# Photo Idiotè



## AntimatterAsh

I am new to the photography thing so can someone help me out? On mums camera there is a thing called Macro, and there is a thing called ISO Sensitivity? Does this have anything to do with the quality of the final image? Sorry if this is a dumb question.


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## voyagerfan99

Macro is used for taking a picture of a macroscopic object. Here's an example. I used a macro lens to capture the detail in the wood. On point and shoot, it is more software related, but tells the camera that the object photographed will be very close to the lens and focusing needs to be precise.






ISO refers to the speed of the picture. It is true that a higher ISO has much more noise in the final product, therefore reducing the quality of the final image. But a high ISO also allows for better pictures taken in low light situations (along with the proper aperture settings and shutter speed).


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## AntimatterAsh

voyagerfan99 said:


> Macro is used for taking a picture of a macroscopic object. Here's an example. I used a macro lens to capture the detail in the wood. On point and shoot, it is more software related, but tells the camera that the object photographed will be very close to the lens and focusing needs to be precise.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ISO refers to the speed of the picture. It is true that a higher ISO has much more noise in the final product, therefore reducing the quality of the final image. But a high ISO also allows for better pictures taken in low light situations (along with the proper aperture settings and shutter speed).



Ahhh I see! I have the problem with mums camera which is a nikon coolpix l120 where when you focus, it shifts the image about as the lens tries to focus, even if it is in focus, so it makes the image blurry. It is basically like swaying the camera around but its the lens doing it not me... how do I get around this?


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## voyagerfan99

Does it have that problem when shooting on full automatic mode?


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## AntimatterAsh

voyagerfan99 said:


> Does it have that problem when shooting on full automatic mode?



I dont know? It set the settings to normal, vivid colour, and whether anything like macro is on or off, when i half hold the button to focus it, it cant sit still, which makes it quite hard to get a clear shot since my hands shake a fair bit anyway, it does it even on a flat surface...


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## voyagerfan99

It's probably just failing to focus correctly. From the quick searching I did, there is no way to manually focus.


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## AntimatterAsh

voyagerfan99 said:


> It's probably just failing to focus correctly. From the quick searching I did, there is no way to manually focus.



Spirit said try factory resetting it? Would this work?


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## Ramodkk

There's probably not enough light. Point and shoot cameras have poor ISO performance. If you're shooting low-light and not using the flash, more than likely, you're gonna get a blurry picture every time unless you bump up the ISO, which will decrease image quality.


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## spirit

ramodkk said:


> There's probably not enough light. Point and shoot cameras have poor ISO performance. If you're shooting low-light and not using the flash, more than likely, you're gonna get a blurry picture every time unless you bump up the ISO, which will decrease image quality.



^ This. Increasing the ISO will give you a noisier (more grainy) picture, and the bridge cameras can't really get past ISO 800 before you get a lot of noise, or at least mine can't.


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## Ramodkk

If you use a tripod, then that would help a lot!


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## spirit

ramodkk said:


> If you use a tripod, then that would help a lot!



Yeah or something like a gorilla-pod, doesn't have to be a tripod though, just something to rest the camera on.


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## AntimatterAsh

ramodkk said:


> If you use a tripod, then that would help a lot!



This is the best I can get:


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## spirit

Looks like pretty low light to me. If you can use manual settings use a low shutter speed and a higher ISO if possible. Does the L120 have a fully manual mode?


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## AntimatterAsh

spirit said:


> Looks like pretty low light to me. If you can use manual settings use a low shutter speed and a higher ISO if possible. Does the L120 have a fully manual mode?



How do I alter shutter speed :L cant find a setting for it and it has a semi manual mode, so it still does things like focus itself but you can change colour, macro, flash, etc


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## AntimatterAsh




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## spirit

EclipticShell said:


> How do I alter shutter speed :L cant find a setting for it and it has a semi manual mode, so it still does things like focus itself but you can change colour, macro, flash, etc



Download the user manual from Nikon and see if it mentions anything about a fully manual mode.


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## AntimatterAsh

spirit said:


> Download the user manual from Nikon and see if it mentions anything about a fully manual mode.



Any better?


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## spirit

Yeah the second is better, definitely more in focus and much less blurry. How did you take it? Did you use a tripod or rest the camera on something to steady it? One thing it could do with a tiny bit more of is exposure, see if you can adjust the exposure and raise it just a tiny bit more to make the photo a tad brighter, it's just a little too dark.

I think this is why I went for the FinePix S4000 over the CoolPix L120, the S4000 has a fully manual mode and even on the "automatic modes" you can adjust stuff.


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## AntimatterAsh

spirit said:


> Yeah the second is better, definitely more in focus and much less blurry. How did you take it? Did you use a tripod or rest the camera on something to steady it? One thing it could do with a tiny bit more of is exposure, see if you can adjust the exposure and raise it just a tiny bit more to make the photo a tad brighter, it's just a little too dark.
> 
> I think this is why I went for the FinePix S4000 over the CoolPix L120, the S4000 has a fully manual mode and even on the "automatic modes" you can adjust stuff.



I laid it on a carpet and manually tilted it . It was when I first woke up too haha


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## mjoliat

Try turning off your image stabilization (if your camera has a setting for that). It sounds to me like your camera's stabilizer function is not working properly. On a full size DSLR, when you push the shutter button half way, you should see the image stabilize somewhat. By the way, they tell you to turn stabilization off if you are going to use the camera on a tripod or flat surface. If you don't that makes the image jump around as you describe, when the camera is mounted on a tripod. Check your user manual and see what it says about the stabilizer function.


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## AntimatterAsh

mjoliat said:


> Try turning off your image stabilization (if your camera has a setting for that). It sounds to me like your camera's stabilizer function is not working properly. On a full size DSLR, when you push the shutter button half way, you should see the image stabilize somewhat. By the way, they tell you to turn stabilization off if you are going to use the camera on a tripod or flat surface. If you don't that makes the image jump around as you describe, when the camera is mounted on a tripod. Check your user manual and see what it says about the stabilizer function.



thankyou


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