Joanne Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 (edited) I'm no photographer. Just throwing that out there. I have a Panasonic DMC-LZ20 and I take photos of children who have got 'Star of the week'. I have an issue where it has the children on the front row in focus, but goes out of focus on the second row. I have it set to Auto for all the stuffs. Before Christmas there was an awful debacle where the local football team mascot came in and all the photos I took were out of focus. I was devastated. The camera lens is clean... could it just be that the camera is poops? edit: see pic here http://www.cherryfold.lancs.sch.uk/stars-of-the-week Edited January 16, 2015 by Joanne
bossman Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 (edited) @Joanne: It seems to me that the depth of field settings are not set right which makes the background soft and blurry, having said that I have not got a clue as to how you would alter it, maybe a search through the manual may help, Good luck Have a read through this it may help http://www.macworld.com/article/1150150/depthoffield.html Edited January 16, 2015 by bossman 1
Abaddon Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 You need to go manual, set focus to area, and take it out to at least f8 I would have thought. On auto, most cameras will try and get the best shot of what you are focussed on - to the exclusion of all else. The only thing that will be in focus will be anything that is in the same focal plane.
Qwedsa182 Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Hi Joanne try setting you aperture or "f" setting higher. hope this helps
Seb1780 Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 If you're taking pictures in Portrait mode the camera will often try to soften the background because this looks good for a portrait. Low light conditions will enhance this effect. Try taking the pictures using landscape mode which will make the camera get the best depth of field and have more of the picture in focus. 1
Qwedsa182 Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 You need to go manual, set focus to area, and take it out to at least f8 I would have thought. On auto, most cameras will try and get the best shot of what you are focussed on - to the exclusion of all else. The only thing that will be in focus will be anything that is in the same focal plane. ^ spot on, sorry didn't see the post before posting
Joanne Posted January 16, 2015 Author Posted January 16, 2015 Thanks for that, it's help me to understand what is wrong. I've adjusted the auto focus setting (I think) and I'll have to experiment later. Kids are doing skateboarding in the hall all day, so will be taking pictures!
Joanne Posted January 16, 2015 Author Posted January 16, 2015 If you're taking pictures in Portrait mode the camera will often try to soften the background because this looks good for a portrait. Low light conditions will enhance this effect. Try taking the pictures using landscape mode which will make the camera get the best depth of field and have more of the picture in focus. I'll try this in future. This camera has a manual function, but it is manual EXPOSURE nothing else. Silly camera.
Joanne Posted January 16, 2015 Author Posted January 16, 2015 Can you change the focus mode on Auto? Options are: Face detection AF Tracking 9-Area 1-Area Spot Think the face detection might be best for capturing faces!
eyetea Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Options are: Face detection AF Tracking 9-Area 1-Area Spot Think the face detection might be best for capturing faces! What's it on at the mo? I'd try with 9-area first and see what it turns out like (I don't know too much about photography, let alone modern camera stuff! Did my a-level in a dark room )
Seb1780 Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 I'll try this in future. This camera has a manual function, but it is manual EXPOSURE nothing else. Silly camera. See page 25 in the owners manual http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/DMCLZ20_ADV.PDF
Joanne Posted January 16, 2015 Author Posted January 16, 2015 See page 25 in the owners manual http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/DMCLZ20_ADV.PDF Are you telling me to RTFM?
gpjt Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Hi Joanne, What's probably crucial for you is understanding what the various modes on the camera will do. For example if the camera has a sports mode (normally represented by a sportsman running icon) this setting would be ideal for the skateboarding session. Have a look at this and it should make more sense: http://media.digitalcameraworld.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/123/2012/05/Canon_vs_Nikon_shooting_modes_cheat_sheet.jpg Quick tip: Also consider your composition for example being at the same height as your subjects and removing dead space from the sides and top will give you a much better image. The more you understand the settings on the camera the more likely you will achieve the results you want. I'd also recommend having the flash off and maximising the modes available on the camera. Just out of interest does the camera have any focus setting you can adjust? 1
gpjt Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 (edited) Options are: Face detection AF Tracking 9-Area 1-Area Spot Think the face detection might be best for capturing faces! 9 area is the one you need because your trying to get lots of area in focus. The camera will struggle to get lots of faces in focus. Face detection is fine for one student. Edited January 16, 2015 by gpjt
Joanne Posted January 16, 2015 Author Posted January 16, 2015 Yeah I've read the manual now and have set it on P for program. I have set the focus to 9 square. I'll use this for the certificate / still pictures and I will have it on sports mode for the skateboarding. Can't wait to have a go... knowing my luck I'll mess up my head for when I snowboard tonight though!!!!!!!!!
sonofsanta Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 If you're taking pictures in Portrait mode the camera will often try to soften the background because this looks good for a portrait. Low light conditions will enhance this effect. Try taking the pictures using landscape mode which will make the camera get the best depth of field and have more of the picture in focus. Took the words out of my mouth. This is the quick fix to use while you learn what's actually going on Technical explanation & caveat: landscape mode tells the camera to use a smaller aperture (which, confusingly, is a higher number, like f/22) to keep more of the shot in focus. Portrait, conversely, tells the camea to use a wider aperture (e.g. f/2.2) which is what's giving you that really short depth of field and blurring the background - because that's exactly the effect you want when taking a portrait of a single person. But because landscape is forcing that smaller aperture, less light gets in, SO your exposure time goes up to compensate which means you need to take more care with camera shake. You'll be absolutely fine outside, but even in a well-lit sports hall, you'd be surprised how dark that actually is to a camera because your eyes will have adjusted to the lower light. TL;DR: If you're in landscape, try taking photos with and without flash, and trying to rest the camera on/against something to steady yourself.
Joanne Posted January 16, 2015 Author Posted January 16, 2015 Also subjects have a horrendous habit of MOVING (how dare they)... so most of the time, no flash option isn't good enough. There's always one...
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