Report them to Trading Standards for supplying false information.

G

It's worth persevering. There are a lot of different controls to tweak, and I haven't done much more than scratch the surface myself.

I mainly shoot people, and I find I can get very good skin tone by trying the skin colour tool on different parts of the face until I get the right result. It only takes a second or two.

As for saturation, have you tried "memory colour 1"? It warms and saturates any picture in a very pleasing (if sometimes slightly chocolate boxy) way.

G

Hi Liam,

My remarks re Irfanview were directed at Accreditor and Jim.

Personally, I do very little image manipulation after processing the RAW files. I find Silkypix does almost everything I need to do.

For Jpeg shooters, the GIMP is a good option, and it's available in a Windows version as well as Linux.

G

Jim, Here is the GL short guide to better pictures.

1 Buy a camera that allows you to change the four basic settings - focus, aperture, shutter speed and sensitivity. Then set the camera yourself whenever possible until you understand it.
2 Remember that lower ISO means higher quality
3 The best aperture is around 1:8
4 Higher shutter speeds mean sharper pictures
5 Shoot away from the sun.
6 Shoot in the early morning or late afternoon.
7 Always shoot the largest and best quality pictures that the camera will permit. You can always make them smaller or nastier later.
8 In low light, use a tripod or a wall or other support to hold the camera steady.
9 If you want the whole picture to be in focus, use a small aperture (1:16, etc)
10 If you want to isolate the subject, use a large aperture (1:4, or more)
11 Don't expect the pictures to be perfect straight out of the camera. Good photographers spend time tweaking their pictures.
12 If you know nothing about digital image manipulation, download Irfanview (free), and use it's image enhancement tools to improve contrast, saturation, colours, etc.
13 Use the screen to review your pictures, and reshoot if they don't look good. Try a larger and smaller aperture with the same shutter speed (or vice-versa) to try to find the best exposure.

That's it. For anything more complicated, ask Matt.

G

Whoops!

Well, I'm glad Accreditor can produce a reasonable pic when he tries!

The focus is OK in this shot, bearing in mind that it was nearly wide open. Stopped down (assuming there had been more light), the contrast would have been greater, and the picture sharper at the point of focus, and sharper elsewhere too because of the greater depth of field.

A tiny bit of tweaking in Irfanview (let alone anything more sophisticated) would have improved both contrast and focus.

G

Quite right. I thought the bit on the first page was the whole review.

But I take issue with this:

If you really expect the camera to do everything for you, then you are bound to be diappointed, because it simply can't. The archer shot posted by Jimn had camera settings for normal contrast, etc. Such settings would have been appropriate in some cases, but not in this one.

I think you were lucky with your Fuji in that the default settings were correct for most of the pictures you shot. I suspect Jimn would get better results with different settings, not to mention an awareness of how the light can change the appearance of a picture, and what he could do to make the best of a particular lighting situation.

Look at Liam's cat shot. You can see from the reflection in its eyes that although the picture was taken indoors, Liam had placed the cat near the window to maximise the available light. The light was behind the camera, and although he used a slow shutter speed, he managed to hold the camera steady. As a result, there's plenty of contrast and the centre of the picture is sharp. The wide aperture, necessary given the low light, means that much of the picture is out of focus, but that helps the composition.

It may well be that the lens on this camera is not especially good. But Liam has shown that in the right hands, it can still take acceptable pictures.

Basically, there's no substitute for acquiring a bit of knowledge about the basic principles of photography, and a bit of knowledge about how to tweak your pictures after you have taken them in order to get the best results.

G

You've taken this picture at 1/30 sec., wide-open, in dreary winter light. It's hard to tell, but what light there is seems to be coming from in front, and to the left.

The picture seems to be a bit over-exposed, probably because the centre is the large, dark, mass of the archer's sweater.

So, slow shutter speed means loss of sharpness.
Wide aperture means loss of sharpness.
Winter light means lack of contrast.
Shooting into light causes loss of contrast and some fringing.
Over-exposure causes blown out highlights and general lack of quality.

You have done just about everything you could to make this picture come out badly.

But of course, it's the camera's fault, not the photographer's.

I don't know why people buy the cheapest camera they can find, and expect, with no effort on their part, to produce pictures like Cartier-Bresson (look him up).

The computer in the human brain is much more powerful than the one in a cheap point and shoot camera (in most cases!). So harness the power of the big computer, and see what it can do.

Sorry to be rude, but people who blame their equipment annoy me. It's the workman that counts, not the tool.

George

If you take pictures in poor light, you get poor pictures. Unless you are using good, off-camera, diffused flash, any indoor picture is likely to be problematic.

Take the camera outside in late afternoon, and point it away from the sun. Then see what it can do.

Very often, perceived defects in p&s cameras are the consequence of ignorance on the part of the owner.

Very few p&s cameras will ever be able to take a good picture indoors because most of them can't be hooked up to a decent flash system.

This is a £100.00 camera. Don't ask it to do the impossible.

G

That's not an in-depth review. It's a couple of sentences making unsupported assertions.

I know nothing about this camera, but I would suggest you test it thoroughly yourself, and understand how it works, before you write it off. There are so many nitwits on the Internet that it is very dangerous to form judgements based on statements by people who probably know less than you do.

G

Neil,

Ring flash is really only suitable for macro work. If you try to use it for other work you will soon be frustrated by the lack of power. The 140 has a guide number (surprise) of 14, which is very low compared to normal flashguns.

In your case, I would consider makes such as Sunpack or Vivitar as well.

G