I just bought a Nikon Coolpix L160 camera. I need help getting the background blurred effect.?

Question

I am an amateur photographer. The effect that I want to get with this camera is the background blurred effect. I need a dummies way to do it tho.

Answer 1

Your camera will not be able to get much blurred effect as you have little control over the camera. The best you can do is to zoom in the lens as much as you can (making distant objects close) and get as close to your subject as you can. While you won't be able to get the same effect as with a DSLR, you should be able to get at least some degree of the effect.



This will require some tradeoff vs. lens zoom vs. distance to your subject, but you may get at least some degree of blur.



To get background blur, there are three things that make a difference.



1. wider open aperture decreases depth of field (increases background blur).

2. longer focal length decreases depth of field.

3. closer focus distance decreases depth of field.



You have no control over item #1 with your camera, but if can control item 2 and 3, which should provide you the result.



Here is a photo where I obtained background blur with a Canon SX130 compact camera:



http://www.althephoto.com/concepts/sf-sx130-60mm-f56.jpg



And here is a webpage showing how it is done:



http://www.althephoto.com/concepts/selectivefocus.php



Good luck.

Answer 2

Set the camera for f/stop priority. (See your manual for instructions)



Use the largest opening for the most background blur.



Not knowing the lens speed of your camera let me give an example.



Lenses on cameras today vary from f/4, f/3.5 and so on. So set the aperture at the widest lens opening. It is also most likely engraved on the lens rim. So the camera will now set the proper shutter speed needed for the correct exposure by itself.



Good Luck!

Answer 3

This is why you research your cameras before you buy.



To get the backgrounds blurred, you need to take control of the camera's aperture.



You also need a LARGE image sensor and aperture. Your coolpix has neither.



At the minimum, you need something like the nikon J1, it has the smallest image sensor found in ILC cameras, but it's much larger than those found in compacts like yours.



Even better, a micro four thirds camera like the Olympus E-PM2, or a larger sensor like those found in the Sony NEX cameras like the NEX 3N, that's a dSLR sized sensor.



Sorry, you can't really get this effect with your camera.

Answer 4

It takes a carefully measured amount of light to make a picture. If light is low or poor, the camera will take a longer time to take the shot to absorb that correct amount of light. The longer a shot is taken, the more chances for movement to occur which results to blur. When taking pictures indoors or when light is low, use flash.