DSC-H7 image woes...

[scj6771]

I think the first mistake I made was buying the H7, I had an old Canon A30 that took better pictures than this, even on my W810 camera phone I am able to snap off a few better shots than the H7. Perhaps I am just not doing something right but it seems like the only good pictures I can take have to be real close and in perfect daylight.

Here are some photos taken of my eldest son and daughter, these I consider to be ok but not as good as I would like to see.
http://scj6771.smugmug.com/gallery/3681720/1/210560026

Here are some more photos that I am really upset about, the lighting is horrible and some are blurry, I am just so frustrated.
http://scj6771.smugmug.com/gallery/3813569/3/220244121

For the price I paid for this camera I thought I would have gotten better results. I only use the "automatic" mode but have played around with the other settings a bit with the same frustrating results. Any thoughts?

[mwfanelli2]

I realize that my eyes are not what they used to be but I see no problems with either of the photos you point to. I looked at the others and only one seems blurry. That one is your fault: your shutter speed was too slow.

Could you elaborate on the specific problems you are seeing?

[scj6771]

Perhaps you are correct, I do take some great shots, but it takes 50 bad shots to get that one good one, I guess that the beauty of digital.

Take this shot for example, I think at such close range it should be much clearer and more detailed. Or this one, I took 25 or so shots of this spider and this was the best I got and it is still blurry. Lets try this one here, I should be able to read the label on that pill bottle behind my son, not only is that blurry but my sons face is as well.

I wish I had the time to show you all the bad pics I have taken, most of which are to dark and with the flash they look to bright and the background is to dark.

I love taking pictures and just want the best shot every time. I really need to read up on some basic photography fundamentals. Thanks for your time.

[mwfanelli2]

Perhaps you are correct, I do take some great shots, but it takes 50 bad shots to get that one good one, I guess that the beauty of digital.

Take this shot for example, I think at such close range it should be much clearer and more detailed. Or this one, I took 25 or so shots of this spider and this was the best I got and it is still blurry. Lets try this one here, I should be able to read the label on that pill bottle behind my son, not only is that blurry but my sons face is as well.

I wish I had the time to show you all the bad pics I have taken, most of which are to dark and with the flash they look to bright and the background is to dark.

I love taking pictures and just want the best shot every time. I really need to read up on some basic photography fundamentals. Thanks for your time.

First, I should have mentioned this at the start: if you have a filter on the camera, remove it immediately.

OK, link #1: You used a slower shutter speed and the people behind the boy are moving. That creates a blur. Also, are you familiar with the difference between "blurry" and "soft"? Try boosting the built-in sharpenimg a bit in your camera or post-process the image.

Link #2: Your focus is way off and it appears that you have some camera shake. Does this camera have image stabilization? If so, make sure it is turned on. Also, check the shutter speed to make sure you are not trying to hand-hold the camera at too slow of a speed.

Link #3: I just quickly sharpened the image and it improved nicely. But, I see reflections and glare. This could be a filter or stray light bouncing around or light hitting your boy directly. Again, I think you are trying to use too slow of a shutter speed but your EXIF data is not there so I can't tell.

A common feature seems to be too slow of a shutter speed. Trying setting the ISO to a higher value when shooting indoors and see if that makes things better. Or, if the camera has manual settings, but the camera in shutter priority mode and choose 1/250 sec or faster and try that.

As for flash, your tiny flash can't light up the room. You will get the main subject exposed properly and the backgound dark. There is a way to work around this sometimes but I'll leave that to a flash expert to answer.

Bottom line, I really don't think that there is anything wrong with the camera! Try the things I've mentioned and get back to us with more examples. By the way, no one in the world gets the best shot every time.