Is it a product of the lens or.....??? (1 Viewer)

SanAngelo · Oct 31, 2015

There's gotta be a quick fix....:-O :-O :-O :-O

I'm at that point where I could use some help.

I'd appreciate it if you would take a look at these shots and tell me how to take a sharper photo. I would like more definition to the feathers.

I've had my FZ1000 3 weeks, I knew nothing about DSLRs or photography prior to this purchase. I think I'm at the point where I can take constructive criticism and apply it fairly quick, although on a learning curve.

The Pyrrhu(s) photos were taken through a window 1/2 hour after sunrise, the BlueJay was taken in the afternoon under a partly cloudy sky shortly after a rain.

On the Pyrrhuloxia:
Shutter Priority, F4.5(F4 2nd one) 100 -.7 Exposure 800 ISO 719mm

On the Blue Jay:
Shutter Priority, F8, 100, 0 Exposure, 125 ISO, 619mm

I appreciate you guys, thank you so much.

Bill

nikonmike · Nov 1, 2015

The first two just look like too high a ISO and possibly too much enlargement,the second one could be a bit of camera shake and poor light.

ChrisKten · Nov 1, 2015

SanAngelo said:
There's gotta be a quick fix....:-O :-O :-O :-O

I'm at that point where I could use some help.

I'd appreciate it if you would take a look at these shots and tell me how to take a sharper photo. I would like more definition to the feathers.

I've had my FZ1000 3 weeks, I knew nothing about DSLRs or photography prior to this purchase. I think I'm at the point where I can take constructive criticism and apply it fairly quick, although on a learning curve.

The Pyrrhu(s) photos were taken through a window 1/2 hour after sunrise, the BlueJay was taken in the afternoon under a partly cloudy sky shortly after a rain.

On the Pyrrhuloxia:
Shutter Priority, F4.5(F4 2nd one) 100 -.7 Exposure 800 ISO 719mm

On the Blue Jay:
Shutter Priority, F8, 100, 0 Exposure, 125 ISO, 619mm

I appreciate you guys, thank you so much.

Bill

I've taken hundreds of thousands of pics with Panasonics, so what follows should apply to your camera:

The first two pics are underexposed; this and poor light gave you a smeared/muddy effect with the high (for your camera) ISO

The third pic needed a faster shutter speed; you can't do much about the eye as it's shaded due to the lighting.

Don't be afraid to use Auto (green icon on the control knob), often it'll get you the best result. If you want to use the semi-auto modes (Shutter Priority etc), don't forget to set the ISO to iISO if the FZ1000 has it; most Panasonics have this intelligent ISO setting (if you'd had it set for your third pic, the ISO would have been raised to give you a faster shutter speed... so you'd have frozen the action and got a sharper image)

kitefarrago · Nov 1, 2015

Are you using a shutter speed of 1/100? This is much too short for picures taken at focal lengths you are using, in particular for bird photography. Birds move, your hands move, and it is very, very hard to get sharp images it these speeds.

There's a rule of thumb which says that when hand-holding a camera one should aim to have at least 1/<focal length> as the shutter speed. But this is a rule that comes from the days of film, and so applies to cameras with a full size sensor. With smaller sensors, one should increase the speed even further.

As you are discovering, light is the most precious commodity to a photogrpaher. If there isn't much light then one has to compromise by using higher isos and lower shutter speeds than one would like. What the right compromise is will depend on the camera and the exact circumstances. But dawn/dusk photography on subjects that have a lot of detail (like the feathers on birds) will bring out the worst in any camera.

As you can see, for your first two pictures I told you to bring up the shutters speed, and Chris told you to bring down the iso, which are contradictory. But certainly when light is scarce, do move down to the lowest F stop that is available at the given focal length - you don't have any light to waste on using a higher one.

You might want to experiment with using shutter rather than aperture priority to ensure that your shutter speed is high enough. The conditions you had for the ifrst two shots may have been beyond your camera. Technically speaking it is not a DSLR but a superzoom. It has a smaller sensor which makes images even more vulnerable to any kind of movement.

I would keep experimenting with the camera, shooting a next series with (significantly) higher shutter speeds. Try your camera out when the light is good (harder to do in winter) so that you get to see its best side as well, and let us know how you get on.

Andrea

ChrisKten · Nov 1, 2015

kitefarrago said:
Are you using a shutter speed of 1/100? This is much too short for picures taken at focal lengths you are using, in particular for bird photography. Birds move, your hands move, and it is very, very hard to get sharp images it these speeds.

There's a rule of thumb which says that when hand-holding a camera one should aim to have at least 1/<focal length> as the shutter speed. But this is a rule that comes from the days of film, and so applies to cameras with a full size sensor. With smaller sensors, one should increase the speed even further.

As you are discovering, light is the most precious commodity to a photogrpaher. If there isn't much light then one has to compromise by using higher isos and lower shutter speeds than one would like. What the right compromise is will depend on the camera and the exact circumstances. But dawn/dusk photography on subjects that have a lot of detail (like the feathers on birds) will bring out the worst in any camera.

As you can see, for your first two pictures I told you to bring up the shutters speed, and Chris told you to bring down the iso, which are contradictory. But certainly when light is scarce, do move down to the lowest F stop that is available at the given focal length - you don't have any light to waste on using a higher one.

You might want to experiment with using shutter rather than aperture priority to ensure that your shutter speed is high enough. The conditions you had for the ifrst two shots may have been beyond your camera. Technically speaking it is not a DSLR but a superzoom. It has a smaller sensor which makes images even more vulnerable to any kind of movement.

I would keep experimenting with the camera, shooting a next series with (significantly) higher shutter speeds. Try your camera out when the light is good (harder to do in winter) so that you get to see its best side as well, and let us know how you get on.

Andrea

Just a couple of points, Andrea:

With the Panasonics (and many other Suprezooms) you can get sharp pics at max focal length at shutter speeds as low as 1/10th second, with the help of the in-camera image stabilization. (There's many pics in my gallery taken at 1/25th second and below that are sharp, especially considering they are taken through double glazing) Obviously you'd prefer a faster shutter speed, but the fact ISO 800 is the max acceptable ISO for retaining enough detail on these small sensors means you often need to compromise.

Although the image stabilization helps, it can't defeat the wind blowing feathers, or a subject that is almost never still. The only way I've found to mitigate this is by taking bursts, and being lucky with the timing. Actually, if you watch your subjects for many hours over the years, you can predict when they might be still, and time your burst of shots to catch the moment. Luck is still needed though, as it's not an exact science

BTW, I wasn't suggesting the first two shots needed a lower ISO, just that they was under-exposed by 2/3rds of a stop, and that enhanced the noise and therefore the smearing from noise reduction.

SanAngelo · Nov 2, 2015

Thanks for all the advice....Chris, I liked your follow-up it offer additional clarity for me.

Andrea, you're right 1/100 is too slow especially for me with my hand tremors. I had the wrong understanding for Shutter Priority for that time of the day while sitting in a dark sun-room. I was thinking and trying to bring up the shutter speed but I didn't understand why it wasn't happening. At least I knew; raising the ISO would increase the noise. That's why I kept it at 800 knowingly, bring it up would not help in my quest for a sharper definition.

What I was trying to do seems beyond the camera's ability. This is definitely something I am not familiar with, I do not know the camera's full capabilities.

Chris, I get the "under exposure with the poor light". As I explained above, I was trying to get more out of Shutter Priority than the camera could give....it seems to me.

The shot below was taken this evening about 10 minutes before sunset. I had the camera in Priority AE Mode, ISO to Auto (I forgot to switch it to iISO) F4, 40, Exp 0.0, ISO400, 459mm.

You guys don't have to comment again, there will be more opportunities to do so......I'll have other problems to work out down the road.

Thanks everyone, I do appreciate the critique.

Is it a product of the lens or.....??? (1 Viewer)

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