How can I get clearer pictures on the no-flash setting on my digital camera?

Question

I was recently at an event that was in a dimly-lit hall, and I took pictures with my Sony DSC-T10 digital camera. The pictures come out better when taken with no flash, but only if the camera is held extremely steadily. How can I make pics come out clearer on the no-flash setting? It's pretty hard to keep the camera steady, so there is always some blurriness. Would a faster shutter speed work? Or, is there any way to improve this on the Sony digital cameras?

Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

get a tripod.
Any image taken at less than 1/30 of a sec will probably turn out blurry without one. That happens in low light situations.
Can you set your camera to a different ISO? If so try a higher one, however higher ISO (altho more light sensitive) will usually create noise in your image.
If you have the time you might want to take a photography class at the community college, or maybe you can find the basics online.

Answer 2

The first thing that can help you is the use of a tripod. This will obviously keep the camera steady during long exposure shots. If you do use one try to use a remote for each shot. This will further ensure you don't move the camera even when depressing the shutter button. For some situations carrying a tripod isn't an option and in those cases I use the surroundings as much as possible. If there's a pole or a corner of a wall near by I'll place the camera against it while taking the photo. This should greatly minimize any movement of the camera during the shot. Also you can breathe softly or even better hold your breath. You'd be amazed how much movement you cause on the camera by breathing during a shoot.

I use a Canon so I'm not familiar with the exact settings of your camera, but yes... a faster shutter speed wold help to reduce the blur of the photo. The problem is that without a flash you need more light going into the camera so you can see the image... thus the slower shutter speed (the shutter stays open longer and lets in more light). You can play with the aperture settings along with the shutter speed and ISO settings.

The images can be blurry because of your movement or the movement of the object you're photographing. Obviously these are suggestions to limit your effect on the image.

Answer 3

As far as taking clearer images without flash, I would not recommend using a higher ISO on your digicam as this will create more noise on your image... thus lessening the quality. I would recommend getting a decent to good make of tripod or even monopod. If you get one less than $50, do make sure it has 3 way panning with the panhandle on the RIGHT... so your vertical shots are correct with your flash being on the top and not the bottom. A 3way panhead with the panhandle on the right will set you up well. Walmart sells one which has pretty good construction and has the proper vertical pan and panhandle on the right. I have a Slik Sprint with a ball head as well as a Bogen 3001BN along with a 484RC2 ballhead. Some tripods have panheads while others have a ballhead. Ballheads are better so that you can fix the camera in any position. When shooting vertically, make sure your flash is on top and then compose your shot. One thing I do before taking a shot is to see which angle I like best. While you could just go for what you've found already... others may afford you an even better angle and view for your photo. Experiment, try things out, and be willing to try things out photographically. Good luck.

Answer 4

If you take picture of objects rather than people you can use a tripod or place the camera on something to support it. Even better to use the self-timer to postpone the photo a little so you do not move the camera when pressing the button.
Or maybe you can use a remote control, either connected to the camera or radio controlled.

If you take photos of people that would not be enough as people themselves move.
In that case you should set the ISO setting to the highest number available.
(Or if it has many settings try the different ones and see which still gets you good photos while reducing the blur.)
Lastly, set the camera to take photos which are a bit too dark and lighten them on the computer. This is a last resort but might help if you need a sharp photo.

Answer 5

Before you start shooting night photos, here are the three most important things to remember:

Disable your flash
Bring out breathtaking detail in low-light conditions by using a long exposure (the time your camera takes to collect light).

Use a tripod
Long exposures require you to hold your camera perfectly still to avoid blurring. A tripod really helps. If you can't get your hands on one, you can try bracing yourself against a stationary object like a tree, or a wall.

Use your timer
Even when a camera is on a tripod, your finger pressing the trigger can cause enough movement to blur a photo. You can avoid touching the camera altogether by using the timer.

The key to getting a successful night shot like this is wide aperture, low ISO, and a slow shutter speed.

Aperture
If your camera has manual settings, you can widen the aperture to allow more light to come through the camera lens (see above), which is vital at night when there isn't much light to begin with.

Select either the Av (Aperture priority) or M (Manual) shooting mode on your camera to adjust aperture. The widest opening for most lenses is f2.8.

Learn more about aperture, lighting, and flash.

ISO
A camera's ISO number dictates its sensitivity to light. A higher ISO (a "fast" ISO) will make your camera more light-sensitive, but will add more grain (or "noise") to your photo. If your camera allows you to adjust ISO, set it low (somewhere around 50 or 100) for sharp detail in low-light. This setting will increase exposure time slightly, but will produce a much richer photo.

Shutter speed
Because you're not using your flash, your shutter speed has to be a lot slower to get enough light. The shutter speed in this shot was at least a few seconds-pretty slow in camera terms.

Select either the Tv (Shutter priority) or M (Manual) shooting mode on your camera to adjust shutter speed. The slowest shutter speeds on most cameras range from a few seconds to a "bulb" setting (shutter remains open as long as you want).

Experiment with your camera settings and shoot a lot of photos. Soon, you'll get a feel for which settings are best for each low-light situation. Here are some quick guidelines for how each of these conditions will affect your picture taking.

Dusk and dawn
The early evening and morning hours are a perfect time to catch a nighttime glow from the city skyline, or the bright moon. And because there is some light in the sky, shutter speed can be set a little higher, lowering the chance of blur.

Evening
Darker is better when you want to get strong contrast in your photos. But the darker it is, the longer the exposure will have to be. The result is more breathtaking shots.

City streets
Significant amounts of light can be emitted in bustling public places, reducing the need for really slow shutter speeds. Use this to your advantage when taking night photos.

I hope this helps!!

Answer 6

Look for a macro setting on your camera too. It's usually indicated by a little flower icon. But you still might need to physically stabilize the camera by using a tripod or setting it on something. Also, cameras have a minimum focal distance. If you try to take a picture closer than that, it will come out blurry.

Answer 7

The lower light requires a slower shutter speed to allow enough light to enter the lens and project onto the digital chip just like film did. a faster shutter speed is only used in good outdoor type lighting. Try a tripod this will be your best solution.

Answer 8

Change the ISO speed to a higher number.
The camera is probably defaulting to 80, the lowest setting. Change it to the highest (1000) value in low light and you'll be able to take many more clear shots without flash, or a tripod.
The disadvantage of this will be more noise, so you may have to compromise and choose one of the other settings.

Answer 9

Some good tips they gave you so here are some websites to look at also:

http://www.photonhead.com/beginners/

http://www.betterphoto.com/home.asp

http://www.shootsmarter.com/

http://www.webphotoschool.com/

Hope this also helps,
Kevin