sorts showing the amount of zoom applied to the current shot. On that "meter" there should also be an indicator showing where the optical zoom ends and the digital zoom begins.  To keep your shots as smooth and detailed as possible, try not to zoom past the camera's optical zoom capabilities.

Two things of equal importance when shopping for a compact digital camera are megapixel and optical zoom capability.  I personally think that there is negligable difference in picture quality with anything much higher than an 8 megapixel compact camera with a small lense.  Money would be better spent on a camera with say, 8 megapixel and 5 X optical zoom than a 12 megapixel camera with 3 X optical zoom.

If I'm wrong school me.  I'd love to learn more about this stuff...
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture
Post by: Meatwad on October 19, 2008, 07:59:57 PM
Checked and the digital zoom is turned off, I was using optical zoom only.

Also noticed something. The picture size taken was at 1600x1200, superfine resolution

Aw crap. I just realized what I did wrong. I has 1600x1200 selected instead of 2816x2112. Completely forgot I changed it here a few weeks ago  :(



Heres a picture at 1600x1200

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/IMG_1384-2.jpg)


And here is one the year before at 2816x2112

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/0097.jpg)






I feel so stupid  :o
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture
Post by: Meatwad on October 19, 2008, 08:02:05 PM
I make a double post  :o
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture
Post by: Masherbrum on October 19, 2008, 08:06:00 PM
Your Megapixel count doesn't have the effect on zoom/clarity that you might think.

To get the best photos you need as much optical zoom as you can get.  Digital Zoom will make your photos look not like you'd expect  ;)

The content is just fine for what it's worth  :)  :salute

Quoted for truth.   Ride the THICK line of utilizing Optical Zoom.   I learned that after my first picture.   
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: Meatwad on October 19, 2008, 08:22:12 PM
This was in a scrapbook there

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/Img_1416-2.jpg)
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: Meatwad on October 19, 2008, 08:34:44 PM
German Ammo crate

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/Img_1424-2.jpg)

Assorted german items

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/IMG_1423.jpg)

Weapons

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/IMG_1425.jpg)

Closer items

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/IMG_1427.jpg)

German Re-enactor

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/Img_1429.jpg)

Meatwad with an MP40 and a slightly small german helmet

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/Img_1432.jpg)
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: Meatwad on October 19, 2008, 08:45:58 PM
Russian trainer taxying

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/Img_1391-2.jpg)



Goon landing 1

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/Img_1399-2.jpg)



Goon landing 2


(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/Img_1401-2.jpg)



OOPS! Goon missed the taxiway and had to go on the tarmac through the crowd

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/Img_1403-3.jpg)



(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/Img_1412-2.jpg)


(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o109/AHmeatwad/Img_1379-2.jpg)






Got more that i havent posted
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: DYNAMITE on October 19, 2008, 08:50:06 PM
Good stuff meat!

P.S. u're a $3xy b1t[h!  :aok :D
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: Curlew on October 20, 2008, 12:03:51 AM
Fleet Week 2008 Blue Angels

(http://i37.tinypic.com/mlphkn.jpg)
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: Maverick on October 20, 2008, 10:39:08 AM
Sheesh Meatwad you DO look like your avatar....... :huh


Nice pics thogh, even if they are grainey. Looks like a nice airshow.
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on October 20, 2008, 10:53:33 AM
Most people fall to the BS of digital camera salesmen. They outright lie to the customers when they sell the cameras.

A digital camera is no different from a regular camera in that it needs high quality optics to take good pictures. It doesn't matter if you have 30 megapixels if your lense is the size of a needle. Then again with 6 megapixels you can take pro class shots if you wield a $1500 lense on your camera.

The first picture was taken with maximum zoom -> lense was not powerful enough to bring enough light on the cell -> image became noisy. Add to the problem camera shake on high zoom -> camera probably uses digital camera shake correction -> resolution decreases dramatically. The less light comes on the chip the more noise you will have in the image. And that is without taking other typical lense problems in account.

Second big problem with digital cameras is that for cost saving reasons the chip that captures the image is actually much smaller than the opening of the camera. To acommodate that there's an extra lens that works like a reverse magnifying lense which stuffs the image on the chip. This creates an another layer of image degradation.

The cheapest camera available that can take pictures using a full opening size chip is the Canon 5D. Prices start from $2000 add another $1500 for basic optics.

So, you shouldn't be wondering why your 12Mpix camera takes crappy pictures. You should be wondering how you bought the salesline of supposedly high quality from a $200 digital camera.

And don't take me wrong I'm not blaming you - sales people ride the pixels in the marketing. Good news is that if you have a digital system camera, you can upgrade the optics just like any other camera to get some better quality pictures.
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: Fulmar on October 20, 2008, 11:53:29 AM
And don't take me wrong I'm not blaming you - sales people ride the pixels in the marketing. Good news is that if you have a digital system camera, you can upgrade the optics just like any other camera to get some better quality pictures.
Depends on what your camera is.  If its a point and shoot, forget about it.  Even the SLR-look a likes rarely offer replacement lenses.

I'd like to what know camera/model you have Meatwad just so we can gauge what kind of camera it is.  I tried downloading one of your pics and reading the File Info in Photoshop, but the camera data was not saved.

http://www.derstuhl.net/ryan/eaa/

Photos I took in August from the EAA with my Fuji S8000fd camera.  It's not a bad camera.  Couldn't afford an SLR at the time, but thats my next stop.
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on October 20, 2008, 12:16:10 PM
Depends on what your camera is.  If its a point and shoot, forget about it.  Even the SLR-look a likes rarely offer replacement lenses.

I'd like to what know camera/model you have Meatwad just so we can gauge what kind of camera it is.  I tried downloading one of your pics and reading the File Info in Photoshop, but the camera data was not saved.

http://www.derstuhl.net/ryan/eaa/

Photos I took in August from the EAA with my Fuji S8000fd camera.  It's not a bad camera.  Couldn't afford an SLR at the time, but thats my next stop.

It can't be a system camera if it doesn't have the option to switch optics.. :)
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: Meatwad on October 20, 2008, 12:20:05 PM
Its a Canon Powershot S3 1S camera, think it was $250.

I would of liked one of the better $800 Canon's, but I cant afford one.


It works for what I want it to though. My main error was that I was using the wrong setting after I got home and was reviewing the pictures.

Live and learn  :(
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on October 20, 2008, 12:40:50 PM
Its a Canon Powershot S3 1S camera, think it was $250.

I would of liked one of the better $800 Canon's, but I cant afford one.


It works for what I want it to though. My main error was that I was using the wrong setting after I got home and was reviewing the pictures.

Live and learn  :(

The S3 is quite a capable camera for regular shots from birthday parties etc. But obviously it lacks the optics for airshow shots. Have you ever observed those people at platforms / special places near the runways with their huge objectives? That black beerkeg in front of the camera is the secret to good photos.

Photography is a very cool hobby - it's just darn expensive at hobby level let alone pro.
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: Meatwad on October 20, 2008, 12:44:33 PM
The S3 is quite a capable camera for regular shots from birthday parties etc. But obviously it lacks the optics for airshow shots. Have you ever observed those people at platforms / special places near the runways with their huge objectives? That black beerkeg in front of the camera is the secret to good photos.

Photography is a very cool hobby - it's just darn expensive at hobby level let alone pro.

I would love to have one of those cameras, but dropping $1000+ on a camera/lens/options is something I cant do right now. Someday I will, but not for a while.
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: Dago on October 20, 2008, 06:11:46 PM
Hey Meatwad, if you see them there reenactors again, tell then the WW2 M1 Carbines didn't have a ventilated metal handguard.
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: Meatwad on October 20, 2008, 06:26:32 PM
I got the pamphlet here somewhere.

The ones with the ventilated handguard were captured soviet rifles
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: Dago on October 20, 2008, 07:41:54 PM
I got the pamphlet here somewhere.

The ones with the ventilated handguard were captured soviet rifles

The pic with the big round thing  (land mine?), on the far right, that is an M1 Carbine, and they didn't have metal ventilated handguards in WW2.  Not even if the Russkies had some, and I never saw any pics of Russkies with M1 Carbines.
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: Meatwad on October 20, 2008, 08:44:54 PM
The pic with the big round thing  (land mine?), on the far right, that is an M1 Carbine, and they didn't have metal ventilated handguards in WW2.  Not even if the Russkies had some, and I never saw any pics of Russkies with M1 Carbines.

Hmmm.

I only know what I was told there
Title: Re: GRRR! Never can get a great picture/Airshow pictures
Post by: midnight Target on October 21, 2008, 09:09:22 AM
In that weapons pic, bottom rifle is a sniper version of the MN91-30. Very nice rifle and kinda hard to find.