Trying my hand at toy photography. need help

Valkysas · 04-13-2006, 10:52 PM

My dad just got a Kodak Easyshare C340, and the performance from it has been kind of random so far. some images come out nice and crisp, some come out a blurry mess.

for example, a random shot of alternator boxes came out really good: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...lternators.jpg

Shot of Gundam GP02A came out pretty good:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ysas/gp02a.jpg

Kampfer came out (in my opinion) very good as well.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...as/kampfer.jpg

Cluster Gundam, blurry mess.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/cluster1.jpg

Wing Zero, again. blurry mess.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../wingzero1.jpg

These pictures are all cropped and resized at the same percentage (4.2 megapixel setting, (5mp max), 25% original size). The camera was the same distance away from each model too. the only thing changed was what I was taking a picture of.

What am I doing wrong? Does anyone have this camera, and can offer some assistance? I'm not content with taking blurry, messy photos. a lot of you are extremely skilled with your digital cameras, so I figured you guys are the ones to ask.

Matrix Soul · 04-13-2006, 11:18 PM

Was the flash on? Do you have a tripod? Is the auto focus turned on? many factors are involved, make sure you have a steady hand, and perhaps starting with the auto setting and play with the manual settings as you go

Valkysas · 04-13-2006, 11:24 PM

flash was on, dont have a tripod, but I have a steady hand. auto focus was turned on. I guess I'm going to just play with the manual settings,and hope I dont screw anything up.

freezowave · 04-13-2006, 11:43 PM

I'd continue to play with it while tracking your settings a little bit. Most of the digi-cams with auto and manual functionality work a little differetly.

I like to add more lighting and work without a flash. I had my camera for over a year before i woke up and learned how to use it. I usually shoot 35mm, and have been slow in adapting to the digital world.

thefrozenred · 04-13-2006, 11:45 PM

Was the Macro setting turned on...? I've found that definitely helps.

Chaos Muffin · 04-14-2006, 05:43 AM

Macro is a huge help, especially for capturing details, but camera movement must be kept to zero movement for best results or you'll end up with motion blur. Or you can put your settings on movement or sports (many vary) and you'll be ready to take pics while moving, but they won't be as sharp as the macro. If you don't have a tripod, just take a few snaps for each pic, and just keep your favorite, or the clearest.
Or you can always just place the cam on something with your target in view and hit the timer and step back as it takes a still shot.

Would be a good idea to study the huge instruction booklet that comes with since it provides all the basics for it, then your style can take it from there.
It's a nice cam, congrats and hope you have alot of fun with it.

godsenddeath · 04-14-2006, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefrozenred

Was the Macro setting turned on...? I've found that definitely helps.

Defiantely.

My personal experience, has been that Macro is a lot more effecitive that Digital Macro where the two options are available.

Optimus Scourge · 04-14-2006, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chaos Muffin

Macro is a huge help, especially for capturing details, but camera movement must be kept to zero movement for best results or you'll end up with motion blur. Or you can put your settings on movement or sports (many vary) and you'll be ready to take pics while moving, but they won't be as sharp as the macro. If you don't have a tripod, just take a few snaps for each pic, and just keep your favorite, or the clearest.
Or you can always just place the cam on something with your target in view and hit the timer and step back as it takes a still shot.

Would be a good idea to study the huge instruction booklet that comes with since it provides all the basics for it, then your style can take it from there.
It's a nice cam, congrats and hope you have alot of fun with it.

good advice...
instructions? what are those?

Valkysas · 04-14-2006, 09:22 AM

as far as I can tell from the instructions, there is no macro setting. there's no mention of macro in the glossary at all. its possible that I'm still managing to overlook it, but I scanned through pretty much every page looking for such a thing last night.

SydneyY · 04-14-2006, 10:22 AM

I know this is not much help, but I suggest you turn every knob and press every botton on your camera and see what happens.
My camera is a 3.2Megapixels (whatever it means) and one out of 20 or so turns out nice

Took me a while to realise that I don't have to worry about wasting films while using a digital camera