# Oh Stan...the camera man (and other camera gurus).....HELP?????



## TinysMom (Aug 9, 2009)

My Kodak that I hate/love takes pretty good pics but eats batteries like crazy - I went through 8 batteries yesterday taking about 80 pics.

My Nikon is sorta dying because sometimes I get what looks like a thumb over the lens - but I don't have my thumb anywhere near there. 

I tried another camera last year and took it back but I've been eying cameras a lot...I was looking at a Nikon (I love the Nikon) but I got to playing around and got a FujiFilm FinePix S1500. 

I'm really in shock - this is the first time I've been able to take pictures of Zeus where he really stands out and looks white and he doesn't look like a big blob.

I'd like to hear if others have bought this before - I have 30 days to decide to keep it or return it....

I'll post pics later today (I hope).


Edited because I went through 8 batteries - not 6....


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## Elf Mommy (Aug 9, 2009)

I don't know much about the camera. Can't wait to see the pictures of Zeus...and...um...other bunnies


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## Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears (Aug 9, 2009)

I have the Fuji Finepix S1000fd and so far no complaints from me. Mine takes great pictures of the kids.


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## Pet_Bunny (Aug 10, 2009)

It is a step up from the point and shoot cameras.They are a compact super zoom SLR type camera, just below the DSLR cameras. Fujifilm seems to make one of these cameras every six months. This might be the camera for you.

I like the 2.8 lens and the 33mm wide lens (I prefer it should of been wider). You should get rechargeable batteries. There are new ones that are already charged up and they last along time.


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## undergunfire (Aug 10, 2009)

Peg...show us the pictures! I want to see how the camera works :biggrin2:.

I have a Canon Rebel and sometimes I still get ratties who look like white blobs. It is almost impossible to get good pictures of Toodles the kitty because he is black. 

Of course....I still don't fully know how to use my camera. I found a setting that I like color-wise...but I need good light or else the shutter speed is slow. Any ideas, Stan??


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

I'm really pleased with the pictures I'm getting so far. Zeus is so hard to photograph....but I'm so pleased with these pics.

They have a feature - I don't know what its called (haven't read the manual yet) where it puts a square box in the middle of the viewer and I center what I want in it - and then whatever is in that box shows up as the full picture...there are two sizes each in two formats (landscape and portrait).

Have I confused you yet?

I'll upload pics in a few minutes...


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

I've taken 161 pictures on this set of four batteries (so far) - far cry from the 80 I took the other day on my Kodak and it took 8 batteries for those...


This was picture #50...unedited...







Still waiting for the others to upload...


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

*Elf Mommy wrote: *


> I don't know much about the camera. Can't wait to see the pictures of Zeus...and...um...other bunnies


Yes yes yes....I'll get a picture of Victor this week...and I'll try to do other bunnies too.


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

More of the pics...


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

I think he disapproves of getting his picture taken so much...


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

I think these were all taken on the same color setting because I was afraid to play around too much and I liked what I was getting..


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## Pet_Bunny (Aug 10, 2009)

*undergunfire wrote: *


> I found a setting that I like color-wise...but I need good light or else the shutter speed is slow. Any ideas, Stan??



Are you talking about the Portrait Mode Setting on your camera? I am not familiar with Canons. I always shoot Manual with my camera, so I have full control of of my settings.

For the dark (black kitties), there is an exposure compensation button on my camera which I adjust to +3 so it lightens up the picture.

On the white blobs (ratties), I set my flash to a lower flash power, so it only fills light in the dark spots.


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)




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## Pet_Bunny (Aug 10, 2009)

*TinysMom wrote: *


> They have a feature - I don't know what its called (haven't read the manual yet) where it puts a square box in the middle of the viewer and I center what I want in it - and then whatever is in that box shows up as the full picture...there are two sizes each in two formats (landscape and portrait).
> Have I confused you yet?



1. Is that the focus mark that shows you where the focus point is?

2.Or the frame of the picture that gives you the landscape or portrait view of the picture?

Did I confuse you?


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

Oh Stan....I'm not sure what to say - I just went to grab the manual and in trying to stash it from Zeus...I hid it from myself too! 

Basically - when I go to take a picture - I can look at the viewer and see what fills it. If I push this button - I get a rectangle (small or large) in the viewer in the center area. By using this button - the ONLY thing that shows up in the picture is what is in that smaller boxed area. Its like it spreads out what is in that box to fill the whole frame?

The box has two sizes and two options - it starts with landscape - a larger box - then a smaller box - then if I push the button again I get a portrait orientation - larger box - then smaller box.

Clear as mud?


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

This is a good example - I used the smaller box to focus in on Zeus' nose and face for a close-up...


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## Pet_Bunny (Aug 10, 2009)

The wide angle lens is working good for you for all situations. Use the telephoto lens only in situations if the lightingis verybright or only for outside pictures.

Did you try the flashin your pictures yet?


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

These are pictures of Zeus from April - same bedroom (we alternate between three comforters due to having bunnies on the bed so much...)...


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

*Pet_Bunny wrote: *


> The wide angle lens is working good for you for all situations. Use the telephoto lens only in situations if the lightingis verybright or only for outside pictures.
> 
> Did you try the flashin your pictures yet?


Nope - not yet. I may try it later tonight...

I'm waiting for the pictures of our supper to upload so you can see the color range we're getting.


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

Here is how a box of spring mix turned out for colors..


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## Pet_Bunny (Aug 10, 2009)

*TinysMom wrote: *


> Basically - when I go to take a picture - I can look at the viewer and see what fills it. If I push this button - I get a rectangle (small or large) in the viewer in the center area. By using this button - the ONLY thing that shows up in the picture is what is in that smaller boxed area. Its like it spreads out what is in that box to fill the whole frame?


That box is your focus point where the picture will be the sharpest. When you push the button, it zooms in for you to see it closer and to check for sharpness.


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

But why does it only capture the part that is in that box?


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

Found the basic manual - its called "Macro" mode?


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

Last photo for tonight....we had steak, baked potato (broccoli cheese topping was on the side and not on the potatoes yet) and some grilled vegies..


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

So - what do you think of the picture quality? 

I like it - mostly - I really need to look at the pictures when I'm not so tired. I think I was really impressed at how well Zeus came out compared to usual...


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## PepnFluff (Aug 10, 2009)

I have the s100fd (the older model of you) and when mine goes into macro or super macro mode it does nothing like that. But, when I have face recognition on and take a picture it zooms in on what is or what it thinks is a face which is in the green box and stays zoomed in until I go into viewer were it is a normal photo?


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## JadeIcing (Aug 10, 2009)

TinysMom wrote:


> Found the basic manual - its called "Macro" mode?



That is the mode I need.


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## TinysMom (Aug 10, 2009)

Maybe it is face recognition then? I'm not sure...


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## MikeScone (Aug 10, 2009)

*TinysMom wrote: *


> Found the basic manual - its called "Macro" mode?


Macro is usually just a fancy way of saying "close focus". In point-and-shoots that typically means that the camera focuses on a closer subject than it normally would. 

In the DSLR world, "macro" is marketing-speak for "this lens focuses closer than three feet or thereabouts". A true macro lens (which are fairly rare and very expensive) will make an image on the film/sensor which is at least half the size it is in real life. Like this picture, taken with a Nikon 105mm macro: 





Fuji makes a good camera - I've had several of their DSLR's (which are Nikon cameras with Fuji electronics). In fact, the picture above was taken with a Finepix S2 Pro. I now have a Nikon D300, but I kept the Fuji S3 body, too. 

The pictures you're getting are good (I would use a photo editor like Photoshop Elements to bring up the whites to pure white, and make the blacks blacker), but as good as they are, I think if you tried a DSLR you'd never look back. The Nikon D40 is not hugely expensive with the basic "kit" lens, and the image quality is miles beyond any point-and-shoot. The reason's actually fairly simple - all point-and-shoots use very small sensors to keep the size of the camera small. For the same number of pixels, a larger sensor will take sharper pictures, because the tiny pixel sites in the small sensors tend to bleed over into each other.


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## MikeScone (Aug 10, 2009)

Here's what I meant by using Photoshop to make whites white and blacks black:


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