Why does my camera do this?
I have a fairly old point and shoot Olympus digital camera (4mp).
It takes photos fine with flash on. If i turn the flash off they always come out blurry as if the shutter has opened for too long. What's the deal with this? I noticed other cameras do this too. Why would no flash make them blurry and flash doesnt. I dont get it?
Comments
Photography is the act of recording light. The more light on your subject, the brighter the colors will be. It is the playing of this available light that makes Photography an art.
That means you can't have good quality pictures with crappy lighting, even if you know what you are doing. There has to be a certain amount of light captured for the camera to make an image. The lesser light there is, the longer the camera will take the picture. The longer the camera takes, the slower it is, the more action happens, hence, the blur in the pictures. Using a flash is a must if you take pictures indoors if you don't know what you're doing.
Always remember that your eyes are far more superior than the camera (your brain may not, however). Your eyes adjust to darker conditions faster and better than the camera's sensor. If you see a lot of shadows dominating your scene and the pictures come out dark, use a flash. Even under direct sunlight, specially at noon, harsh shadows fill the face. Use flash. Anytime you feel that your pictures come out dark or with too much shadows, use flash.
The flash freezes the image in a split second of bright light
In order to understand what is going on you have to learn about 3 things
1/film speed i.e ASA100 or 200 or 300 etc. This describes how sensitive the film is, the higher the number the more sensitive.
2/Shutter speed i.e 125/sec 250/sec 500/sec this describes how long the shutter is open, eg 250ths of a second. In your case the longer the shutter is open the more "BLURRED" motion the film will record
3/Aperture setting, or "F Stop " this if the size of the opening that lets the light into the camera and onto the film, its like the iris of your eye, this has the effect of controlling the "Depth of field" or how much of the subject is in focus. The smaller the F stop the shorter the "Depth of field"
You have to BALANCE ALL 3 THINGS, this is the art of photography!!
Oh and incase I forget to mention it, you have to actualy Focus the lense too
ALL OF THE ABOVE APPLY TO DIGITAL AND FILM CAMERAS IT THE SAME STORY FOR BOTH MEDIUMS.
If your camera does not have a manual mode then you are stuck with whatever the AUTO settings give you, and if your light source is not enough then you have to use flash, its that simple.
Ok, Assuming you have a manual setting, then cranking up the asa to 400 will have the effect of giving you a faster shutter speed and there bye less "blurr", but there is a trade off, the image will have a slighty more "Grainy" look to it, like a newspaper photo, some people actually like this effect
use the Fastest F stop , say F 3.2 with ASA400 under normal room (daylight) light will probably mean your shutter speed will fall about 250/sec. This should stabilise the image and negate the need for flash.
BUT, you have to be spot on with your focus your depth of field will be a matter of inches, so OK if you are taking just one shot of your favorite pot plant for example, but if you have several plants on different focal planes then some of them will be out of focus DONT confuse this with "MOTION BLURR"
Some cameras allow you to program apature priority or shutter priority or both, for that you need to buy a BOOK.
Phew, need a rest now
In effect, that's what's happening ... your shutter is staying open for longer due to the fact that there isn't enough light hitting the sensor.
When you use flash, the shutter is synchronised to operate at 1/60 or 1/125th of a second, dependent on which specific camera you own.
The reason your images are blurred is because of 'camera shake' ... again, due to the length of time that your shutter is open.
whilst it includes being in the back of the digital camera, i'm a digital camera whore. notwithstanding, being in front of it? Very shy... maximum persons consistently inquire from me for recent %. and that i so very infrequently take them. heck. my information superhighway cam has in common terms been on in this new workstation because of the fact i did no longer understand the settings. on account that then? as quickly as.... Now on account that I even have not shot anyones' percentin a on a similar time as.....and that i've got have been given lots of action picture...and a few digital cameras....
because camera need alot of light to focus unlike human eyes that do not requir as much so to focus and make your picture quality better it uses the flash. unless it is very bright outside you will always get a better picture with the flash on