I need a digital camera that rarely makes pictures blurry, especially in musuem-like settings. Any opinons?

Question

I am travelling across Europe over the next few months and plan to visit many museums. Unfortuently, my current camera ALWAYS blurs the pictures unless the flash is on or I propping it against a solid surface. Does anyone have any reccomendations for a camera that takes great indoor pictures? I'm looking for a digital for less than $250.

Answer 1

May I suggest the Fuji F30. It has very good picture quality even at ISO 1600. It may give you enough of a shutter speed boost beat the shakes.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Fujifilm/fuji_finepixf30.asp



The current street price is about $300, plus there currently a $50 rebate from Fujifilm USA that's good through January 31, 2007

http://www.fujifilmrebates.com/orstore/ShowItem.aspx?productID=501

Answer 2

You probably can't, especially in that situation. What you are asking about is called depth of field. If you have a lens that can be openned way out (big, low f/ number) then the area that is in focus is shallow, so you can focus on one limitted area and have the rest blurry. One way to do this with automatic cameras is to set the shutterspeed fast (like 1/250 of a second or more) when light is moderate. Or you can force the lens opening large with manual settings and let the camera go fast. So look for manual settings to force lens opening or shutter speed The problem is that requires a ratio of how far it is to the object vs how far to the background and football players on the field are too far away - when you focus on them the depth includes the background. In many sports situations, the background is blurred because the camera is following the object (panning) so it is not changing on the exposure, while the audience is ignored. Many older digitals (like mine) take long enough to do the exposure that panning becomes impossible. Your image stabilizer, which takes the images collected by the detector and moves them so they line up in the final image works to remove blur. I just looked at your example picture and it is perfect for background blur and has nothing to do with sports - the flower is within a few inches off the lens and the background is several feet back.

Answer 3

To take great blur-free indoor shots of museum and church interiors etc (without a flash) we all know you need to set the camera on a tripod, monopod or keep it absolutely still...and small digital cameras have a lot of limitations, especially in low light (because they do not perform well using ISO above 200 or so).

A digital slr is the best camera to use because of it's high ISO capabilities, however, cost and even size could be a limiting factor.

But you can do a good job with almost any digicam as long as you don't move the camera, use a slow shutter & use a low ISO for noise free pics (always use a delayed shutter release).



For Low Light performance...THE best digicam available right now that performs very well while handheld & in low light at ISO 800, even ISO 1600...is the "Fujifilm Finepix F30". It can go up to ISO 3200, however quality starts dropping higher than ISO 800.

It has 6MP, 3X optical, manual controls, amazing battery life (up to 580 shots) and a large 230,000 pixel, 2.5 inch LCD screen.

It might be your best bet, especially for high ISO but low noise, handheld interior shots....unless you don't mind trying to find someplace to prop your camera up, or lug a tripod around (not practical most times). The F30 performs extremely well in low light but does have some CA issues in high contrast outdoor shots (which is fixable with Photoshop or Paintshop Pro etc).

And don't forget that in some interiors in Europe, cameras are totally banned...thats when you have to buy the obligatory postcard...lol

Also, take plenty of photos (which means plenty of storage, I recommend at least 4-5GB or a portable HD storage device).

Have fun!

Answer 4

I dare say that, without propping your camera on a solid surface, I can't imagine not blurring pictures in a museum. I would use a tripod, but maybe you can try a monopod, since it would be less bother to carry. You can probably find something with image stabilization (vibration reduction) in your price range and I'd recommend that feature.



If you use a tripod, almost any camera would do the job. This is from a 4 MP Nikon Coolpix 4600.



500KB - http://members.aol.com/swf08302/benfranklin.jpg

Supported on a metal fence for about a 3 second exposure

The camera was in "auto" mode and I just held it still.

Answer 5

If the picture is not blurry when you prop it against a solid surface, you are probably moving the camera and that would make it blurry.

Maybe you should take a small tripod with you to set the camera on when you take pictures.

Other than the number of pixels there isnt much difference in digital cameras besides the lens and those differences are very slight.

the more pixels the camera is capable of using the sharper the image at larger sizes when printed.

I think 5 megapixels is more than enough because i would never print a picture larger than 8x10 and most pictures i print are 5x6

You may want to get a camera that has at least 3x to 4x optical zoom, expecially if you want to take pictures of large buildings like Notre Dame, they have wonderful statuary on top of the building.

check the link provided for comparisons of cameras with a list of their features and prices. I use this site myself when shopping for a new camera

Answer 6

For indoor shooting in museums you will need a camera that allows "manual" control. If your camera has manual control already you need not buy another, just learn how to set the manual exposer with your camera. Get a photography reference that will give you the manual exposer seting, use this seting on your camera. This is exactly how I shot pictures in meuseums when I was traveling in Europe. The trouble with auto exposure is that it attempts to compensate for all the dark areas around the pictures that are not of intrest to you; this slows down the shutter more than it needs to causing the blur in your picture. If you do upgrade your camera, make sure it has "manual control".

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Here is a post thought to my earlier message - try seting your camera to "action mode no flash" when shooting indoor, this will tell your camera to use the fastest shutter speed possible under the current lighting condition, and optimize exposure with ISO and Aperture values instead. This might actually work. Please also note that art objects in the meuseum are very well lit with flood lites and spot lites but the surrounding areas are dark that will make you feel as if there is not enough lite, it also fools the camera to use flash or slow shutter speed un-neccessarily to blurr or over expose the picture. If you do decide to get a new camera and shooting in natural lite without flash is your primary goal then please look in the specs of the camera for the widest possible aperture. In standard SLRs this can be as large as f/1.2 (very expensive) . In lower priced "point & shoot" cameras f/2.8 - f/4.6 is standard, if you get something that includes f/1.7 or f/1.4 for aperture you got a winner. BTW, the exposure to use for shooting in meuseum is roughly Shutter 1/60, aperture f/2.8, at ISO 800. If your camera does not have manual control, then try the method I outlined above, review the Exif parameters to see what exposure the camera logic used, then use the exposure compensation button or menu of your camera to match the exposure I have indicated. Note: At 1/60 shutter speed you would need to hold your breath and squeez the shutter button gently with no shake - this can be done with practice. For anything "slower" than 1/60 I would recommend a tripod. BTW2 what camera are you using currently? Have a great trip, and bring back lots of pics to share with the group.

Answer 7

Wow, the price has really dropped on those F30's! Here's one that is $199, after rebate.



http://www.prestigecamera.com/product~id~fjfpf30.htm



That makes it an even better deal than the Canon A620 was recently, and the camera I would get if I were buying a digital today.



What's more, for what you're looking for, this is the ideal camera. It's strength is the ability to take nice indoor or lowlight pics. It even has a "museum" mode.

Answer 8

I know sony has some models out right now that have amazing speed reaction- with a ISO setting of 1000- so that the flash rarely needs to come on- and the delay of from when you click the shutter and when it actually takes the picture is virtually gone.

Answer 9

I have a Sony Cybershot 4.1 Megapixel that I ADORE!! I bought it straight from Sony, but I think they sell them at Wal-Mart... or some place like that.

I've probably had 2 photos that came out blurry in the entire time I've owned it and that's because of weather conditions.



It has a preview display on the back, so you can actually flip the setting to preview and zoom in to make sure it's perfect - and if it's not, you can delete it and re-take.



Good luck!