long exposure shots

[orkneycam]

i have an olympus sp810uz which restricts me trying long exposure shots ( waterfalls ) in particular,does anyone have any idea's on getting these blurred waterfall shots ? i dont have much access to changing shutter etc,as the camera is a compact,but im using it as a starter camera,thanks.marc.

[FrankMi]

Hi Marc, that camera should be able to go down to 1/2 second and as low as 4 seconds in Night Mode. Although not a super long shutter speed, 1/2 second should be slow enough to get some blur to the moving water. I'm not sure if you can a decent daylight image of a waterfall in Night Mode but it might be worth a try.

[herbert]

Hi Marc,

You have limited options with your camera if you cannot fix many settings. Ideally you want to have a long exposure time. Here are some things you could try.

You should set the ISO to the lowest value. Then use a landscape mode. The camera will respond by using a small aperture to get a large depth of field. To maintain the correct exposure level the combination of low ISO and small aperture will have the effect of increasing the exposure time.

If you have some highlight room in your scene then you could use positive exposure compensation. This will make the camera overexpose the scene with a longer exposure time. However be careful not to make pixels go white as you will never recover the image detail.

If you have a tripod then you can take many exposures and then use software to create an average image. However you must be careful not to move the camera. A remote shutter release would help but may not be available. The best alternative is to use the 2 second timer on the shutter to take the photo after the camera has stopped shaking from your touch. Note if the camera moves the images can be aligned using software but it will work best if the camera has not moved very much.

Long exposures are often taking using neutral density filters. These let only a small amount of light through to the camera. You could simulate this by using some dark translucent material over your lens. You will get colour shifts if your translucent material does not allow all light to pass equally. However this could be a creative opportunity.

Hope this helps.

Alex

[orkneycam]

i took some shots at the weekend which had a bit of blur in it,would a filter be of any help to this type of camera ? its just a training camera for the time being,then will move on to a SLR once i feel i can get better shots,i dont get much freedom of changing the settings with the olympus,will try the tips out you guy's have gave me,thank you.marc

[Donald]

........,would a filter be of any help to this type of camera ? i

Given that your goal is to probably move to a DSLR and keep this one as a walkabout/carry-all camera, I would suggest that it wasn't worth investing in accessories for it, even if it could take filters (which I'm not sure that it can).

Like I said in my reply to your introduction in the 'New Member ... ' thread, this one will enable you to take great images, it's just that some of the options that a DSLR gives are not open to you with this one. But that doesn't make it a 'bad' camera. In fact, the reviews are pretty impressive.

[jcuknz]

Most cameras are capable of using filters if you are prepared to attach the filter with cello tape. buying a filter that's diameter matches the diameter of the lens barrel. The only danger here is that in 'review' mode the lens may disappear into the camera body so make sure the cello tape doesn't foul up the works. [When you zoom back to wide angle and that snout disappears into the camera body ???]

I'm sure if you search the www.SRB-griturn.com site [ since you are in the UK and mail order is your source?] you will find a strong Neutral Density filter to meet your needs. Get the strongest one you can. You camera permits you to make 4 second shots if you can reduce the amount of light entering the camera with the ND filter .. this will be plenty long enough to turn 'water into milk' though often the best results are taken towards evening rather than bright sunlight ...I can envisage some lovely results of the sea and rocks around your islands.

Having used bridge cameras with no inclination towards getting a DSLR I can see this camera meeting your needs for quite awhile when you work out how to use it to its fullest potential with the minimum of accessories. Perhaps a moderate CU lens to enable you to use the long zoom to achieve tight framings is my most used accessory.

[Tringa]

If you want to try a very cheap option, Marc, try some welding glass. A piece about 50/60mm square can be bought for about £2/£3 on Ebay.

There are some drawbacks/potential drawbacks -

as it is intended for use in welding masks or goggles it lets in virtually no light and it could be that you will not find a setting on your camera which lets in enough light,

it is a very deep green colour so you would need to manually set the white balance on the camera to get a decent photo,

there may be imperfections with the glass which could show in photos and you'd need to fix in PP, and

you would need to find a way of attaching to you camera. I think it is fairly easy to cut but it is a good bit thicker than filters and jcuknz makes a good point about the lens retracting.

However, for a few £s it could be worth a try.

Dave

[orkneycam]

thanks for all the comments and tips,this is a very good site,im glad i joined.