[SueO]

Sorry Crazyfingers, forgot the 'spot'. On the same S menu, highlight 'metering' and open it--scroll to 'spot' hit ok.

[crazyfingers]

Thanks SueO. I still think that I want a different camera but I'll try those settings and see what happens. Having more than one superzoom is ok too.

[crazyfingers]

Originally Posted by SueO

Sorry Crazyfingers, forgot the 'spot'. On the same S menu, highlight 'metering' and open it--scroll to 'spot' hit ok.

For some reason the camera doesn't let me in there. When I scroll though the various options under S, it skips over Metering. I did change the AF (autofocus) to Center. I tried to change AF to something that would let me into the metering menu but nothing seemed to work.

[SueO]

Originally Posted by crazyfingers

For some reason the camera doesn't let me in there. When I scroll though the various options under S, it skips over Metering. I did change the AF (autofocus) to Center. I tried to change AF to something that would let me into the metering menu but nothing seemed to work.

Humm...Maybe after things have been turned off you should try again just for the fun of it.
I'm still experimenting and have a few good shots, but I still don't seem to have the clarity of the Sony. I'm going to keep trying.
Sue

[crazyfingers]

I don't understand why it's so hard for the Nikon to focus.

Here is an example. This dove was willing to sit on this branch for quite a long time while I tried to take its picture. I got one good shot, attached, out of about 10 shots and about 40-50 attempts to get the camera to focus. I tried S, Auto, Auto scene select, etc...

This shouldn't be that hard.

[njlarsen]

I just had an unrelated (to this thread) reason to go back to some photos i took a few years back in Panama with my then only camera, a Nikon Coolpix 4500. I had forgotten just how low a percentage of keepers I got

I think the main reason was that the so called spot focus still was using a rather large area of the sensor, so it was impossible to predict just what the camera focused on.

That trip was the direct cause that I purchased my Pana fz18!

Niels

[crazyfingers]

Originally Posted by njlarsen

I just had an unrelated (to this thread) reason to go back to some photos i took a few years back in Panama with my then only camera, a Nikon Coolpix 4500. I had forgotten just how low a percentage of keepers I got

I think the main reason was that the so called spot focus still was using a rather large area of the sensor, so it was impossible to predict just what the camera focused on.

That trip was the direct cause that I purchased my Pana fz18!

Niels

Thank you for that observation. I had the blue focus square right on it's belly every time. It just wouldn't focus but for that one photo.

[Hobbes2]

Originally Posted by crazyfingers

I don't understand why it's so hard for the Nikon to focus.

Here is an example. This dove was willing to sit on this branch for quite a long time while I tried to take its picture. I got one good shot, attached, out of about 10 shots and about 40-50 attempts to get the camera to focus. I tried S, Auto, Auto scene select, etc...

This shouldn't be that hard.

Hi there, I agree. It shouldn't be that hard and the results should certainly be better than you've posted here. I too would be very disappointed with the results you're getting.

You may well simply have a duff product. However, the noise level in your image is very high. I wonder if you've got it set to a high ISO? Could you perhaps tell us what the settings were for this photo please i.e. focal length, shutter speed, ISO, aperture, etc?

Hobbes

[ChrisKten]

Hi Hobbes,

I just flew there and back really fast and got the info you requested:

Camera Maker: NIKON
Camera Model: COOLPIX P100
Image Date: 2011-03-13 16:54:14 (no TZ)
Focal Length: 120mm (35mm equivalent: 678mm)
Aperture: f/5.0
Exposure Time: 0.0040 s (1/250)
ISO equiv: 466
Exposure Bias: +1.00 EV
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: shutter priority (semi-auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No (enforced)

[Hobbes2]

Originally Posted by ChrisKten

Hi Hobbes,

I just flew there and back really fast and got the info you requested:

Camera Maker: NIKON
Camera Model: COOLPIX P100
Image Date: 2011-03-13 16:54:14 (no TZ)
Focal Length: 120mm (35mm equivalent: 678mm)
Aperture: f/5.0
Exposure Time: 0.0040 s (1/250)
ISO equiv: 466
Exposure Bias: +1.00 EV
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: shutter priority (semi-auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No (enforced)

Good one Chris You're a resourceful chappy, lol.

Mmmm....right...so, from the exif data, there's nothing glaringly obvious as to why the photo quality was so poor. The light conditions look quite tricky - with bright, dappled light through the trees (making some areas very bright, whilst others were in shade) and there's bright 'backlighting' of the object (bird). This may have been why you (or the camera) compensated the exposure by +1 and the ISO increased to above 400. I've had good results with those kind of shutter speeds so that alone doesn't explain it. You were shooting at a long focal length so maybe the image stabilisation system wasn't up to the challenge.

All in all, I wouldn't say there's one single obvious cause of the poor image quality. It may just be the combination of all the conditions, coupled with shaky hands (or a duff product!)??! Very tricky. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Hobbes

Edit: Just been thinking about this a little more. I'd suggest you see what sort of results you get by setting/fixing the ISO at 100.

[crazyfingers]

Thanks all for the comments. And that was the good one.

[toadoftoadhall]

Originally Posted by crazyfingers

Thank you for that observation. I had the blue focus square right on it's belly every time. It just wouldn't focus but for that one photo.

that may explain why it didnt focus. The camera uses contrast to achieve focus, and as there is no contrast change on the doves chest it would have found it hard. Try focusing on a blank wall, and then try focusing on the edge of a door for example.

toad

[Fozzybear]

Originally Posted by toadoftoadhall

that may explain why it didnt focus. The camera uses contrast to achieve focus, and as there is no contrast change on the doves chest it would have found it hard. Try focusing on a blank wall, and then try focusing on the edge of a door for example.

toad

That's what I was thinking too - you need a nice bit of detail for it to focus on or the AF will struggle. Same applies with any camera, especially with spot metering.

[crazyfingers]

Well. Maybe. But I have the same problem with all kinds of birds most of which have plenty of contrast. Hawk bellies for example.

Fuzzy hawk belly

[SueO]

My hope has now dwindled. I manage to get maybe one shot out of twenty if hold my face just right. I've experimented on all settings. I simply can not work with this camera. I never know whether I'll get a decent shot or not and it causes anxiety when I see something I'd really like to have an image of and can't be sure I can get it. It should not be this difficult!! I had a lifer the other day. He flew in and landed right in front of me on the path. If I had had my Sony, I would have had awesome photos. It was such an opportunity to have a really nice photo for my blog and I wasn't able to get one. I'm not going to say this camera is ruining my time in my Panamanian paradise, I'm happy here even without a camera, but I do like to post photos on my blog and keep them as memories and this camera has taken the joy of photographing away. I'm looking forward to getting home and getting a decent camera.
Here are a couple of blurs of my Black-capped Pygmy Tyrant. These have been sharpened in Picnic.
Sue

[crazyfingers]

That Black -capped Pygmy Tyrant is such a cute little guy.

As for cameras, I took the plunge on the Canon SX30.

[SueO]

Please post here and let us know what you think of it.

[crazyfingers]

I will.

[scodgerott]

Hi SueO, I don't see how this will help you, but I thought I might throw it out there and maybe somebody else can come up with an answer. In my opinion, the camera hasn't focused on the bird, but the vertical branch behind and to the left of the bird. To my eyes, that is sharper than the subject.

[SueO]

Originally Posted by scodgerott

Hi SueO, I don't see how this will help you, but I thought I might throw it out there and maybe somebody else can come up with an answer. In my opinion, the camera hasn't focused on the bird, but the vertical branch behind and to the left of the bird. To my eyes, that is sharper than the subject.

Hi Scodgerott,
I had the camera set to 'spot' and had it on the bird. I have also tried setting the meter (on whatever setting) off the subject slightly. In either case, sometimes it works but most often it doesn't. Even when it looks focused, it still isn't sharp.
Sue

[crazyfingers]

Yup. I took about a dozen photos of a robin on the grass today and only one came out semi-acceptable. This is not very good but it was the best of the lot. Nikon P100.

[SueO]

Originally Posted by crazyfingers

Yup. I took about a dozen photos of a robin on the grass today and only one came out semi-acceptable. This is not very good but it was the best of the lot. Nikon P100.

Exactly--that should be sharp! One would think a Nikon would be a much higher quality. I have a similar shot of a Yellow-headed Caracara. The bird is in focus but there is just a lack of sharpness. I think I would have been happier with a K-mart special. Oh well, live and learn.
Sue

[toadoftoadhall]

"Black-capped Pygmy Tyrant" looks like it may have suffered from high iso, and when i say high, even 400 will fuzz out detail like that. So it might have focused ok, but the small size sensor lets things down. If you can control the iso, keep it to 100.

Just as a test, photograph something handheld, then photograph it using a tripod or rest. Just to see if its technique. I used to be able to take a shot at 1/30th, but not anymore.

toad

[crazyfingers]

The Canon SX30 came today. It's snowing outside so no outside test shots but....

This is a simple comparison shot. Sitting here in my chair I took a photo of a model sailing ship about 10 feet away. Flash in both cases. I cropped each photo to show the same roughly 1.5 by 1.5 inch section of the ship.

One of these is clearly very nice while the other one is not.

The nice one is the new Canon SX30. The not nice one is the Nikon P100. Both are set to best image quality. Both are on full auto.

Notice the good one is only about half the file size as the not good one.

[njlarsen]

Good for you, at least in this test shot you have a convincing winner!

There can be two reasons for the size difference: you might want to look for increasing the file size in the canon to avoid too much jpg compression (often set to medium by default in canon P&S cams), but conversely, non-sharp pictures often produce larger jpgs than sharp pictures.

Niels