Fuji Film Question

[chris222]

Hey i have a question i've gottan the fuji s5100 now the camera shoots great pictures the only thing i dont like is when zoomed in at 10x the picture comes fuzzy because i guess that camera aint stable , i feel like i aint moving it but still comes out fuzzy, Do you think i'm better off with the canon s1 IS because i'm leaning towards that camera now because it has built in stability feature, what should i go for?

[LeeSowden]

The easiest way to tell if camera shake is the problem is to use a tripod - generally not necessary on a bright day, at least with my camera (also a 10x zoom).

If a tripod doesn't give you clearer pictures then camera shake is most likely not the problem; if it is, either use a tripod for your big zoom shoots or get used to bracing the camera, either just with your hands held out from your body or against a wall / post / anything handy.

Good luck!

[Bytephoto]

Would be great if you could post an example.

LeeSowden gave some good tips worth trying. Also I would like to add that "fuzzy" shots can occur when the digital zoom is used rather than the optical zoom. However, having said that I don't know your camera and how you had set the zoom for the shot. Just guessing

Difference between Optical Zoom and Digital Zoom

[chris222]

So that means your able to change the settings to make it optical rather then digital? Is it usually set on digital when first buying it?

thanks i'll look into it
chris

[LeeSowden]

Had a look at the camera model you're talking about, and at 10x zoom it should be purely optical; if there was digital zoom involved it could have explained the problem but that shouldn't be the case. Still, check out the article RVB Pix linked to to get up to speed on the ways the different zooms work, it's good to know and that's the best explanation I've seen of it yet.

Generally the camera will zoom in to the full extent of the optical zoom, pause for a moment, then the digital zoom will start to kick in. You can usually tell the difference by watching the LCD screen because the digital zoom is often a lot less smooth than the optical. If you've been zooming in as far as the camera will let you (and the digital zoom is turned on; this is normally an option buried in a menu somewhere) then you've actually been capturing pictures at about a quarter of the quality your camera can do; the 3.6x digital zoom your camera has does get you closer to the subject, but (as the article explains) at the cost of picture quality. If this has been the problem, you'll get much better shots by disabling or not using the digital zoom for your shots and, if necessary, cropping in post-production.

Apologies if I'm rambling, but I'm tired at the moment - just wanted to get this in before I headed to bed in the hopes you can get some great shots sooner

[chris222]

Thanks for the information, i want to post a picture and if you can tell me if the picture quality is good or not, tried posting pics doesnt show up

[Scrappy]

I have the S5000 and I love it. I don't think the camera is the problem unless you got a faulty one. Check out this site and they can help you. Also you can see some fantastic shots with the S5100
http://www.s5000.net/phpBB2/

[labirder]

chris222 and all,

I also have this fuzzy, grainy look to my pics even when set on 4 megapixels and using iso of 64. Was reading Lee's post about optical vs. digital but haven't been able to find a setting for such on the fuji s5100. When I first bought this camera I didn't notice the grainy look, now its really bad.

I've attached an image shot at full zoom, iso of 100, set to 4 megapixels, and using a tripod from about 80 feet on a clear sunny afternoon. I'm ready to send my back but was hoping there might be a setting I'm overlooking. There are other pics at my website at: home.earthlink.net/~labirder/

Thanks, Bill

[labirder]

chris222 and all,

I don't know what I did other than go into to setup, reset, ok. Here is a picture of a fiery skipper (butterfly about the size of a dime) that I took at 3:00 p.m. today.

EFIF: 4 mega, ISO 64, P mode, full 10x zoom, using a monopod.

To me, this is a much better quality picture, not worried about composition. Could there have been a malfunction in the camera and resetting cleared the problem? I never got an error message on the camera.

Thanks, Bill

[Bucksnort]

I have heard there is a bug if the iso has been manually changed sometimes it does not go back to auto unless its reset. My guess is u were shooting at a high iso though it said other.

[joelw135]

Here is a picture taken using 10X zoom and a TCON-17 hand held using my elbows against my chest.


Here is without zoom and TCON-17.