Sharp shooter

Matt Grayson explains how to be a sharper shooter with your zoom compact.

03/02/2011 - 16:13

Digital compacts are being released with bigger and bigger zooms every year. While this is an exciting new chapter in photographic accessibility, it also has its downfalls, and the main problem we’re faced with is camera shake. Manufacturers install preset modes to combat the issues, but these are generally quick fixes or cheap ways of getting around the problem.

There are a number of precautions you can take to ensure you gain a sharp image every time, without having to rely on the cameras’ systems.

In this article we’ll start from the beginning, working our way through the picture-taking process and ending up with the photo in an editing suite for some additional sharpening to get an image that can cut glass.

The Gorilla Pod makes a useful compact camera support on fences and posts.

Taking control
There are subjects that you are not able to get close to where you have to rely on a telephoto lens. It may be a dangerous and cordoned off animal, or one that’s wary of people or could be a sporting event or distant subject. And in such situations, when using a lens that magnifies, there is always the possibility of incurring camera shake.

For this technique I’m using the Pentax Optio Z10 – a small digital compact with 8Mp and 7x optical zoom, which is 38-266mm in 35mm terms.

Most compacts have some overriding features that enable you to reduce camera shake. It’s usually possible to increase the ISO rating to gain speed. Take care not to adjust this too high or the speed increase will be outweighed by noise that’s introduced. Play safe and stay to ISO400 or below.

Depressing the shutter button by hand can move the camera slightly, even when it’s tripod mounted. If you’re shooting a static subject you could try switching on the self-timer, which is a shutter delay, or use a remote release.

If the subject is moving you could use a continuous focusing system – it is surprising how many compacts have this feature. Moving subjects need a faster shutter speed, so the ISO may need to be increased to compensate.

For still subjects use the selective AF focusing area so that the camera doesn’t focus on an area slightly off from your subject, resulting in out of focus shots.

Despite the size of most LCD viewing screens, the true quality of the image cannot always be seen. If the camera has a zoom magnifier for its preview you can get a decent idea, but always be prepared for a shock when you check the pictures on your computer.

Out and about
A visit to the local wildlife centre meant a chance to put the theory to test.

Armed with the Pentax Optio Z10 and a Gorilla Pod, I ventured out on probably the wettest day of the year to photograph some creatures, from leaf cutting ants to birds of prey at the Tropical
Butterfly House, Wildlife & Falconry Centre in North Anston, Nr Sheffield. After looking around the centre for a suitable subject, I discovered a few Hawks in their covers. I set up the Gorilla Pod by wrapping the individually movable joints around the fence of the enclosure. I fixed the Pentax Optio Z10 to the Gorilla Pod and set the self-timer.

The image came out steady with no camera shake. I would have normally gone into the ISO settings in the main menu to set the ISO to the lowest possible, but on this occasion I purposefully pushed the ISO up to 800 to show an additional technique available during processing.

Unsharp mask lets you fine tune sharpness to get razor sharp results.

Back at the ranch
I uploaded the image to my PC and opened it using Corel Paint Shop Pro X2. You could use Photoshop Elements or Photoshop CS for the same features.

First I will amend my “error” of the high noise. This will often happen if your camera’s ISO is left on Auto, so it’s an easy problem to have occurred.

Go to Adjust and choose Digital Camera Noise removal which opens the image in a separate window to remove the noise. The Image I have has fine detail in the feathers so I don’t want to remove too much noise as this has a softening effect on the image.

The next step is to sharpen the image. Go to Adjust again and scroll down to Unsharp Mask so that you can choose your own level of Sharpening. Practice is the best approach to image sharpening so you can get the threshold to your personal preference. Start off by setting the radius to 3, Strength to 50 and Clipping to 3. Tweak the settings from there and settle on what you think is right.

Adding contrast to the image will bring more definition in the feathers, making the image look more detailed and sharper. Don’t go too mad with contrast. Setting it to a value of around 10 will give you an idea of what it does and you can adjust to your own tastes from there.

Another image-editing trick, to give the picture an illusion of being sharper than it actually is, is to select the background and blur it, keeping the point of interest in focus. It’s merely an optical illusion and shouldn’t be used as a fix, but rather as an enhancement.

Top tips for sharp photos:

Use a tripod for extra stability
Use the self timer to avoid contact with camera.
Get as low an ISO as possible.
Be patient.
Prepare – use a checklist if necessary.
Sharpen using image editor’s Unsharp Mask feature for ultimate control.
Contrast will add detail, but be careful.
Practice and try new things.

The end result of using camera and editing tools to ensure razor sharp shots from your compact digital camera.

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Link Posted 11/10/2021 - 21:44

Los móviles con buena cámara son la charla de la ciudad. Casi todos quieren poseer uno, pero ¿son necesarios teléfonos inteligentes caros? ¿Son verdaderamente necesarios para mantenerse al día con el mundial de ritmo rápido de hoy?

Es hora de que aprendiste lo que es tan grande con los teléfonos inteligentes con cámaras y cómo puede mejorar tu vida. En este artículo han analizado a la mejor cámara móvil y la comparan con otros teléfonos también considerados como los mejores móviles para fotografía y vídeo.

Lo ves en todas partes, teléfonos en la acera, carteleras, incluso las espaldas de las celebridades, etc. Se han convertido en un símbolo de estado, al igual que las computadoras portátiles, los reproductores de MP3 y HDTV han hecho en los últimos años. De alguna manera, las personas perciben teléfonos móviles tan mejores de lo que realmente son. La razón es simple; Los teléfonos con la cámara y la mejor calidad de sonido superan a cualquier otro teléfono.

¿Por qué es que los teléfonos baratos con la mala calidad de la cámara se consideran desactualizados y aburridos? Esto proviene de la vieja escuela, hacer o romper la mentalidad de los fabricantes. Necesitan vender productos para que puedan obtener más ganancias.
Como resultado, los teléfonos baratos con la mala calidad de la cámara y el rendimiento a menudo se pasan por alto y se les dan menos valor en comparación con la competencia de alta gama. Si aún cree que tener un smartphone barato con un mejor desempeño es solo un desperdicio de dinero, luego sigue leyendo.

1. Samsung Galaxy S4: tiene todo lo que buscamos en un teléfono inteligente asequible. Para los principiantes, tiene una pantalla extremadamente grande con un tamaño de 5,5 pulgadas, lo que es muy bueno para aquellos que desean capacidades de grabación de video de alta definición. También tiene la mejor cámara de alta definición disponible en el mercado hoy en día.

Otra gran cosa sobre este teléfono es que también tiene una característica agradable llamada Dual Shot. Con doble disparo, puede tomar su foto actual y editarla para hacer un efecto de video. Esta función solo está disponible en algunos teléfonos inteligentes Samsung y no todo, así que si lo está buscando, tendrás que mirar un poco.

2. HTC Desire HD: tiene muchas características limpias, pero también tiene un gran problema: tiene una pantalla muy grande que algunos pueden encontrar molestos. Afortunadamente, hay una manera de convertir este problema en una ventaja. Todo lo que necesita hacer es comprar un HTC Desire HD con una bolsa de cámara HTC Desire HD. La bolsa de cámara incorporada tiene un flash LED incorporado para que no tenga que preocuparse por el sobrecalentamiento de su teléfono y puede tomar tantas fotos como desee.