olympus c-5060 - help please!

[mary]

I recently upgraded from an Olympus C-4040 to a C-5060. I am not a professional photographer and have plenty to learn but I do take outdoor evening music festival photos for some websites. I was getting very nice photos from the C-4040. Almost all of my night time photos I recently took of a live performance with the 5060 turned out unusable. The 4040 had a very good 'auto' setting where my night shots turned out fine. I can't seem to figure out what is the appropriate 'auto' feature to use with the C-5060 for night photos (I did try using the pre-set nightime setting that is on the camera but they still didn't look as good as the 4040's). Any suggestions and helpful hints would be greatly appreciated.

[Photo-John]

Can you post some sample images so we can see what went wrong?

Generally, a "Night" setting is for working with slow shutter speeds, on a tripod. I'm guessing there's a lot of motion blur and camera shake in your photos. I think you should probably be using the P (Progam) mode.

Post some images so I know more. We can definitely help you with this.

[Maury of Lowepro]

You lost a stop of lens speed (more at longer focal lengths) going to the 5060 from the 4040. That alone makes a bit of difference.

Try increasing you ISO setting to 400.

[mary]

thanks for your response regarding my question on the olympus c-5060. i will post a few photos this weekend.

i am happy to have found this site!

[mary]

John, attached are samples of my recent night time photos with the C-5060. Many of the photos I took that evening I dumped right away--they were way too dark. I believe the following photos may have been taken using the nighttime auto setting. I will be attending an outdoor festival this coming weekend which will have similar lighting conditions as in these photos. I appreciate any input you can offer.

[mary]

and, here's an example of how several photos turned out too dark...