Using Sony DSC-W120 - Was: Any thoughts?

[vic622]

Yesterday, I took some shots of a new addition to my tank and this is the best image I was able to come up with.

One thing I couldn't capture, is the little tufts on the first 6-8 dorsal spines. He also has a pair of these tufts on his snout, just below his eyes.

I'm using a Sony Cybershot DSC-W120 7.2 megapixels & I'm still experimenting on the best combination of settings. This photo was taken on program with ASA 100, macro, spot metering, low flash level, spot auto-focus, +0.3EV (underexposure), outdoor white balance, vivid color mode.

Still, I needed to crop, push the color saturation & temperature to get the shot I've posted - the only one that came close to working out of 12 or so I took.

Should I try using the tripod & the 0.5m (1.7ft) preset focal length & a tape measure (or a string) to get the right distance?
This image was the sharpest of the batch, but it still seems to not be crisp. Does it look like its outside the depth of field, or is it camera shake?
Without knowing the f-stop, can I figure out the depth of field?

Any suggestions?

[sphelps]

Your aperture was 5.8 and your exposure time was 1/50. You shot in program auto, I would suggest shooting in aperture priority. The biggest problem with the picture is the flash, typically you should avoid using a flash with the style of camera you're using. You also want to use a manual white balance setting.

• Adjust WB to preset manual
• shoot in aperture priority with the highest f number while still maintaining a fast enough shutter speed to prevent hand shake and motion blur.
• Flash off
• You can bump up the iso a little and adjust the exposure compensation a little in the negative to get a faster shoot while maintaining DOF.

[vic622]

Originally Posted by sphelps

Your aperture was 5.8

This comes from the f2.8-5.8 shown on the lens?

... and your exposure time was 1/50.

Okay, you got me here. How do I figure out the shutter speed on this puppy?

...You shot in program auto, I would suggest shooting in aperture priority. The biggest problem with the picture is the flash, typically you should avoid using a flash with the style of camera you're using. You also want to use a manual white balance setting.

• Adjust WB to preset manual
• shoot in aperture priority with the highest f number while still maintaining a fast enough shutter speed to prevent hand shake and motion blur.
• Flash off
• You can bump up the iso a little and adjust the exposure compensation a little in the negative to get a faster shoot while maintaining DOF.

I can't seem to find an (obvious) Shutter/Aperture Priority choice on this model - is there a mode setting that is called something different by Sony?

If I don't use the flash, do I still want to the smallest ASA/ISO possible to maximize my DOF?

WB camera options:

• auto
• daylight
• cloudy
• Flourescent Light 1 white
• FL 2 natural white
• FL 3 day white
• Incandescent
• flash

Do I want to chose one that matches the lighting or just experiment?

I sure miss having a decent SLR with properly named & easy to decipher settings

[sphelps]

You may not be able to do everything I listed with that camera, you'll have to check the manual but a couple tips that might help:

• DOF is related to aperture not iso, iso is image sensor sensitivity and if lighting conditions are not very bright you can bump up the iso setting to brighten the image, but be careful too much will result in a grainy picture.
• If you can't shoot in aperture priority then try using an action setting which will give you a faster shutter speed.
• If you can't use a manual WB setting then auto is probably your best bet, you can adjust it after with software. Experimenting would be best.
• Best results will come from using minimal zoom, do not zoom in unless you have to. Less zoom will give you more light (higher f number) resulting in a faster shutter speed and sharper picture as well as a greater DOF.

[vic622]

Originally Posted by sphelps

You may not be able to do everything I listed with that camera, you'll have to check the manual

That's one of the problems. The "manual" is 38 pages & doesn't even list all of the settings, so I'm trying to figure out how one setting affects the others.

... but a couple tips that might help:
DOF is related to aperture not iso, iso is image sensor sensitivity and if lighting conditions are not very bright you can bump up the iso setting to brighten the image, but be careful too much will result in a grainy picture.

Ooops, my mistake. I thought maybe the camera might be using a forced ISO change to effectively change the aperture - on reflection that kinda didn't make sense.

If you can't shoot in aperture priority then try using an action setting which will give you a faster shutter speed.

It doesn't really have either option. I'll have to do some experimenting to see what I can come up with.

If you can't use a manual WB setting then auto is probably your best bet, you can adjust it after with software. Experimenting would be best.

I think I'll try a few shots with each setting to see how they change the WB and then pick the one that's best, or that I can work with after.

Best results will come from using minimal zoom, do not zoom in unless you have to. Less zoom will give you more light (higher f number) resulting in a faster shutter speed and sharper picture as well as a greater DOF.

Hmmm, Zoom - I hadn't thought how that might affect the picture quality. It has 4x optical zoom and the some digital zoom.
How much difference is there between them?
Or should I skip both, if possible then use a crop on the recorded image?

BTW, I really appreciate your help,
Vic