30Nov/093
WHY DOES MY OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA NOT TAKE GOOD PICTURES IN THE DARK?
I absolutely LOVE my Olympus (new, purchased in May) FE 3010 But why exactly does it not want to take good pics inside? I try to brighten the room but that never helps! Is it ISO? Do I need to adjust the ISO or not? I am POSITIVE that my FE- 3010 is FINE. Just, ant tips?
November 30th, 2009 - 19:03
Point & shoot cameras, such as yours, do not do well in low light situations due to the small sensor area (the physical dimensions of the sensor, not number of pixels). Plus, the aperture wide open is only f/3.1. Normally, one would use f/2 or wider to do low light shooting. You have the right idea in mind about increasing the amount of light, but you really need the sort of light intensity that you might find in open shade on a sunny day for a P&S camera to do well. That would take a whole lot of brightening up the room!
Using the flash on the camera will help a whole lot, but then you will have unflattering pictures due to the harsh lighting and sharp shadows behind the subject.
Using a higher ISO setting will help increase the shutter speed, but it will add noise (grain) to the image if sett to high. I would imagine that you could get OK pictures if you set your ISO to 200 or 400. Anything higher will probably be noisy.
November 30th, 2009 - 19:34
FE 3010 can do ISO 1600 ,Shutter Speed 1/2000 sec.–1/2 sec. (up to 4 sec. in Candle mode).
So try Candle Mode or Night or Night Portrait.
A 60 watt light bulb is definitely brighter than a candle.
My Kodak C743 can make pavement on street under orange streetlight look almost as bright as day with 4 second exposure.
November 30th, 2009 - 20:08
Photography is a recording of light. There is no camera that can takes pictures in the dark. That is except for the infrared-equipped ones but were talking about decent pictures here.
To take pictures in low light conditions, use the flash. Step back some 10 feet or so before clicking. No closeups unless you want ghastly photos.
To take without the flash, adjust ISO upwards from ISO 400, little by little until you are satisfied with the result. Be warned though, raising the ISO and taking in the dark will result to lower quality pictures. That is the sad truth in photography. You have to balance quality with visibility when adjusting the ISO.
To make sure you get consistently great looking photos, shoot outside or in well-lighted areas only.