Digital cameras 101

[BambamNJ]

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I purchased a FujiFilm F810 even though it was a bit more expensive then some other 6+ megapixel cameras that were available. After reading many reviews I wanted to make sure I was getting a really good digital camera.
I had no problems setting the camera up and taking some pictures or getting them transfered to my computer. I found the camera can take some really great indoor pictures. The most dificult issue is that you have to keep the camera very still to not blurr the pics. I have not yet purchase a tripod but that will most likely be my next purchase.
However, I am very frustrated in try to get clean, clear outdoor photos. Every article I read states that digital camera's are great for outdoor photos and not so great on indoor photos. I seem to be having the exact opposite problem. My indoor photos are great and my outside photos are not.
The problem is that as soon as I get in the sunlight my pictures become washed out. It's as if I'm shooting directly into the sun. I can see shapes but most of the image is just too bright. I have tried using both the auto setting and the scenery setting but neither really improve the quality of the photo. I have tried taking pictures with me in the shade and the sun behind and in front of me but I still seem to end up with the same problem.
If I wait until the sun goes down, my pictures improve dramatically, but I can't believe I can only take pictures when there is no sun in the sky.
I am hoping there are others out there who have this camera and could help me. I really would like to get into taking good digital pictures and would be extemely greatful if there are any experienced digital photographers who would be willing to help me learn how to properly use this camera.
Thanks in advance.

[Deb]

Hi BambamNJ and welcome to the Q&A Board!

From what you wrote I am assuming you are viewing the images on a computer monitor. Is this correct? And, when you made your comparison between the exposure accuracy of the outdoor shots with the indoor shots, you were also viewing them on a computer monitor, yes?

The reason why I ask is that if you were viewing the outdoor images on one device and the indoor shots on another device, I would suggest that perhaps your computer monitor was not properly adjusted.

But if you are comparing both on the same device, I suspect you have a technical problem with your camera.

You haven't changed your EV setting have you? I'm not familiar with your camera model well enough to know if the EVs can be adjusted separately for the different modes you mentioned using. Since your indoor shots are "great", I don't suspect that your EV adjustment has been changed from EV=0 but it is possible. (If your indoor shots were too light given the amount of light available, then I would have suspected that your EV adjustment was changed to a +value. This would cause your outdoor shots to be washed out.)

Do you know if your camera has a reset feature? If so, try resetting it. If that doesn't work, I'd contact Fujifilm tech support. Fujifilm has a fine reputation for quality products.

[Deb]

Hey, I just thought of something else. You didn't happen to change your ISO setting, did you? If you had changed your ISO setting to something more light sensitive, and your outdoor scene was brighter than the camera could compensate for given that ISO value, overexposed images would result.

[BambamNJ]

Thanks for the response. Yes I am viewing the photos on the same computer. I even tried downloading them onto a desktop ( I use a laptop primarily) but they all look the same on both computers.
I am not familar with the term EV and I don't see it mentioned in the FujiFilm manual. I do know how to reset the camera to factory settings and I have done that, it did not fix the problem I am having with outdoor photos.
Thanks again

[BambamNJ]

I have been reading about the iso settings. I don't think I changed them and I would think the auto setting would have compinsated, but I will play around with the iso setting tomorrow and see if it makes any difference. Is looks like the camera has the follow settings, Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400 and 800, and 80 and 100 are best for outdoor.
My biggest fear? I will find whatever is causing my outdoor problem, and fix it, and then my indoor photos won't be so good, and I won't know what I changed. Oh the pain of being ignorant...

[Deb]

The EV adjustment is found under Shooting Mode > AE Compensation > +-2.0 EV in 1/3EV steps. Is it possible this setting was inadvertenly changed when going from Auto to "scenery" (Landscape) modes?

[Deb]

Oh the pain of being ignorant...

It's not being ignorant. There is a learning curve to every new adventure. Explore it and have fun with it!  

As for not knowing what you changed, this may sound silly but .... take notes. I do!  

[BambamNJ]

I wanted to let you know I posted some photos, I have posted a reply to both threads with this URL.

http://home.comcast.net/~dbstow/

First three show the high quality issue I had when I was in Florida

The second three photos show the outdoor white wash issue.

Dean

[pentachris]

The first indoor image shows a Moire pattern.  The second and third indoor photos show a symptom that I recognize, but I can't put my finger on the name.  The outdoor shots appear overexposed.

Is this a new camera?  Refurbished?  Used?

I suspect you've got a camera with a bad ccd.

There's been a rash of bad ccd's in cameras and camcorders, including some from Fuji.

Wait on other opinions before you take it back, though.

[bdery]

I think the moire effect is probably caused by the compression of the image, either by the hosting web site or by the software used for compression. It,s strange that it doesn'T show for outdoors shots, though.

I really doubt this is a faulty CCD, because there IS an image there, it's just overexposed. So I'm guessing, as Deb has said, that this is an exposure issue. If the exposure compensation has been offset, it could cause thiswashed-out effect.

I have seen the same problem on a (very old) Fuji camera. The owner contacted Fuji, and they helped him solve the problem. It involved resetting the camera somehow, but I do not know what was done exactly. My best advice, BambamNJ, would be to contact Fuji's support. They can help you correct this issue.

[ShutterbugGail]

As has been pointed out, the outside photo is overexposed. The inside photos, I haven't the foggiest. But if I were you, I'd sure be on the phone to the manufacturer.

If the camera indeed has problems, it may fall under the service advisories pointed out by Pentachris.

We have some information about the advisories here too:

http://www.digicamhelp.com/digital-camera-service-advisories/recent-digital-camera-service-advisories.htm


If you decide to call tech support and learn the root of the problem, we'd very much appreciate if you'd let us know about it so others can benefit.

[pentachris]

We have some information about the advisories here too:

http://www.digicamhelp.com/digital-camera-service-advisories/recent-digital-camera-service-advisories.htm


If you decide to call tech support and learn the root of the problem, we'd very much appreciate if you'd let us know about it so others can benefit.

I was made aware of the problems by Consumer Reports, and a google search led me to the other sites.  Good to see it's here at digicamhelp.com as well - I've got a feeling more and more cameras are going to start to exhibit symptoms as time passes.

I'm also eager to hear what BambamNJ finds out - please post back!

[Deb]

Hi BambamNJ. I was out of town yesterday so am now just seeing these images.

In a word ... Whoa!!!! The patterning is definitely a bad sign. I know I've seen that problem before but can't recall where. I'll look for it online. I'd say your camera is up to some odd tricks. Perhaps your firmware is corrupt. That would be my first guess. Even the blown shots (overexposed) show poor focusing and a slight patterning. Have you contacted Fujifilm support?

BTW, do the images look like this when viewed with the camera's LCD?

[BambamNJ]

First, I want to thank everyone for their posts and input. This is a great service, specially to us amatures.

Second, I want to clarify something. The Outside pictures I posted were taken with the camera set on .03M picture quality. I don't get the wierd effect when I take pictures at this setting, and my indoor pictures are near perfect at this setting. The only problem I have is my outdoor photos seem to be overexposed.

When I change my quality setting to anything else, (There are 4 settings .03M, 2M, 3M, & 6M) then I get the wierd affect. I have used several methods to move the pictures from the camera to my computer and to view them, including the FinePix Viewer software that comes with the camera. All attempts have given me the same results.

You can see the effects on the camera viewer, but you need to really look for it. This is why I didn't notice it at first on my Florida pictures, untill I got home and loaded them onto my  laptop. Now that I know what I am looking for I can see the lines in the pictures on the camera viewer.

The camera is a brand new camera. I bought it about a year and half ago, via amazone.com. Unfortunatly, I went through a divorce and the camera sat in the box for over a year before I did anything with it. But the box was unopened until about a month ago, which is when I started playing with it.

I have contacted FujiFilm via e-mail, They want me to mail the camera to their service center in north Jersey.

I think I have answered everyone's questions.

Oh and yes by all means if I get and answer I will certainly let you all know, you have bee way to nice for me to not return the favor.

[Deb]

Thank you BambamNJ.  

Since you notice the odd pattern in the images BEFORE they are transferred to the computer strongly suggests that the problem lies with the camera itself and not with the transferring/copying process. I'm glad to hear that Fujifilm will troubleshoot your camera for you!

We'll look forward to hearing how it goes and seeing your photos.

[BambamNJ]

Just wanted to update you all. I shipped my camera off to Fuji today. I hope I get to see it again. I included a long note explaining the camera is brand new and that I had not opened it for over a year. I also stated that the camera had not been dropped or missused in any way. I am hoping that if they find anything wrong with the camera they will be willing to still cover it under warranty. I know wishful thinking but if there is something wrong with the camera it was defective when I got it.
I'll let you know when and if I hear anything from them.

P.S. I found several other people online who have apparently had issues with this camera and they all got the same response from Fuji, It'll cost $300.00 to fix the camera. One guy I spoke with bought a second brand new camera instead of getting the old one fixed and ended up with the same type of problem on the new camera and in both cases Fuji wanted $300.00 to fix each one. I am keeping my fingers crossed but not holding my breath.

[ShutterbugGail]

It'll cost $300.00 to fix the camera.

That's a lot of money. You can get a brand new, very decent digital camera for about that price. And it would have a full year warranty.

Did you charge the camera on a Visa or Mastercard? Some automatically have an extended warranty. It's worth an inquiry. Here's some info:

http://www.digicamhelp.com/buying-guide/extended-warranties/buy-warranty.php

You should ask FujiFilm if they have an upgrade program:

http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-care/repair/upgrade.php

Sure hope it goes well for you. Thanks for keeping us posted!

[BambamNJ]

I know it's been some time, I actual lost the web site URL and couldn't remember where I had posted my question, then I recently received a message about the new format of the web site and just had to come update this thread

Anyway, I wanted to post an update of what happened. Fuji diagnosed my camera and they actually fixed it for free.

Apparently, there was some driver or something inside the camera that was not working correctly. Not a software driver but something mechanical, and this was causing the camera to over expose when there was moderate to high light. I appoligize for my non-technical description but it was over a year and half ago and I don't remember the exact terminology they used.

They shipped the camera back to me about two months later and it is working great. I have taken the camera on serveral trips including to the grand canyon and I must say it takes some awesome photo's. I am by no means an photographer but I am amazed at the quality of the photo's this little gem puts out.

Thanks to all for you comments and advice. This site is such a great resource to all us amatures. I am greatful to all who keep this site up and running.  I am soooo glad I perservered and went through the process of getting Fuji to fix this camera.

[ShutterbugGail]

WOW. How nice of you to get back to us and glad it all worked well. This forum in going into maintenance mode until the new site is launched sometime tomorrow.