Thanks, Larry
I do appreciate your depth of knowledge. I will explore your website
too. I have taken blurred pictures like those in "The Wedding", mine
were by accident. I've been so lazy that I've mainly used the
automatic settings. I haven't figured out how to adjust the F-Stops,
but I do understand the function after years of using a Minolta SRT
201.
Thanks again,
clefgf
--- In Nikon5700%40yahoogroups.com">Nikon5700
yahoogroups.com, "Larry N. Bolch"; <lnbolch...>
wrote:
>
> clefgf wrote:
> > I've recently been exploring my camera, since I won't be
upgrading for
> > a while I can appreciate the features in the 5700 more everyday. I
> > have a real concern about so many pictures that are blurred.
>
> Check your shutter speeds. As you zoom toward the telephoto end,
you need
> higher and higher speeds, if you are hand-holding. There is a rule
of thumb
> based upon 35mm camera focal lengths that says that the MINIMUM
speed for
> hand holding is 1/(Focal Length). Your camera has an equivalent
range from
> 35mm to 280mm. Thus, you might be able to get away with 1/30 to
1/60th at
> the extreme wide angle, but will need speeds upward of 1/280th for
the
> telephoto end.
>;
> Adequate shutter speeds can be achieved in two ways or by a
combination of
> the two ways. One, but opening the aperture of the lens, and two,
by
> increasing the ISO setting. The maximum aperture is f-2.8 at the
widest
> angle, but only f-4.2 at maximum telephoto. If you are shooting at
telephoto
> lengths and still can not get a high enough shutter speed at
maximum
> aperture, then you must increase the ISO setting until you can. If
you have
> the aperture at f-4.2 and the ISO at 800, and still can not get a
high
> enough shutter speed, then the only alternative is to use a tripod,
monopod
> or rest the camera on something solid.
>
> > They may
> > seem fine in the viewfinder, but when you put it on your computer
> > it's a mess. I started using "multi-shot 16" and got much better
> > results. Even if it would eat up 16 frames I had choices.NOW I'm
> > still getting 16 shots, but they are all on one frame. WHAT
HAPPENED?
> > WHAT DID I DO WRONG? I WANT MY 16 FRAMES BACK!
>
> Coolpix cameras give you a wealth of "motor drive"; options. You may
have had
> it on HS Sequence before. allowing you to shoot sequences at three
frames
> per second. Multi-shot 16 does a composite image, full resolution,
but with
> all 16 shots on a single frame. A neat way to do portraits, using
time as an
> element. HS sequence drops the resolution to 1280x960 and JPEG
compression
> to normal, but will allow many shots without stopping.
>
> Perhaps a better alternative is to set the camera to BSS (Best Shot
> Selector). It will do a very fast series of up to ten exposures,
then
> compare edge contrast of all of them, keeping the one with the
highest edge
> contrast. This works remarkably well, not only taking camera motion
into
> consideration, but also SUBJECT motion. It allows one to shoot at
full
> resolution and Fine quality or even RAW. Shooting inside hotels in
low light
> with a lot of subject motion, using BSS, I was still able to get
very fine
> results a few years back. While subject motion blur could not blur
could not
> be avoided, the camera consistently gave me the best results I
could hope
> for. See
> http://www.larry-bolch.com/las-vegas/
>
> Another alternative is to use Continuous Low or Continuous High
settings.
> With the buffer size of the CP5x00 cameras, Continuous High allows
a maximum
> of only three shots, no matter the resolution or compression.
However,
> Continuous Low allows several more at the highest quality settings,
and even
> more by dropping either the resolution, changing to Normal or Basic
quality
> or both.
>
> Everything in photography involves trade-offs, and becoming a
skilled
> photographer requires understanding these, and choosing the best
compromise.
> Telephoto lenses give one capability of compressing perspective,
putting
> objective distance between the viewer and the subject and allow the
> photographer to do considerable cropping in the camera. However,
they also
> present significant problems. I described the need for high shutter
speeds
> above.
>
> The price paid for increasing the ISO setting is that the higher
the setting
> the more profound the noise. The price for opening the aperture to
the
> maximum is very limited depth of field, requiring more patience in
focusing.
> Dim light and low contrast subjects make focusing very difficult
even for
> focusing a camera manually. Autofocus can be totally baffled. All
together,
> shooting with telephotos in low light without a tripod may be
impossible.
> For more on the inherent problems of automatic cameras, and
workable
> solution, please see
> http://www.larry-bolch.com/automatic-cameras/
>
> Telephotos - to be used effectively - require a very high level of
skill and
> loads of practice. In most cases - at least to start out - remember
that the
> best zoom devices naturally grew on the bottom of your legs. To
improve any
> picture, get closer! The wide-angle settings on the camera are far
less
> demanding and can produce much more effective images. Getting close
puts
> both you and the person viewing your photographs, much more in
touch with
> your subjects.
>
> larry!
> http://www.larry-bolch.com/
>
.
