Blurry Photos - Every Time I had a 5 megapixal lumix that was great, I took it with me everywhere and shot tons of photos. With this new dmc-fz8 every photo is blurry. Every photo I take tells me to use a tripod. (The red camera sign). I CANNOT use this camera with a tripod every time, and that was not my intention. Can I really not take quality pictures without a tripod? Someone help - otherwise, I'm going to have to return this. I have tried it on every mode. My ISO is set to 100. Has anyone else had this problem? What am I doing wrong? Blurry Photos - Every Time I had a 5 megapixal lumix that was great, I took it with me everywhere and shot tons of photos. With this new dmc-fz8 every photo is blurry. Every photo I take tells me... » Read More Blurry Photos - Every Time I had a 5 megapixal lumix that was great, I took it with me everywhere and shot tons of photos. With this new dmc-fz8 every photo is blurry. Every photo I take tells me to use a tripod. (The red camera sign). I CANNOT use this camera with a tripod every time, and that was not my intention. Can I really not take quality pictures without a tripod? Someone help - otherwise, I'm going to have to return this. I have tried it on every mode. My ISO is set to 100. Has anyone else had this problem? What am I doing wrong? « Show Less
793191
Thanks - I tried that and it helped a lot. I kept the ISO at 100, but moved to better light to try some photos and the shutter priority mode helped. Actually, the "use tripod" sign still flashed, but the photos were sharp (sharp enough for my purposes.) I also figured out a few more things that helped with trial and error.
793192
What else did you try that helped? When I use any amount of telephoto indoors the result is blurry unless I use a flash.
793193
Try setting the camera to Shutter Priority and setting the shutter speed to 1/30 or faster. If the images are too dark set the ISO to a faster setting.
1532925
I had a problem with blurry images, too, so finally checked the owners manual (duh!) It mentions that if you press the shutter too hard, you actually cause the blurriness. I have lightened up my touch, and things have improved. I still love this camera.
805586
I've found many of my photos are blurry with this camera. The last one i had, a Panasonic, did not do this. I also had to send this camera in for repairs and I've only had it for 6 months. So unfortunately i can't recommend this camera.
1230948
I know I'm joining this discussion late, however the Digital Camera Resource Page (DCRP) review dated March 2007 and updated in September, addresses this issue, specifically mentioning the "Bright" mode, and recommending that the user adjust the sharpness (to +2) and contrast (to +1). Once you've tweaked the settings, the reviewer (Jeff Keller) notes that the image quality is on a par with the best digital slrs in this general category. Happy shooting.
1215025
We have had many dissapointing 'fuzzy' pics as well. Especially indoors with the flash. Please see my review here (if they print it)! Essentially, our old 2 megapixel 'FujiFilm' cam puts the Olympus pics to shame. Maybe we got a defective unit?
853804
I have had my Df for only a short time (about 30 days) and have only been able to shoot a limited number of photos. I haven't used live view, nor do I know if it is available on the Df. I'm still learning of all the features. Autofocus is very fast... image quality is excellent. I also own a D7000.
170325
I just received this camera today and no matter what I do, every picture I take is blurry, or too bright. I have screwed with everything from contrast to whatever on it and it does not change. I am highly disappointed in this Nikon.
1186464
Night sky pictures can be tricky. You need a tripod to avoid camera shake because of the long exposure. Even pressing the shutter button will create enough shake to cause blurry results. I usually use the shutter delay to assure that the camera is very steady after I have pressed the button. Next you'll need to have the correct camera settings. If you haven't learned manual mode you'll need to learn that. First thing is, you'll want to set your lens for manual focus. Focus all the way out to infinity. The ideal settings for night sky and milky way shots is having a wide open aperture (the f/#). Forr your 18-55 that will be f/3.5. This allows the maximum light to enter your lens. Next you'll want to set your ISO. You'll want to go as high as you can without degrading the image with high ISO noise. With the t5 I would go any higher than 1600. Next you want to set your shutter speed. I shoot my milky way pictures at 30 sec exposures. If you keep your shutter open any longer than that, you'll start to get star trails. And shorter than that and you're losing potentiolal light. Next you want to zoom out as wide as you can go. The most important thing is the f/# the lower the better. Besides that, it will be a combination of ISO and shutter speed. I used the 10-18 f.4.5-5.6 lens and wasn't pleased with my results because the aperture doesn't open wider than f/4.5 the only advantage youd have with this lens is that you can zoom out to 10mm which is fun. I ended up returning my 10-18 lens and saved a little more money to get a lightly used Tokina 11-16 f/2.8. I'm blown away at the clarity of this lens. And the f/2.8 aperture let's in 2x as much light. I hope all of this helps you. Once you get that first successful night shot, you'll be addicted. Good luck
1082486
Jeffroar, have you had any luck in determining a solution? I just got my FZ100 last week and have been struggling with the same issue. Without the flash I'm amazed at how well it captures true color/light, but when I open the flash to "brighten up" my shot the resulting image is much darker. Any thought (Les or others) on if an external flash would help here by extending the range?Thanks - Rich
1019970
Ok noob, this is how it goes. With any DSLR, you choose the trade-off between shutter speed and noise. It helps to have a fast lens, like a 50 mm f/1.8. Set the camera on aperture-priority, and set the aperture to max. That means get the f-number as low as possible, i.e., f/1.8 is better than f/3.5. On a bright sunny day that will stop almost any action in its tracks and be as crisp as can be. If you don't have enough light, you might have to start cranking up the ISO, but that will introduce noise into the photo. So that's how you choose the trade-off between shutter speed and noise with a DSLR. A newer sensor will get you a better trade-off, so you can get to higher ISOs (like 1600 or 3200) without adding too much noise, while with a little bit older camera like this you'll start seeing noise even at ISO 800.
1012646
Hi, Suzanne, with regard to the washed out photos when took with flash, check the ISO level (sensor sensivity to light), perhaps ISO is set too high (400-800-1600)? Set ISO to 160 or 200. I suggest you to exercise a lot changing the camera controls and you'll learn the differences and how to manage it. With flash off, check to set Vibration reduction in OFF when using tripod, and reversely, set it in ON when using handheld. Also try to take lot of pictures in Auto, Scene Mode, Night Landscape, Night Portrait, etc. and see what suits better. Print the PDF manual (220 pages) and read it carefully and check controls and take pictures as you read it. Remember that you get a red box in the screen when the camera cannot focus. So move the camera back or front, and focus again. I bought this camera on July 2011 and it has a personality specially when focusing but I've got beautiful pictures. And I love the zoom, panorama mode and the capacity of taking pictures in low light . Hope this helps you!!
1182174
I find it almost impossible to take a picture without it without it coming out blurry. One of it assets is it's high power. That is also it's weakness and what makes the images blurry. It does have a tripod mount and I would think an inexpensive one would be very beneficial.
1230944
Serious photographers shoot RAW, but most people just use JPEG because it is much easier, no post processing. I am glad to hear of the bright mode (in automatic I always shoot JPEG, in manual modes I always shoot RAW or lossless compressed pics).Overall the comments in this thread ease my fears of dpreview's complaint about JPEG quality. This is definitely my next camera.
1919744
I wish I could help you. I tried the Lumix briefly and decided that it was not what I wanted and returned it and bought the Nikon 7100. It was more expensive. My old Panasonic Lumix was awesome! I dropped it into a pail of water ugh. Hope someone can help you with the lens issue. Durys is pretty up on the operation of the cameras they sell if you go to a large outlet.
1186459
it depends on what f-stop your lens goes down to, the lower the number the "faster" or better the lens will take in light in dark situations such as night photos. Also recommend shooting solely from a tripod using a remote or wireless trigger, that might be your "crisp picture" issue.
111693
Due to how you can't manually select the shutter speed sometimes it gets a little bit tricky to shoot in low light. You'll have to play with the iso and the exposure settings for a while before you get a nice result. The hand-held starlight mode doesn't always work. The night scene mode works fine but you'll need a tripod and ISO is auto so sometimes pics come out grainy. HD VIDEO mode works perfect in low light; I've been going to local band shows and the videos come out great. At the beggining I was a bit frustrated for not being allowed to manipulate shutter speed but after playing with the camera for a month or so now I get some really great results in low light. Due to how you can't manually select the shutter speed sometimes it gets a little bit tricky to shoot in low light. You'll have to play with the iso and the exposure settings for a while before you get a nice result. The hand-held starlight mode doesn't always work. The night scene mode works fine but you'll need a tripod and ISO is auto so sometimes pics come out grainy. HD VIDEO mode works perfect in low light; I've been going to local band shows and the videos come out great. At the beggining I was a bit frustrated for not being allowed to manipulate shutter speed but after playing with... » Read More Due to how you can't manually select the shutter speed sometimes it gets a little bit tricky to shoot in low light. You'll have to play with the iso and the exposure settings for a while before you get a nice result. The hand-held starlight mode doesn't always work. The night scene mode works fine but you'll need a tripod and ISO is auto so sometimes pics come out grainy. HD VIDEO mode works perfect in low light; I've been going to local band shows and the videos come out great. At the beggining I was a bit frustrated for not being allowed to manipulate shutter speed but after playing with the camera for a month or so now I get some really great results in low light. « Show Less
2096660
I have only used mine once. I am finding it is kinda a joke to use. I would love to return it. Or even sell it..But other then that it is good for someone who loves to take photos from afar.