Making camera take better pictures

[ATW Alex 101]

Hi everyone,

I have a camera (Samsung WB150F) and it is a 14.2 Megapixel but the thing is, it takes the poorest quality photos out of all cameras I've ever had and I am a bit upset about it as it was my christmas present and I chose it thinking it would be really good but I am very disappointed about it's picture quality because I wanted a camera that took nice photos. This one doesn't, I've tried all sorts of techniques such as good light and steady hands but they still come out shlock. They are full of grains, the colour comes out crap and the overall picture is not very good.

I am asking if anybody knows any settings I could change on the camera to make it take really sharp, non-grainy, good quality pictures? I've looked on the internet but it isn't offering much, but please I really want to know if there are any settings that will make my pictures better and sharper, near to the type that them super-duper slr things take. Nothing can explain how peed off I am about this and have been for a while but I'm going out tomorrow and really want to get some good pics I could send into railway magazines and stuff like that. Please somebody help me.

Thank you so much and I am sorry for ranting but I am about to throw it out of the window and crush it and put it through my bandsaw, that explains how mad I am over it.

Cheers

 

[telstarbox]

Can you upload some example shots Alex? It might help the pros on here to give useful advice.

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Can you upload some example shots Alex? It might help the pros on here to give useful advice.

Of course, my apologies. I have taken a picture of my kindle.

As you can see, the picture is so grainy and is so dark and poor quality.

 

[EltonRoad]

Can you change the ISO? Sounds like you might have it set too high if it's grainy / poor colours. Aim for 200 or 400.

I just Googled your camera and it gets a good review here so perhaps there is a straightforward alteration you can make to the settings and it will be fine!

 

[swj99]

I'm not familiar with Samsung cameras. I've always had Kodak for stills and JVC for video. I've just had a look at the old Kodak C633 I've got here now, and in the menu, it's got options for how many mega pixels you want. It's a 6.1 Mega pixel camera but you can set it to less than that, ie 5.4, 4.0, 1.9 & 0.8. The lower the number, the worse the picture quality I guess.
The ISO speed is set to auto, but you can change it. It's also got a setting called Exposure Compensation, and if you select it, you can increase or decrease this, whatever difference that makes. Come to think of it, the menu on those JVC camcorders makes the Kodak stills camera seem extremely basic in comparison.

Different cameras have different menus and settings, but why not make a note of what the settings are now, then if you play around and adjust things, you can put it back to how it is now, if it doesn't improve. Some cameras have an option to restore factory settings. I've occasionally had to do this to a camcorder when I haven't been able to work out why something has changed.

 

[gazthomas]

Can you change the ISO? Sounds like you might have it set too high if it's grainy / poor colours. Aim for 200 or 400.

I just Googled your camera and it gets a good review here so perhaps there is a straightforward alteration you can make to the settings and it will be fine!

Looking at the photo I would say the ISO actually needs to be higher to compensate for low light.

Are you using full auto mode or semi auto?

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Thank you for your reply's guys. What do you reckon the best setting for taking pictures of trains outside would be?

Cheers

 

[gazthomas]

Thank you for your reply's guys. What do you reckon the best setting for taking pictures of trains outside would be?

Cheers

Difficult question. Two factors to consider:

1. How bright or dark is it?

2. Is your subject moving or is it still?

On point 1, if sunny you should set your ISO to 100 or 200. The lower the light the higher you should set the ISO. Another consideration is aperture - the lower the more light will be let into the sensor.

On point 2, if still you have little to sorry about. If moving you need to alter your shutter speed if you have the option to do so. 1/1000th of a second for something going 100 mph. As a guide times the object speed by 10 to get the right thousands. This assumes sunshine - ISO/aperture will need changing the cloudier/darker it is.

Other factors are do have the image stabiliser on (suggest you should) and the focus setting.

My advice is RTFM and experiment with lots of shots. They're free unlike in my day!

 

[455driver]

Everyone gets all hung up on the "a higher MP is better" but what is needed is a bigger sensor even if it is a lower MP.

I have had a few Samsung compacts and all the pictures are a bit grainy.

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Hi guys I wish to update. I just want to say thanks for the advice and just messed around with the camera a bit and managed to get it to take some decent pics. I went on a trip today and will share a few of my snaps:

If there is anything to improve on them that would be most grateful. Honestly though, thanks for the advice I have been given.

 

[gazthomas]

Having seen the pictures you took yesterday, they are quite dark and a little blurred. If you've tweaked the camera settings I am beginning to think the camera is faulty. What settings did you use?

 

[christopher]

I have the exact same camera as you and whilst my shots are not the best I think they're pretty decent (They are of buses but your welcome to have a look; http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisrose1).


What mode do you use with the dial on the top? Try and use program mode if your not using it as it generally is better than the 'smart' mode....Another tip is to use use Macro focus rather than Normal (AF)

 

[ash39]

The first of your above photos is quite nicely composed, but they both look out of focus/not sharp. It could be a faulty camera as said above.

For really good quality photos you're better off with an SLR and suitable lenses.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

.Another tip is to use use Macro focus rather than Normal (AF)

Not sure about this, surely macro mode just enables the camera to focus on things closer to it. Enabling this just means the camera is wasting it's time searching through a wider focus field when autofocusing (AF will lock out the macro range). You can't improve the focus anyway, it's either right or it isn't!

 

[JoeH]

The first photo is in line with the performance I would expect a compact camera with this type of lens and a tiny sensor to have using available light in a dark room.

The other two are quite below the standards of a modern compact (and not a cheap one either) in daylight.

You say that after the first shot you messed with the camera's settings a bit. Is possible that in attempting to get around the camera's inherent shortcomings with low light photography you could have changed some settings which are now having an adverse effect on your outdoor photos?

You shouldn't really have to change any settings to get a good picture of a stationary object in daylight anyway. Could you upload a picture taken in daylight taken in full AUTO mode without any modified settings?

 

[Temple Meads]

The quality of the pictures above is well below what I'd expect for a modern fairly premium camera, an aren't much worse than a £25 unbranded fixed lens jobbie I had a few years back, so something is obviously amiss IMO.

Do you half press the shutter to focus before taking a shot? If not that may contribute to the quality issues.

What ISO setting was the camera on for the shots of the 158? If you don't know what it was uploading the pictures to Flickr will tell you the details, and sending us a link to those details could help us see if there's anything obviously wrong with the settings.

 

[richw]

High megapixels are irrelevant unless all of the other settings are good. My camera gives better pictures on lower mp with the settings manually adjusted, than higher mp with auto settings.
I got mine doing good photos by trial and error of all the manual settings.

 

[GB]

Looks like the 158 photos are over exposed to me with a hint of soft focus.