S6500fd owners - share your pixs here

[liionel]

hi all, so i got my camera today.

abit confused! how come some shots i take and it becomes pitch black ? and the lcd is rather grainy/noisy when its dark at night or when you hover over something black.

is it normal ?

is it because for the shots that become black i need to up the shutter speed? or do i just up the iso ? please enlighten!

 

[thesleepingforest]

hmmm wat mode are u shooting in?? hmmm for me i usually shoot in manual so on the bottom right theres a indicator to see whether your shot's exposure is +/- i believe u took ur shot underexposed...maybe try to use aperture priority mode or shuttlespeed priority mode and adjust one value and let the camera balance out the other?? try reading thru the manual as it helps u to understand the camera more

enjoy ur camera

 

[liionel]

hmmm wat mode are u shooting in?? hmmm for me i usually shoot in manual so on the bottom right theres a indicator to see whether your shot's exposure is +/- i believe u took ur shot underexposed...maybe try to use aperture priority mode or shuttlespeed priority mode and adjust one value and let the camera balance out the other?? try reading thru the manual as it helps u to understand the camera more

enjoy ur camera

i see. then how about the lcd quality ? its very noisy when i use it in the dark! only when i half press the shutter then it focuses and becomes clear. but once i let go it becomes v noisy and grainy again.

 

[Clockunder]

i see. then how about the lcd quality ? its very noisy when i use it in the dark! only when i half press the shutter then it focuses and becomes clear. but once i let go it becomes v noisy and grainy again.

It's normal.

BTW, to get the right exposure, you need to learn about the 3-way relationship between ISO, aperture and shutter speed. Do lots of reading in the internet regarding basic photography (techniques, technicals as well as composition) and your practical will be more fruitful by testing out the concepts learned.

Learn about manual and semi-auto modes like shutter priority and aperture priority modes. In auto or semi-auto modes, the camera decides the exposure by using some in-camera algorithm and you may adjust the exposure through exposure compensation. In manual mode, you set your own exposure by looking at the meter in your viewfinder/LCD.

I have lots of links in my bookmark and here are a couple of useful ones for beginners (Do a google search and you will find tons of useful websites) :

http://www.dpchallenge.com/tutorial.php?TUTORIAL_ID=45

http://www.photoxels.com/digital-photography-tutorials.html

 

[vincecarlo]

liionel i can feel ur excitement after one whole week of waiting i finally got mine ydae!!! i got mine at causeway point's photo shop at 599 wif 2gb,tripod,bag,screen protector and usb card reader.

alright todae is the 2nd day of my camera so i brought it to a nearby park to test and fiddle ard to get to know it better...and so its virgin shots...i'm a noob pls dun diss mi!!

first try on the manual focusing nv compose the shot

I like this shot but would look better in landscape than portrait

where is this ?

 

[vincecarlo]

zoom in

zoom out

i :heart: my s6500fd :lovegrin:

Try these with a tripod, better effect

 

[thesleepingforest]

Try these with a tripod, better effect

thanks vince the landscape pic is at woodlands garden opposite marsiling mrt...the two effects pic were taken wif tripod exposure time is 1sec :bsmilie:

 

[liionel]

how come i cant focus when the camera is at full zoom ? pardon if im noob, i'm still new at this. been reading up on books, and i'm trying to learn how to take macro shots with a nice bokeh behind.

 

[thesleepingforest]

most probably the object not in focusing distance?? i'm not too sure let the pros answer u haha for mi i'll slowly zoom in till i can focus...still dunno how to take proper macro shots of insects which are like 1cm and such they're often too small in the photo i take as compare to others u see in the macro forum whereby they could compose the subject...is it because i need a close up filter??

 

[Clockunder]

how come i cant focus when the camera is at full zoom ? pardon if im noob, i'm still new at this. been reading up on books, and i'm trying to learn how to take macro shots with a nice bokeh behind.

If the outline of the subject is not distinctive (usually due to low light condition and/or similar colour with background), then the camera may not be able to determine the right focus.

Check also min. focusing distance. If I'm not wrong, minimum subject distance is 3 metres at full zoom.

At Macro mode, focus at full zoom : 90cm to 3m.

This S6500fd is quite poor for macro shots because the bokeh at longer focal length (i.e. full zoom) is nicer but the min. focus distance at macro mode is still a far away 90cm, meaning that you need to shoot at least 90cm away for a really small subject ...tiny flower or insect and the Depth of field is too large (inversely proportional to distance) and the field of view is too wide (includes too much messy background and things around).

At Super Macro mode, the wide angle is too short a focal length for nice smooth bokeh and the angle of view is too large.

 

[Clockunder]

most probably the object not in focusing distance?? i'm not too sure let the pros answer u haha for mi i'll slowly zoom in till i can focus...still dunno how to take proper macro shots of insects which are like 1cm and such they're often too small in the photo i take as compare to others u see in the macro forum whereby they could compose the subject...is it because i need a close up filter??

The magnification factor is too small for good macro shots.

If you use the tele end (66.7mm full zoom) at Macro mode, the min. focusing distance is 90cm. The magnification factor is therefore :

66.7/900 = 1/13.5

So a 1cm insect will become only 10mm /13.5 = 0.74mm on the 1/1.7" sensor (about 7.6mm x 5.8mm) on the S6500fd, far too small in the frame and too little details captured.

The best magnification is going as close as possible at Super Macro mode but it's too close a working distance for insects.

Yes, you will need a close-up lens added on to overcome the above short-coming for any decent Macro shots.

And no, I don't have any knowledge on any good suitable close-up add-on. (If you add too much accessories, you're going to have trouble selling off your camera when you upgrade. Most of the time, you will end up needing to prize the camera with the accessories given practically free since keeping them is also useless as your new camera will need different accessories.)

Raynox seems to be a popular brand : http://raynox.co.jp/english/egindex.htm

 

[liionel]

sharing my first few shots..
random shot in the morning

failed attempt at getting a soft background..

taken after it rained

loving my camera after each shot! still have loads to learn, but thats the fun of shooting! :heart:

 

[Clockunder]

Today had some fun shooting at Clark Quay.

Only resized down to 900 x 675 and applied very slight sharpening with Unsharp Mask filter : amount= 30%, radius= 1 pixel and threshold=0
6.3mm focal length (28mm equivalent on 35mm format)
Handheld at 1/13 (faster than 1/6.3mm focal length)
ISO 100
F/5.6 (to make sure there is sufficient DOF).
Manual exposure [to have full control over exposure and avoid hightlights blown out white which is
quite common if use auto or one of the semi-auto exposure (shutter or Aperture priority) modes and not careful with metering]

 

[Clockunder]

Also tested out the ISO 800 at Clark Quay.

focal length 6.2mm (28mm equivalent on 35mm format),
1/8 handheld
ISO 800 (just to get enough exposure at a shutter speed faster than 1/6.3mm focal length for handheld shots)
F/5.6 (just enough to get sufficient DOF)
Manual exposure

Such shots on stationary (i.e. non-moving) subjects sould easily be shot with a tripod using ISO 100 or ISO 200 with a very slow shutter speed (such as 1/2 or 1 second), thus avoiding the noise.

 

[Clockunder]

Some shots from Chinatown :

1) ISO 400 used because needed to get a fast enough shutter speed to avoid motion blur of those swaying lanterns (blown by the wind) hanging above the road. Handheld since the shutter speed 1/30 is fast enough for the focal length 25mm (about 112mm on 35mm format equivalent) used.

2) Tripod used. Turned the zoom during exposing. Needed numerous tries before getting the effect I had in mind.

3) One of the 12 Zodiac outside the Buddha Relic Tooth Temple.

4) Manual exposure. Handheld since shutter speed is fast enough 1/13 vs 6.2mm focal length. F/5.6 was used to ensure sufficient DOF.

5) ISO 400 was used to get a fast enough shutter speed to avoid swaying lanterns motion blur. Handheld since 1/20 is fast enough relative to focal length 6.2mm (28mm field of view on 35mm format equivalent). F/5.6 used to ensure sufficient DOF.

 

[erushi]

Recently moved to London, and have been taking pictures like mad with my S6500fd.

Here're some:

Pretty lampost!

National gallery tower.

Sunrise...

And sunset.

Thanks for viewing! ^^

 

[liionel]

anyone experience hot pixels with long exposure shots ? :|

 

[wiLLy-LucifeR]

it's a common phenomenum, especially for long exposures.

 

[bigwalabig]

Hi,

Thinking of gettin getting the s6500fd, but still undecided between this or the s8000.

Btw, what is the current market price of the 6500fd? what is your take on this camera.

looking for a prosumer camera without the hassle of changing any lenses and having the power of a dslr. my research tells me this is the best match?

thanks so much for your time!

 

[Clockunder]

Hi,

Thinking of gettin getting the s6500fd, but still undecided between this or the s8000.

Btw, what is the current market price of the 6500fd? what is your take on this camera.

looking for a prosumer camera without the hassle of changing any lenses and having the power of a dslr. my research tells me this is the best match?

thanks so much for your time!

S6500fd : 5th generation 1/1.7" Super CCD HR image sensor which makes pictures (jpeg .... i.e. after in-camera processing) at ISO 400 very little apparent noise, ISO 800 still ok and ISO 1600 still lookable. This is the main reason I got the S6500fd to replace my previous prosumer camera. Take a look at 2 of the 5 pictures I posted just a few posts earlier here for Mid-Autumn Festival at Chinatown. ISO 400 was needed because a faster shutter speed was desired to avoid motion blur. Having any optical image stabiliser is of no use in these cases.

If not for this good ISO performance with the Super CCD image sensor, I won't be even looking at Fujifilm. Current market price for S6500fd should be around $550 with 1GB H type x-D card (make sure you get the H-type which has faster write speed than the M and standard types), a cheapo UV filter and a small camera bag. Rechargeable batters and charger are bought separately.

S8000fd : Optical CCD shift image stabiliser. However, with tiny 1/2.5" Normal CCD sensor and noise at higher ISO is expected to be much more than what we have seen in the S6500fd and picture resolution of details is likely to be limited by the lens in some situations since the actual image on the tiny sensor is smaller than the one on S6500fd which has a larger sensor. It has 4.7mm-84.2mm actual focal length (27-486mm field of view on 35mm format) lens which has a longer reach than the 6.2mm-66.7mm (28-300mm)lens on the S6500fd. However, a very slow frame rate of 1.3 fps (vs. 2.3 fps for S6500fd) for continuous mode makes it quite unsuitable for fast sports actions.

If you know how to avoid handshake blur by having proper holding technique and the relationship between handshake blur and focal length, then you would find that optical image stabiliser has very limited use for a prosumer camera (which has very short actual focal length at the wdier end).

A prosumer camera doesn't have the resolution power of a DSLR and so this big difference becomes much more apparent when the subject is very far away. The changing of lens and camera maintenance is indeed a hassle for DSLR but the trade off is better image quality (especially at long focal length and/or high ISO), more versatility (can go very wide <28mm or very long >300mm) and much less shutter and focus lag (which are essential for fast sports actions) ........etc.