Nrw camera help !!!!!

Julie McGregor · 09-01-12, 08:23 PM

I ,ve got a new olumpus SZ-10 and its doing my head in help!! I am at th point of sending it back just can't seem to get the pics light enough if you look at my new cards you will see what I mean. can anyone help me its costing me money when they are sent back too dark.

Julie

Ann Smith · 09-01-12, 09:08 PM

Julie, do use manual or auto settings to take your pictures? If you use manual you could increase the ISO but that will make your pictures grainy if you set it too high. The other thing I thought of when I looked at the specs is what is the default metering?

There seem to be an awful lot of different settings on that camera!

Julie McGregor · 09-01-12, 09:12 PM

I have tried both but wih no luck also now I can't download onto the forum!

Diane Scotland · 09-01-12, 09:47 PM

Julie, don't panic honey xx I'm gonna see what I can find out for you regarding your settings, also, have you downloaded picasa?? it's free and it helps with cropping, lightening, straightening etc of your pics, I'm off to bed just now but will get back to you tomorrow, that's a promise xxxx TC Diane xx

Ann Smith · 09-01-12, 10:04 PM

Julie, you sound a bit frazzled....just like me. Desperate to finish something and too tired to concentrate. Hopefully we'll both get a good night's sleep and it'll all work out in the morning.

Diane is right about Picassa - I don't use it for editing because I've got photoshop, but for a free program it is very useful.

Vicki Avcin · 09-01-12, 11:13 PM

I dont have that brand but I put my cards (I'm not a cardmaker but photograph for albums and tutorials etc) in the lightest spot I can find.

I set the camera to auto, and if I feel its too dull a day or its dark, I put the flash up just in case. If theres enough light the flash wont go off, if it is then the flash will compensate.

I know cardmakers are sposed to have 'natural' light but thats not always possible. But by allowing the camera to pick the settings they usually come out just fine.

Diane Scotland · 10-01-12, 09:31 AM

Julie, just letting you know I haven't forgot about you, am out this morning but will find out what I can when I get back xx it may well be that your white balance settings aren't right and you may have to go into the camera menu to sort it, could also be that the place where you are taking your pics doesn't have enough natural daylight, is the flas going off when you take pics?? if it is then you need to turn the flash off and try to find somewhere like a windowsill to take the pis. I see you've said you're unable to upload pics, get back to me on that too and I'll help with that if I can xx be patient honey, it'll all work out in the end xx TC Diane xx

Ann Smith · 10-01-12, 10:02 AM

Julie, just a thought....is it just your card pictures that are coming out too dark or is it all of your pictures?

Gwyneth George · 10-01-12, 02:12 PM

Hi Julie

The way I'm reading this is that you are taking photos of your completed cards and uploading them to the CUP site using your Crafter Control Panel, but they are not passing validation and re-appear in your quarantine list with the statement "Too Dark" next to them.

Although I don't have the camera you've got I have had used three or four different cameras over the years and I've always set them on "Auto" and let the camera decide on the best setting for what's in front of it.

As it's sometimes difficult to know whether there's enough light on the object being photographed to take a good picture I also put the Flash on automatic. That way, if there isn't enough light the flash goes off and I know straight away that there isn't enough light to take a tidy picture without the flash. I find this preferable to having the flash off and taking lots of pictures of a bad quality and only finding this out when I upload the pictures to my computer. If the flash goes off I either move the card or wait for better light conditions, and don't waste time taking pictures that are not suitable for uploading to CUP.

By experimentation I've found that putting any light cards on a dark or black background helps the camera get its automatic settings right. A light card on a white background doesn't give the camera a range of colours to get its balance right and it takes the whole picture darker. The opposite is true for a very dark card, which I place on a lighter colour background.

I tend to take several photos of each card at slightly different angle of camera to card, and at different angles of card to the light source (usually a big window for natural light), and take the picture from a bit further away than I need to so that there's a good border of the background around the card.

Once uploaded to my computer I use a piece of software called IrfanView to crop closer to the card to leave just a fine border, slightly rotate if needed, and also if needed I'll Auto Adjust the colours or Sharpen the image. Nothing too drastic, but it can just help a picture that's slightly off, though a bad picture just needs to be taken again. There are other bits of free software around that other Craftforum members use.

Experiment with things until you get to know your camera and work out what settings and positioning work best for you.

GG

Julie McGregor · 10-01-12, 02:28 PM

It might be that I need a darker background cos I have tried it on auto with no luck will let you all Know how I get on! Thanks again xx Julie

Site Navigation

Help & Info

Copyright