How to force shutter speed on Optio M60

Mathew · 06-04-2009, 04:18 AM

Is there a way to set the camera to use a shutter speed of my choosing? For example, taking pictures of the moon I wanted a speed of 1/300 sec; I tried taking the EV compensation to -2.0 (as far as it would go) but still the best I could get was 1/60 sec.

*VaughnA* · 06-04-2009, 01:58 PM

Why would you want to use a shutter speed of 1/300 on the moon? I doubt you could even get close to a good exposure with that shutter speed.

Mathew · 06-04-2009, 06:48 PM

The moon is bright. With a shutter speed of 1/60 second, for example, it just comes out as a white blob.

MJB DIGITAL · 06-04-2009, 10:33 PM

you have to shoot the moon just as if you were shooting an object lit by the sun.

.....the moon is another sun-lit object

Mathew · 06-05-2009, 01:04 AM

Here are some examples:

1/106 second, F5.6, ISO 6400, EVComp -2.0

Click on the image to view it in a larger size

1/82 second, F5.6, ISO 800, EVComp 0

Click on the image to view it in a larger size

1/63 second, F5.6, ISO 800, EVComp -2.0

Click on the image to view it in a larger size

Is there a scene mode that will give me better results? Or is there a way on the Optio M60 to set the shutter speed from the menu?

lyn · 06-12-2009, 05:08 PM

Unfortunately,m60 doesn't have manual mode. I don't think you are able to set shutter speed manually.
Try night scene or fireworks scene with a tripod.

Mathew · 07-04-2009, 05:37 AM

Night scene and fireworks scene will increase the exposure time (to 4.0 seconds in the case of fireworks scene). That's the opposite of what I want.

I did figure out how to do it, kind of. You have to set "AE Metering" to "spot" so that the software's assessment of the amount of light is based on just a single point in the centre of the image, rather than an average of the entire image. Set exposure compensation to -2.0. You can also tinker with manually setting the sensitivity and the white balance. Then, zoom in as far as it will go (with digital zoom enabled, preferably).

This method gives the results I was looking for, except that you can't show the moon at the same time as buildings or landscape features.

Here's an example:

1/485 second, F5.6, ISO 800, EVComp -2.0

Click on the image to view it in a larger size