Blurry in the sunlight

[ValkyrieVixen]

I have a Kodak C143 12MP camera that works great but for some reason pics of shiny pieces in the sunlight come out blurry even when I know it is rock steady.  Any tips for fixing that?  Some stones show more detail in the sunlight rather than in the photo tent.

[Jamey S.]

Hmmm... Kodak is a tricky beast, simply because they use so much variation from model to model even in the algorithms that it is like each one is made by a different company they are so different, lol.

In bright sunlight with reflections it sounds like the brightness of the scene is tricking your camera's metering system. The problem it looks like you have no way of manually controlling much of anything sadly, this is typical for Kodak though. You can set metering mode to center weighted or spot would be better but more difficult to get correct. Then you can use your EV(exposure value) and set it at say -1EV for starters. Work from there. What is wrong is your shutter speed is too slow and messing up the shot most likely. Any way to post a sample shot? And you will have to be in P mode in order to be able to change of these settings I believe.

For future reference, Kodak is the only brand(aside from most of these no name brands) that I generally tell people to run, don't walk, away from!! . They tend to make things so difficult for the user and constantly have annoying little quirks and what not that you can not really work around because they have crippled the camera so badly.

[ValkyrieVixen]

I got it as a gift so didn't have much choice. I actually like it better than the Olympus I have.
I love Fill flash, my other Kodak had it, but even though this mentioned it in the specs there seems to be no setting for it.
Here is a pic that is blurry, I didn't crop it so you can see the pieces off to the side are actually in focus.


The settings are at:
Exposure compensation = +1.0
ISO Speed = Auto
Focus Mode = Macro
Focus/Exposure Zone = Center
AF Control = Continuous

[Jamey S.]

All cameras have fill flash. . Fill flash is just when you use the flash to fill in light to bring out details in the foreground or on the surface even in good lighting. It does away with shadows and such. .

That picture the problem is the camera is mis-focusing, back focusing to be exact. If you look the piece in the upper left is completely in focus. Try setting your focusing mode to Center, that way it will only use the center focal point and none of the others, works best for shooting subjects like this.

Also, your focus mode should NEVER be in continuous mode unless you are shooting moving subjects like kids or animals running/flying, sports, etc. Otherwise you should use the center focal point for still close-ups/macros.


Your best bet is to always keep ISO @ 100, especially with Kodak as they use very poor JPEG algorithms which cause noise and artifacting even at the native ISO of 100, anything above ISO 100 and you introduce even more which degrades the image quality and blocks out the finer details of the subject. Anything above ISO 200 should never be used. Most P&S cameras are like this, very few are good at higher ISOs above 200, except for a few Fuji's, 1 or 2 Nikons, and a few of the Panasonics which are good up to ISO400 with some external noise reduction used, and about ISO800 for a 4x6" print but nothing larger. Even on my Canon, Panasonic, Sony, and Nikon P&S cameras I never shoot a macro/close-up above ISO 100!! .

[ValkyrieVixen]

I'll have to try changing the ISO setting.
I take 100-200 pics at a time, all in the same setting and process but only the shiny stones cause the blurriness.
I'll have dozens of focused pics with blurry ones interspersed.

My older Kodak had both regular flash and fill flash which was a shorter burst.
When looking for a new camera a while back most cameras I found only had, auto/on/off/red eye.

[Jamey S.]

No no  it may have had some special setting they called fill flash, but in reality every camera with a built in flash is capable of fill flash. Simply put the camera in P, TV, or AV and turn the flash on. It will use the flash to fill. The camera will meter the scene with three flash off it will shoot as metered with the flash on it will accommodate that and adjust the exposure accordingly to compensate. With some you may have to adjust your FEC (flash exposure compensation) to -1 or -2 because of poor programming/implementation on the manufacturers end of things, but any camera with a built in flash or an external flash can do fill flash.

The bright scenes are causing issues with the cameras Af. It most likely uses a very cheap to design af known as contrast detect or something like that, forget the exact name. It is known for slower focusing and mis-focusing. But if you use the setting s I suggested above it should fix the issues, or at the very least, minimize their occurrence.

[Jamey S.]

P.s. Why hundreds of pics at a time?

[ValkyrieVixen]

I'll have to play with the settings you mentioned. I wish I could figure out how to see pics on my laptop screen while taking them so I could see the results right away. The LCD screen just isn't big enough to tell if they are blurry or not.

I take so many pics because I usually have 10-15 items and I take pics from different angles, on 2-3 different back grounds and in sunlight and the in the light tent so I have options for the best pics to use for 4+ pics in the listings.

[Jamey S.]

Ah, ok, that explains the amount of shots. See, I learned on film and shot film for so long that I got used to keeping shots to a minimum because of cost, just can't break the habit, so if need top, bottom, and side shots I take three shots total and make them count, lol, but I've also been shooting for over 25 years too, rofl.

The Kodak can not shoot tethered. But you can purchase an EyeFi card for it if your laptop our desktop has bluetooth or you will need to add in a bluetooth card or usb dongle (under $ 8 for a generic one.. What we have and it works perfectly) and it will transfer the shot taken to the pc instant.... Well it takes a few seconds really... But then it is just like shooting tethered only no cables, lol. I'm getting one for my Sigmas as they don't tether either, but my Pentax and Panasonic does. Another way if your camera has a tv/video out, you can view on tv after take the shot, but manually have to do so.

This help?

[ValkyrieVixen]

I'll have to look into the Bluetooth thing, it'd be so much easier to see pics as I'm taking them. Thanx

[Jamey S.]

Yw