MY NEW TOY!

[Colin Brett]

New toy being??????????????????????

:D

Samsung S850 perhaps?

;)

[Janet]

Ooop! I forgot to say what it was, didn't I?

 

Yes Colin, it s a Samsung S850, which I'm afraid to say I bought on impulse! Not like me at all - it took me six months to decide on a new float rod, but this time I didn't do any research first. I just liked the look of it, and have never had a duff item from Samsung. Anyway, I'm stuck with it now, so I'm going to make the best of it.

 

Not that I'm complaining, because I'm thoroughly enjoying learning how to use it!

 

Janet

[Sutton Warrior]

Janet, these are a couple of pictures I have up loaded from a S850 review as quality samples. Greens especialy are saturated but they canot be dascribed as having a green cast. How do they compare with what you have in your computer folder? Also compare them with the shots you have posted.

 

 

 

Put them up big for a fair comparison.

 

So they are acceptable, greens a bit OTT, not a problem I need to tame greens on my Nikon D80 on occasions!!!

 

I still think the White Ballance is not set right on your camera. The review mentions custome 'wb' facility, has some one been playing?? . . . demonstrating before you got it!

 

As far as manipulating programs are concerned, there are a few half decent 'freebies' about, but the users of said freebies on this site will need to give you details, I use 'PhotoShop Elements 7'. Very good IMHO, but £30 from Amazon, as you have spent the 'house keeping' this weeks, its best you stick to a freeby, more than adequate for a while, I would say, one step at a time.

 

SW

Edited April 20, 2009 by Sutton Warrior

[Janet]

Many thanks for all the help SW!

 

I've checked the camera, and it's set to AWB. When I went to adjust it manually it was set to zero, with options to increase or decrease it. There are also settings for daylight/cloudy and various others.

 

It does say that different lighting conditions may cause a colour cast on images. It was extremely bright sunlight yesterday. Could that have been the cause?

 

What would you suggest? Using one of the pre-set options, or adjusting it manually?

 

There is an option to set a Custom White Balance, which involves placing a sheet of white paper in front of the lens and then pressing the shutter button to save it. It sounds rather technical at the moment!

 

I think my best bet for now is to try out all the settings and see which ones work best. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it eventually!

 

Janet

[Sutton Warrior]

Janet, I dont know that I'm helping, just pointing out a problem

 

This is a pic of part of my back garden, very uninteresting subject, but it was taken on 'Auto White Balance'. This is how I asses my setting, picture, streight on screen, make changes, another pic, onto screen . . . etc.

 

 

I have problems with green saturation, but not the colour cast.

 

Try the pre stets, see what they give, Sun, Cloud, and Shade are the ones that should be relevent for day light, there will be a couple of others for artificial light, Flash, Tungsten and Strip light. I wonder if there is a set and press to confirm button?? Comparing what I have on screen that you posted (very green/yellow dog for instance) is what you have in the original like that or more natural colour like the samples I posted from the review site? Wondering if the posting program you used has changed something in the posting process?

 

You could try the white paper as well, then shoot a sample of each as you set them, to get a comparison.

 

SW

[Janet]

This is one that I took yesterday, on the more shaded side of the lake.

 

 

The colours appear much more natural (and also a lot sharper on the full sized photo stored on my PC).

 

SW - you are very much helping me by pointing out a potential problem. I need to know if it's just down to learning how to use the camera correctly or if there is a real problem that I need to deal with. Technique I can learn, but I can't do anything much if there's something wrong the the camera itself!

 

Janet

[Sutton Warrior]

This is one that I took yesterday, on the more shaded side of the lake.

 

 

The colours appear much more natural (and also a lot sharper on the full sized photo stored on my PC).

 

SW - you are very much helping me by pointing out a potential problem. I need to know if it's just down to learning how to use the camera correctly or if there is a real problem that I need to deal with. Technique I can learn, but I can't do anything much if there's something wrong the the camera itself!

 

Janet

 

Well, well, thats just fine Janet, what hapend to the ones that you first posted??? . . . cos I aint got a clue . . . keep producing them like this one and the technique will come . . . By the way, an angler on the staging would have added interest, perhaps with a red hat or somthing bright on for some extra colour . . . Just a tad over exposed (would have killed the green a bit to) by 1/3-1/2 a stop, a toch of sharpening, all can be added when you get a PhotoShop type program. The review says the camera has manual control so thats something for the future to help this type of shot, dont worry about that for now though, auto for the time being. Keep pressing that shutter, enjoy, you will get a natural urge to start playing seriously with the manual controls. To many, IMHO are pushed to early into fighting the camera, its not a fight

 

Very good, framed the staging (and ghost angler? ) with the bushes etc., pity about the cars in the background, you will learn.

 

Well don, SW

[Janet]

Thanks once again SW!

 

I've no idea what happened with the first ones, as I didn't change any of the settings (mainly as I'd left the handbook at home and didn't have a clue!) All were taken on the auto setting. The only difference I can think of is that I was out of the direct sunlight when I took it, so I'm obviously going to have to investigate the different light settings. I'm really not happy about the rather artificial looking greens, so will also look at editing programs.

 

Here's one I took of the same peg earlier in the year on my old camera (cropped drastically to go on the bottom of a calendar picture)

 

 

The colours were very true, without any tampering with settings. My old camera is great (when it works!), but totally unreliable. Out of the nearly 200 pictures I took that day, less than 50 were sharp and clear enough to be usable. Also, the screen was so small that I couldn't read the menus and the manual was useless - I had no idea what any of the symbols on my screen were for! However, when it worked, it worked well, and I'll be keeping it in my tackle box.

 

I think for the next day or two I'm going to just take outdoor shots using all the different settings and try and figure out which is best for the conditions on the day, as obviously the auto setting leaves a lot to be desired. on bright sunny days at least. I've also ordered that Field Guide to Digital Photography, and I'm going to be doing some serious reading!

 

I appreciate your comments about composition. Again, that's something I need to work on!

 

I am a tad disappointed though, as I expected a camera sold to me as "point and shoot" would have produced better results first time out, without the need to start adjusting stuff! Still, I'm enjoying it, and that's what it's all about.

 

Janet

[Sutton Warrior]

Thats the point Janet, enjoy. I get very . . . sorry, 'used to get', very frustrated with my self, for not doing as well as other pictures I had seen. Now-a-days, it does not really matter, I do things 'my way' . . . I only have 'me' to impress . . . and . . . I impress myself quite often 'big head, me'

 

The old camera, not a canon by any chance? colour looks very canon like? and sharp to!

 

Keep your eye on the 'green/yellow cast', might be a faulty camera??? It really should not do that, its supposed to be automatic! Decide sooner rather than later for a replacement! . . . ?

 

SW

[Janet]

Nope. Not a Canon.....a cheap (uinder £30) dinky little pink Technika camera from Tesco! I have had some brilliant, pin sharp pictures from it, but only when it's in a good mood! It's wonderful with good light, but I always seemed to end up with blurred pictures on dull days and I haven't had one really decent picture using the macro facility.

 

The Samsung is heading back to the shop shortly - I've found that the lens cover doesn't always close properly as it should. A little tap sets it right, but that shouldn't be necessary on a new item. I will also point out the green/yellow problem as I agree with you that this shouldn't be happening on a brand new camera.

 

Luckily I didn't delete the pictures from the card, so I can let the guy in the shop see them. I bought it from what I believe to be a decent local camera shop rather than off the shelf from a supermarket, as I wanted a demo first. I hope their after-sales service is good.

 

Thanks again for the assistance! I'll let you know how I get on.

 

Janet