Though I know I should have bought a canon, I decided to leave my comfort zone and buy a Nikon. I guess I'm generally happen with it but there are some problems I have (and to be honest they could just be me).
Whenever lighting isn't completely ideal (bright lights indoors or perfectly sunny) it seems like my pictures are always blurry or out of focus. Before this DSLR I had a canon powershot G12 (a lovely bridge camera I would recommend to anyone) and I never had this problem. I'd hate to have to carry a tripod everywhere I go but I'm starting to feel like this is the only option.
Another problem I have every time I shoot in the woods is my camera focuses on the background rather than the person. When it happened the first time I figured it was just my mistake. It happened again a few days ago after I spent a ton of time moving the focus to the person rather than the background. Problem is, it's not drastic enough to notice on the camera screen. I never notice it until my pictures are uploaded on my computer.
I am still a new DSLR user and I have so much to learn and I'm trying not to get frustrated so do you all have any advice?
I've been wanting to sell this camera and go for the canon rebel pretty much since I bought it, because I was going to buy that anyway but I listened to the sales associate.
While I'm a big fan of the Canon Rebel series, I do think that the issues you are facing are more a case of gaining familiarity with the greater complexities of a DSLR camera, rather than the limitations of the Nikon per-se. The D3100, which I think you have, is an amazing camera, and once you get over these initial issues I'm sure you'll love it!
Without seeing the EXIF data (camera settings) for the shots you are having trouble with, it's hard to say for sure, but with respect to your first issue of blurry images in lower light, I suspect this may be due to having set a low ISO setting on the camera?
Compact cameras are very resistant to settings that will result in bad photos -- often, even if you try and force the camera to do something, if it thinks it will result in a blurry photo it will silently refuse and override your settings. DSLRs don't do this -- if you set the camera up in a certain way, it'll use those settings, regardless of whether the photo will be blurred or not.
If you have set a low ISO setting, such as 100 or 200, then in low light situations the camera will open the aperture all the way, to let in as much light as possible, but after that, the only thing it can do is use a longer shutter speed to get the light for the photo. If you're hand-holding the camera, blurry images will be the result, as these low ISO settings don't capture enough light in a short enough time.
In the long run, you should ideally learn to watch what shutter speed the camera is selecting (it will show you both in the viewfinder and on the final photo), know if that's going to be fast enough or not, and if not, adjust the ISO accordingly -- on early DSLRs, this was the only option. However, new DSLRs like your D3100 also have an 'auto ISO' mode, which is a life-saver for beginners, and will increase the ISO as needed to prevent blurry shots when hand-holding. In extreme situations (such as candle-lit rooms!) you'll still have to be careful not to get blurry images, but in most general situations, if I've correctly diagnosed the problem, this should be the solution.
Focusing-wise, the same aspect of a DSLR that allows it to produce beautiful blurred backgrounds and 'bokeh', which is the larger image sensor compared to a compact camera, also means that focus is generally much more critical than with a compact camera, and care needs to be taken for pretty much every shot. What you are doing, moving the focus area over the subject, is the best solution to this, regardless of DSLR make.
It can be difficult to see on the screen, but with practice and experience, you'll start to know when you'll have problems as you look through the viewfinder. The viewfinder will have a square to show you where the camera will focus on -- you need to start thinking about the depth of the scene, which you know about because you see in 3D, but the camera doesn't because it sees in 2D. If you see that where the camera is focusing is much further or much closer to you than the subject of your image, you can be pretty sure that your subject is going to be out of focus, without having to see it on the screen or even take the photo, and you know that you need to move the focusing point to be over your subject (or use a different technique, discussed below).
On a compact camera, you rarely need to do this unless your subject is almost touching the camera, but on a DSLR, unless you are using a very narrow aperture (large f-number), you need to be a lot more careful with the focus to get the right thing sharp and the right things blurred.
One technique that is great for beginners especially is what's known as 'focus and recompose'. In this method, you use the centre focusing point on the camera, point the camera so this centre focusing point is directly over your subject, then half-press the shutter, which will focus the camera on your subject. Then, without releasing the half-pressed shutter, you can angle the camera so that the subject is where you want it in the frame. While you hold the shutter half-pressed, the focus is locked, so once you've recomposed the image and fully pressed the shutter to take the photo, your subject should be sharp.
This sounds a little complicated when written down, but it requires no fiddly changes to the camera settings, and once you get used to it you can do it in just a couple of seconds -- point at the subject, half-hold the shutter, recompose (while keeping the shutter half-pressed), fully press the shutter. With a bit of practice you'll be doing this without thinking!
If you do use this technique, be careful not to change your distance to the subject after half-pressing the shutter -- only move your head to alter where the camera points, don't move your body closer or further from the subject (or if you want to do this, let go of the shutter, move, and then do the same process when you're in the correct position). Also be aware that, for expert use, this technique does introduce some small problems of its own, but for beginner and intermediate photographers, these are generally insignificant enough not to care about or be noticeable.
I hope that helps, let us know if you have any questions, and don't give up!
I had similar frustrations when I started using my Canon D100 so I think Alexis is right - it's a matter of practice and familiarity rather than kit. He has provided loads of good advice. I would start out in aperture priority mode where you set the ISO and aperture and then let the camera choose the shutter speed. This works very well for still subjects so not great for movement but a good place to learn how the settings respond in different situations.
@abirkill Thank you so much, Alexis. Your cmment has been super helpful and I'll need t write those things down to remember.
I know intuitively that it's not an issue with the camera, but my lack of knowledge. But there are several things I miss about having a canon as opposed to a nikon (mostly the swivel screen, which was infinitely helpful in aiding with self portraits)
I have just upgraded from a D3100 which I was very happy with and I think @abirkill sums it all up really well .. keep perservering and take advantage of walls, fences etc to use as support it you do not want to use a tripod..
@foreverwild@abirkill
I've been using the Nikon D3200 since February and seem to have the same issues regarding lighting. Hopefully I can put some of this information to use. Thanks!
Alexis provided the key information you'll need. I just want to reinforce one point he made about focusing. On the Nikon, you can have it whether focus on multiple point (where it decides) or you can set it so that you press down half-way and a red square comes up showing you where it is going to focus. You can then manually move the square using the control dial arrows so that you are focusing on what you want (e.g., the bird rather than the branches in a photo where the branches may be in the foreground and seem to be the obvious focal point). Hang in there -- you can't go wrong with either Canon or Nikon. I use a Nikon and have learned if something isn't working well, 99.99% of the time, it's that I've not set it to do what I want it to do. I buy a guide to the camera that is rated highly on sites like Amazon as the owners manual is never clear enough for me.
@taffy Thanks for your tips! I have it on the setting where I choose the focal point, and sometimes even when I move the square to where I want it to be it will focus on something else.
I know it's just my ignorance and frustration and I'll figure it out eventually :)
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Without seeing the EXIF data (camera settings) for the shots you are having trouble with, it's hard to say for sure, but with respect to your first issue of blurry images in lower light, I suspect this may be due to having set a low ISO setting on the camera?
Compact cameras are very resistant to settings that will result in bad photos -- often, even if you try and force the camera to do something, if it thinks it will result in a blurry photo it will silently refuse and override your settings. DSLRs don't do this -- if you set the camera up in a certain way, it'll use those settings, regardless of whether the photo will be blurred or not.
If you have set a low ISO setting, such as 100 or 200, then in low light situations the camera will open the aperture all the way, to let in as much light as possible, but after that, the only thing it can do is use a longer shutter speed to get the light for the photo. If you're hand-holding the camera, blurry images will be the result, as these low ISO settings don't capture enough light in a short enough time.
In the long run, you should ideally learn to watch what shutter speed the camera is selecting (it will show you both in the viewfinder and on the final photo), know if that's going to be fast enough or not, and if not, adjust the ISO accordingly -- on early DSLRs, this was the only option. However, new DSLRs like your D3100 also have an 'auto ISO' mode, which is a life-saver for beginners, and will increase the ISO as needed to prevent blurry shots when hand-holding. In extreme situations (such as candle-lit rooms!) you'll still have to be careful not to get blurry images, but in most general situations, if I've correctly diagnosed the problem, this should be the solution.
Focusing-wise, the same aspect of a DSLR that allows it to produce beautiful blurred backgrounds and 'bokeh', which is the larger image sensor compared to a compact camera, also means that focus is generally much more critical than with a compact camera, and care needs to be taken for pretty much every shot. What you are doing, moving the focus area over the subject, is the best solution to this, regardless of DSLR make.
It can be difficult to see on the screen, but with practice and experience, you'll start to know when you'll have problems as you look through the viewfinder. The viewfinder will have a square to show you where the camera will focus on -- you need to start thinking about the depth of the scene, which you know about because you see in 3D, but the camera doesn't because it sees in 2D. If you see that where the camera is focusing is much further or much closer to you than the subject of your image, you can be pretty sure that your subject is going to be out of focus, without having to see it on the screen or even take the photo, and you know that you need to move the focusing point to be over your subject (or use a different technique, discussed below).
On a compact camera, you rarely need to do this unless your subject is almost touching the camera, but on a DSLR, unless you are using a very narrow aperture (large f-number), you need to be a lot more careful with the focus to get the right thing sharp and the right things blurred.
One technique that is great for beginners especially is what's known as 'focus and recompose'. In this method, you use the centre focusing point on the camera, point the camera so this centre focusing point is directly over your subject, then half-press the shutter, which will focus the camera on your subject. Then, without releasing the half-pressed shutter, you can angle the camera so that the subject is where you want it in the frame. While you hold the shutter half-pressed, the focus is locked, so once you've recomposed the image and fully pressed the shutter to take the photo, your subject should be sharp.
This sounds a little complicated when written down, but it requires no fiddly changes to the camera settings, and once you get used to it you can do it in just a couple of seconds -- point at the subject, half-hold the shutter, recompose (while keeping the shutter half-pressed), fully press the shutter. With a bit of practice you'll be doing this without thinking!
If you do use this technique, be careful not to change your distance to the subject after half-pressing the shutter -- only move your head to alter where the camera points, don't move your body closer or further from the subject (or if you want to do this, let go of the shutter, move, and then do the same process when you're in the correct position). Also be aware that, for expert use, this technique does introduce some small problems of its own, but for beginner and intermediate photographers, these are generally insignificant enough not to care about or be noticeable.
I hope that helps, let us know if you have any questions, and don't give up!
I know intuitively that it's not an issue with the camera, but my lack of knowledge. But there are several things I miss about having a canon as opposed to a nikon (mostly the swivel screen, which was infinitely helpful in aiding with self portraits)
Thank you again!
I've been using the Nikon D3200 since February and seem to have the same issues regarding lighting. Hopefully I can put some of this information to use. Thanks!
I know it's just my ignorance and frustration and I'll figure it out eventually :)