Getting Frustrated....

cruiserlan2000 · 12-29-2006, 08:22 PM

got my K100D and just had the time to play with it. when i format my SD card the screen will show "FORMATTING" then after about 1 second my screen will turn blank. it didn't even show FORMAT done or something. is this common. on another issue when i tried to take a picture of my flowers in the flower vase, the icon on the info screen will show as focus but when i preview the picture of the flower i took it look blurry yet everything is saying as focus including the eyepice. i am trying to focus @ about 1 foot and i am using the 18-55 kit @ auto pic and 35mm (just an experiment for me). any idea why? am i doing something weird here. pardon my ignorance as this is my first DSLR (although i had experience with Pentax MX but that was about 25 years or so ago) now i am trying to convince myself if i did the right move in going from P&S to DSLR. as you know i had the PANASONIC FZ7 the same time i had my K100D and with the PANA it's all automatic with 400+mm focal lenght. guess i am getting too old for the SLR thing. just getting frustrated at an early time.

thanks a lot for the input and may you all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR.......
cruiserlan2000

SpecialK · 12-29-2006, 08:56 PM

When fornatting a card, the screen says "formatting", and the orange "card busy" lihgt will be on for about a second or two. Both turn off when done. Done :-)

For your focus problem...what is the shutter speed you are using? Is anything in focus? Do other images father away focus correctly?

cruiserlan2000 · 12-29-2006, 10:25 PM

specialk - so it's normal for the screen to turn blank. everything is blurry. but when i looked at the optical viewfinder they're all focused yet as soon as i took picture and look at the monitor it's blurry. i had my SR on though. and i noticed that the shutter seems to be moving slow. i don't have my flash on. what do you think. thanks in advance....

cruiserlan2000

-=JoN=- · 12-29-2006, 10:28 PM

post up a picture, so we can see what the EXIF shows.

if you have slow shutter speed, regardless of what you see in the finder, it's gonna be blurry (even w/ SR on..it can only compensate for so much)...

cruiserlan2000 · 12-29-2006, 10:38 PM

Jon/specialk - i will try to post a pic. just give me time as i am a newbie here. need to do some navigation....

thakns again,
cruiserlan2000

Alvin · 12-29-2006, 11:22 PM

Cruiser - I'd like to see the shot too. Were you indoors?

Izzy · 12-30-2006, 06:00 AM

Originally posted by cruiserlan2000

on another issue when i tried to take a picture of my flowers in the flower vase, the icon on the info screen will show as focus but when i preview the picture of the flower i took it look blurry yet everything is saying as focus including the eyepiece. i am trying to focus @ about 1 foot and i am using the 18-55 kit @ auto pic and 35mm (just an experiment for me). any idea why?

Here is my non-scientific answer. It gets confused. I've had the same thing happen both directions. It'll give me a go when I can clearly see through the view finder that the photo is fuzzy. It will refuse to let me take the shot when I can see it's perfectly fine. I think the problem is the auto pic mode. I use it quite a lot out in bright natural sun light. It seems to crumble inside. Remember, auto pic is trying to think for you & pick between a landscape shot, portrait, macro etc.

Please try shooting your vase in the P mode. Your FZ has such a mode. It's also an auto mode, but isn't trying to make decision and adjustments based on how far out your lens is extended. (try to pic a "scene" for the shot).

Hang tough - the camera rocks! Time is on your side. The FZ7 is a sweet little camera, but after a few months with the K100D I dare someone to try and pry it out of my little hands

JCSullivan · 12-30-2006, 06:11 AM

I'll venture a guess - is the diopter focused correctly?

**NaClH2O** · 12-30-2006, 06:18 AM

Originally posted by cruiserlan2000

got my K100D and just had the time to play with it. when i format my SD card the screen will show "FORMATTING" then after about 1 second my screen will turn blank. it didn't even show FORMAT done or something. is this common. on another issue when i tried to take a picture of my flowers in the flower vase, the icon on the info screen will show as focus but when i preview the picture of the flower i took it look blurry yet everything is saying as focus including the eyepice. i am trying to focus @ about 1 foot and i am using the 18-55 kit @ auto pic and 35mm (just an experiment for me). any idea why? am i doing something weird here. pardon my ignorance as this is my first DSLR (although i had experience with Pentax MX but that was about 25 years or so ago) now i am trying to convince myself if i did the right move in going from P&S to DSLR. as you know i had the PANASONIC FZ7 the same time i had my K100D and with the PANA it's all automatic with 400+mm focal lenght. guess i am getting too old for the SLR thing. just getting frustrated at an early time.

thanks a lot for the input and may you all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR.......
cruiserlan2000

When I first got my DS I was having some of the same problems (not exactly the same, but frustration over OOF picts, blurred shots etc) Someone then suggested I use the P mode until I had gotten more used to the camera. Worked for me. I used P mode almost exclusively for almost 2 months, experimenting with all the other modes when I had the time and realizing that they were just that, experiments. For anything that mattered to me I used P mode. I learned a lot in that time, and now comfortably shoot in P, Av (most of the time) Tv, and M modes, and am generally satisfied with my results. Stick with it, there is a learning curve, but it's not a particularily steep one, you'll be amazed at how quickly the good shots will come.

NaCl(I didn't get it a souffle to rise the first time I tried either)H2O

slip · 12-30-2006, 10:06 AM

Originally posted by JCSullivan

I'll venture a guess - is the diopter focused correctly?

that is what I am thinking as well

dave sz · 12-30-2006, 10:26 AM

I'll 3rd that statement. On the k100d I had the diopeter set all the way to the right, and everything looked fine to me but pics were blurry. Put it back one click to the left, and it's working much better now...

-=JoN=- · 12-30-2006, 11:05 AM

if he's using AF tho..wouldnt the diopter adjustments be a moot point?

it would not affect the af....doesnt it?

cruiserlan2000 · 12-30-2006, 12:53 PM

ok. i still need to learn how to post pic here. since my file was so big i can;t upload it. maybe someone can educate me. anyway i thank you all for the nice comments. great to have this forum and great to have some experts teach the newbie like me. here's what my settings are: it is an indoor and nightime shot. i had it @ AUTO PIC, 35mm focal lenght, no flash, diopter is set (it was the first thing i fixed). i checked viewfinder and heard the clicking sound so it's focus, hit the shutter release and wallahhhh the picture is blurred as in everything on the pic is blurry. haven't tried the P setting yet. i will try tonight and see how it's working. i hope it's just a user error.

cruiserlan2000

chedoy · 12-31-2006, 10:37 AM

Originally posted by cruiserlan2000

an indoor and nightime shot. i had it @ AUTO PIC, 35mm focal lenght, no flash, diopter is set (it was the first thing i fixed). i checked viewfinder and heard the clicking sound so it's focus, hit the shutter release and wallahhhh the picture is blurred as in everything on the pic is blurry.

My money is bet that you had a long exposure time and no tripod, so you're looking at motion blur. What value did the top LCD display show for Tv? Try it with the flash up.

The rule of thumb was that shutter speed should be 1/(focal length). In your case, that means 1/35 second or faster. Your exposure will be 1/Tv. If you go out to a 200mm lens, for extra margin, people like to use 1/(2x focal length). Of course, the SR helps mitigate this rule a lot, but not if your exposures approach .5 seconds.

Use a photo program to resize your images under 800 pixels and you should be able to attach them.

P.S. When did shutter speed get changed to Tv anyway. Why wasn't I informed?

cruiserlan2000 · 01-01-2007, 12:30 PM

here's the url for the flower blurry pic i mentioned. sorry as i have to use flickr since i can't figure out how to load a big file here....

Flickr: Photos from vmaniqui

thanks,
cruiserlan2000

12-29-2006, 08:22 PM	#1
cruiserlan2000 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Hercules, CA Posts: 63	Getting Frustrated.... got my K100D and just had the time to play with it. when i format my SD card the screen will show "FORMATTING" then after about 1 second my screen will turn blank. it didn't even show FORMAT done or something. is this common. on another issue when i tried to take a picture of my flowers in the flower vase, the icon on the info screen will show as focus but when i preview the picture of the flower i took it look blurry yet everything is saying as focus including the eyepice. i am trying to focus @ about 1 foot and i am using the 18-55 kit @ auto pic and 35mm (just an experiment for me). any idea why? am i doing something weird here. pardon my ignorance as this is my first DSLR (although i had experience with Pentax MX but that was about 25 years or so ago) now i am trying to convince myself if i did the right move in going from P&S to DSLR. as you know i had the PANASONIC FZ7 the same time i had my K100D and with the PANA it's all automatic with 400+mm focal lenght. guess i am getting too old for the SLR thing. just getting frustrated at an early time. thanks a lot for the input and may you all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR....... cruiserlan2000

12-30-2006, 06:18 AM	#9
NaClH2O Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bronx NY Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,631	Echoes Izzy Originally posted by cruiserlan2000 got my K100D and just had the time to play with it. when i format my SD card the screen will show "FORMATTING" then after about 1 second my screen will turn blank. it didn't even show FORMAT done or something. is this common. on another issue when i tried to take a picture of my flowers in the flower vase, the icon on the info screen will show as focus but when i preview the picture of the flower i took it look blurry yet everything is saying as focus including the eyepice. i am trying to focus @ about 1 foot and i am using the 18-55 kit @ auto pic and 35mm (just an experiment for me). any idea why? am i doing something weird here. pardon my ignorance as this is my first DSLR (although i had experience with Pentax MX but that was about 25 years or so ago) now i am trying to convince myself if i did the right move in going from P&S to DSLR. as you know i had the PANASONIC FZ7 the same time i had my K100D and with the PANA it's all automatic with 400+mm focal lenght. guess i am getting too old for the SLR thing. just getting frustrated at an early time. thanks a lot for the input and may you all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR....... cruiserlan2000 When I first got my DS I was having some of the same problems (not exactly the same, but frustration over OOF picts, blurred shots etc) Someone then suggested I use the P mode until I had gotten more used to the camera. Worked for me. I used P mode almost exclusively for almost 2 months, experimenting with all the other modes when I had the time and realizing that they were just that, experiments. For anything that mattered to me I used P mode. I learned a lot in that time, and now comfortably shoot in P, Av (most of the time) Tv, and M modes, and am generally satisfied with my results. Stick with it, there is a learning curve, but it's not a particularily steep one, you'll be amazed at how quickly the good shots will come. NaCl(I didn't get it a souffle to rise the first time I tried either)H2O

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12-29-2006, 08:56 PM	#2
SpecialK Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: So California Photos: Gallery Posts: 16,480	When fornatting a card, the screen says "formatting", and the orange "card busy" lihgt will be on for about a second or two. Both turn off when done. Done :-) For your focus problem...what is the shutter speed you are using? Is anything in focus? Do other images father away focus correctly?

12-29-2006, 10:25 PM	#3
cruiserlan2000 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Hercules, CA Posts: 63 Original Poster	specialk - so it's normal for the screen to turn blank. everything is blurry. but when i looked at the optical viewfinder they're all focused yet as soon as i took picture and look at the monitor it's blurry. i had my SR on though. and i noticed that the shutter seems to be moving slow. i don't have my flash on. what do you think. thanks in advance.... cruiserlan2000

12-29-2006, 10:28 PM	#4
-=JoN=- Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 999	post up a picture, so we can see what the EXIF shows. if you have slow shutter speed, regardless of what you see in the finder, it's gonna be blurry (even w/ SR on..it can only compensate for so much)...

12-29-2006, 10:38 PM	#5
cruiserlan2000 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Hercules, CA Posts: 63 Original Poster	Jon/specialk - i will try to post a pic. just give me time as i am a newbie here. need to do some navigation.... thakns again, cruiserlan2000

12-29-2006, 11:22 PM	#6
Alvin Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,517	Cruiser - I'd like to see the shot too. Were you indoors?

12-30-2006, 06:00 AM	#7
Izzy Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Kansas Posts: 112	Originally posted by cruiserlan2000 on another issue when i tried to take a picture of my flowers in the flower vase, the icon on the info screen will show as focus but when i preview the picture of the flower i took it look blurry yet everything is saying as focus including the eyepiece. i am trying to focus @ about 1 foot and i am using the 18-55 kit @ auto pic and 35mm (just an experiment for me). any idea why? Here is my non-scientific answer. It gets confused. I've had the same thing happen both directions. It'll give me a go when I can clearly see through the view finder that the photo is fuzzy. It will refuse to let me take the shot when I can see it's perfectly fine. I think the problem is the auto pic mode. I use it quite a lot out in bright natural sun light. It seems to crumble inside. Remember, auto pic is trying to think for you & pick between a landscape shot, portrait, macro etc. Please try shooting your vase in the P mode. Your FZ has such a mode. It's also an auto mode, but isn't trying to make decision and adjustments based on how far out your lens is extended. (try to pic a "scene" for the shot). Hang tough - the camera rocks! Time is on your side. The FZ7 is a sweet little camera, but after a few months with the K100D I dare someone to try and pry it out of my little hands

12-30-2006, 06:11 AM	#8
JCSullivan Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Windsor, Canada Posts: 3,056	I'll venture a guess - is the diopter focused correctly?

12-30-2006, 10:06 AM	#10
slip Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: 2 hours north of toronto ontario canada Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,535	Originally posted by JCSullivan I'll venture a guess - is the diopter focused correctly? that is what I am thinking as well

12-30-2006, 10:26 AM	#11
dave sz Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: carpentersville, IL Posts: 693	I'll 3rd that statement. On the k100d I had the diopeter set all the way to the right, and everything looked fine to me but pics were blurry. Put it back one click to the left, and it's working much better now...

12-30-2006, 11:05 AM	#12
-=JoN=- Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 999	if he's using AF tho..wouldnt the diopter adjustments be a moot point? it would not affect the af....doesnt it?

12-30-2006, 12:53 PM	#13
cruiserlan2000 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Hercules, CA Posts: 63 Original Poster	ok. i still need to learn how to post pic here. since my file was so big i can;t upload it. maybe someone can educate me. anyway i thank you all for the nice comments. great to have this forum and great to have some experts teach the newbie like me. here's what my settings are: it is an indoor and nightime shot. i had it @ AUTO PIC, 35mm focal lenght, no flash, diopter is set (it was the first thing i fixed). i checked viewfinder and heard the clicking sound so it's focus, hit the shutter release and wallahhhh the picture is blurred as in everything on the pic is blurry. haven't tried the P setting yet. i will try tonight and see how it's working. i hope it's just a user error. cruiserlan2000

12-31-2006, 10:37 AM	#14
chedoy Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 143	Originally posted by cruiserlan2000 an indoor and nightime shot. i had it @ AUTO PIC, 35mm focal lenght, no flash, diopter is set (it was the first thing i fixed). i checked viewfinder and heard the clicking sound so it's focus, hit the shutter release and wallahhhh the picture is blurred as in everything on the pic is blurry. My money is bet that you had a long exposure time and no tripod, so you're looking at motion blur. What value did the top LCD display show for Tv? Try it with the flash up. The rule of thumb was that shutter speed should be 1/(focal length). In your case, that means 1/35 second or faster. Your exposure will be 1/Tv. If you go out to a 200mm lens, for extra margin, people like to use 1/(2x focal length). Of course, the SR helps mitigate this rule a lot, but not if your exposures approach .5 seconds. Use a photo program to resize your images under 800 pixels and you should be able to attach them. P.S. When did shutter speed get changed to Tv anyway. Why wasn't I informed?

01-01-2007, 12:30 PM	#15
cruiserlan2000 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Hercules, CA Posts: 63 Original Poster	here's the url for the flower blurry pic i mentioned. sorry as i have to use flickr since i can't figure out how to load a big file here.... Flickr: Photos from vmaniqui thanks, cruiserlan2000