My camera has almost no manual controls, apart from the flash, image quality etc. (Basic controls). It seems unable to focus and take clear photos in all but very well-lit conditions. In many lighting conditions, the photos will be blurry or grainy. This could possibly be solved by changing the ISO speed or the aperture size. Unfortunately, the only way to make the camera capture the photo faster is to turn on the flash, which has a good chance of screwing up the photo.
Notice in the picture below, it is extremely grainy when zoomed in. However, I took a picture of a piece of paper in the sun with the same camera (I don’t have the photo anymore, it was deleted), I could zoom in and see all the letters in perfect clarity.
Another problem I have noticed is the focus at close range. I don’t understand why, but when I try to take a photo very close up the camera will focus perfectly for a split second, and then the focus icon will turn red and indicate that it cannot focus. I have been told that manual focus will not solve this, but I am not sure that is true. I think that if I could change the focus manually, I could hold the focus at that ‘perfect’ spot, and take a very clear photo at close range.
The only kind of cameras that seem to have these controls are the advanced compact cameras ($250+) or the DSLR cameras ($500+). I find that very unfortunate, because as far as I know Nikon can add manual controls with a software update. A good software could turn this basic camera into a great camera with lots of advanced controls that can make the photos look much better.
Some people that I have talked to about this say that people want the camera to be simple, and therefore the camera is designed to be able to take photos without changing any settings. This can be solved by incorporating something like “Easy mode” and “Advanced mode”. Easy mode would have the very basic functions, and Advanced mode would hold many advanced controls for those who know how to use them. This compromise will make everyone happy, the ones who want it simple, and the ones who want better controls.
If they modified the software on these cameras to have advanced controls, they would be selling an $89 camera that has the features of a $300 camera. Would people still buy it? I certainly would. I would love to have an inexpensive camera that allowed me to set the ISO speed and the focus, instead of the camera doing it for me and getting it wrong.
The camera is capable hardware-wise of taking great photos, but is held back by the software.
This post is getting a bit long, and I am starting to ramble on about this. And though I am quite sure nobody really reads this, if someone does, please tell me your opinion on this.
1 comment
canon ink
November 25, 2011 at 10:44 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Most cheap cameras really has no advanced functions as it is marketed towards users who know little of adjusting settings, but more expensive and top of the line point and shoots has lots of settings to be adjusted just like a DSLR