Rubbish pictures, should I carry on or give up?

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Get a card reader from Poundland :)
 
Agree, a card reader is going to work for any camera and a guaranteed solution.

Looking at images of the lead for an X90 it appears to be a proprietary connection and not a mini USB.
 
Offer of a free lead was genuine, off out in a few minutes and no PM received

Cheers
Rich
 
I must admit I didn't Dave, too late anyway now, been to the post office and back home for breakfast
 
cant do nothing for this op really, its like the blind leading the blind if you cant even tell us what shutter speed your shooting at? this stuff is just basics and if you dont know the difference between shutter speed and iso then you NEED to be shooting in AUTO! IMHO! and do some READING! really tho from your answers none of them are accurate and only guess' from your self, i dont mean to be harsh but just do a simple bit of reading as from my opinion you do not even know the basics and thats where the stress is coming from, just shoot in auto till you know what your doing or at least what the setting's are/need to be
 
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tingting44 said:
cant do nothing for this op really, its like the blind leading the blind if you cant even tell us what shutter speed your shooting at? this stuff is just basics and if you dont know the difference between shutter speed and iso then you NEED to be shooting in AUTO! IMHO! and do some READING! really tho from your answers none of them are accurate and only guess' from your self, i dont mean to be harsh but just do a simple bit of reading as from my opinion you do not even know the basics and thats where the stress is coming from, just shoot in auto till you know what your doing or at least what the setting are/need to be
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I can't help but agree with this. She could post up images, but if the OP doesn't really understand shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and other basics, then we'll end up simply teaching her photography and not trying to fix a specific problem.

Maybe the OP should start here, and gain a little knowledge of how it all fits together.

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=440126

If the OP has no interest in the theory of photography, and just wants to press the shutter and not think about anything... maybe this isn't the right place for her. A good understanding of ISO would be useful though, as at least that is something simple she can take control of and have an effect on shutter speed indirectly.
 
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LouiseTopp said:
I'm really fed up at the mo, I could cry :(

I have a Pentax X-90 bridge camera and I took it with me to a carnival which we usually have. I had it on TV but the shutter release still wasn't fast enough and most of my pictures are blurred (no hope of it coping with a concert then).

I thought I was good at photography but I was obviously wrong and fooling myself. I am really depressed and should give it up, who am I kidding thinking I was good. :(

I want the Pentax KR which is a lot better but it's a bit expensive. I am attracted to it because it has stabilisation in the body.

My friend had an Canon SLR and his shots were a lot better. Can anyone advise me whether It was me or the lens? Thanks.
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To me it sounds like either as has been stated you were shooting with too low a shutter speed or at a high ISO were I'd guess the X-90 doesnt look great.

There are alternatives to a DSLR though, "bridge cameras" really covers alot of ground and different cameras are optimised for different uses. Your X-90 is optimised for its long zoom not for shooting in low light, something like the Olympus XZ-1 would be much better suited to that and cheaper/smaller(and with a longer zoom than the DSLR kit lenses) than a new DSLR.
 
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Aura, I understand how bad results could depress you. The plain fact is, the Pentax X-90 is not best suited to the challenging conditions of capturing movement in dim light (according to the internet reviews I just looked at). It will be nowhere near as good as even a current entry level DSLR. You might have improved the situation a bit by increasing the ISO above 400. Try reading up on the camera controls (it's all on the internet, even a manual).

You say you, "... correct them if I can.", how ? Photoshop Elements is very capable, not sure how new you would have to get to recognize X-90 images. Latest versions are around £50 on Amazon.

Don't give up, but accept the limitations of your gear, like we all do; and buy that USB lead.
 
No don't give up.

There has been some useful info in the replies, just try to ignore the unhelpful or harsh replies. All of us produced loads of bad photos when we started (I still do it now), so keep at it.

The most important things to take from the replies are

learn what aperture, shutter speed and ISO mean how they relate to each other and the effect they have on the photo,

accept the limitations of your camera. There is nothing wrong with the X90 but unless you are into serious money there will always be a compromise somewhere, and

post some photo up here with the information about aperture, shutter speed and ISO and folks will be able to, and will, advise.

Dave

PS it really wasn't at all helpful for your friend to sell you a camera without any means of you getting photos from camera to computer, or at least letting you know what you would need to do the transfer.
 
As said by many.... you don't need the software you just need a USB lead. You get them free with just about everything these days. If you were closer I'd give you a couple of mine.
So get a lead and just plug the camera into your computer and then post some up here for people to see what you are getting.
As others have also said, learn what the three main variables of Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO are and how they combine to give very different results at the same exposure.
I'm sure someone will post a link to just that info soon.

Too early to give up just yet!
 
don,t give louise,as people have said you need to find out what kind of usb lead you need for your camera, if you dont know what type of lead you do need call in PC world, curry's,comet,or jessop's any camera shop might be able to help, if they are too dear have a good look at it then go on ebay have look.
After that put the shots on flickr or any other hosts so then you can post them on here.
if you enjoy photography,you will find loads of info on here
 
LouiseTopp said:
... I had it on TV but the shutter release still wasn't fast enough and most of my pictures are blurred ...
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Every useful reply makes it look worse and worse.
LouiseTopp said:
... I had it on TV, speed 400 under florescent light.
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But that turns out to have been not speed, but ISO.
LouiseTopp said:
ISO 400
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So as for the speed : the whole point of using Tv ;
LouiseTopp said:
Not sure mate um 8000 I think but that's only a guess.
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Wow, 1/8000 of a second? Does the camera even do that? (No)

(edited) Probably, what would be best in the short-term, is to turn the top dial to AUTO and leave it there.
Buy a card-reader and use that to put photos on your computer, since using a Camera-to-USB-to-Computer can break things if done absolutely wrongly.
Better safe than sorry in this particular case.
 
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no longer a concern....
 
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Louise, if you have chance to go back to the carnival then do have another go.

You know where TV mode is, and this is good. Adjust this until you get a display of 1/60th. Set the ISO to 800 and make sure you stay zoomed right out. This will give you shots that while grainy, are likely to be sharp not blurry. When taking photos concentrate on areas where there will be more light, and also try to wait until there is as little movement in your subject as possible.

With regard to getting photos onto your computer, then the best option is a USB card reader. These can usually be had very cheap and you local camera shop should be able to sell you one (Rather than charging you every time to put them on a CD!).
 
manualfocus-g said:
I would seriously recommend reading a photography basics book before you go too much further. A good grounding of shutter speeds, aperture values and ISO sensitivity will put you in a MUCH better position. This is exactly what I did and I then hit the ground running.
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Hi can you recommend a book please?
 
Tringa said:
No don't give up.

There has been some useful info in the replies, just try to ignore the unhelpful or harsh replies.
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Don't worry I am :)

You say you, "... correct them if I can.", how ? Photoshop Elements is very capable, not sure how new you would have to get to recognize X-90 images. Latest versions are around £50 on Amazon.
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I use Photoshop Express at the moment (on line)
 
Like to ask another question but it's about an SLR. Should I ask it on here, or start another thread? Thanks..
 
LouiseTopp said:
Hi can you recommend a book please?
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Both Photography: The New Basics: Principles, Techniques and Practice and Bryan Peterson's Understanding Photography Field Guide are very good. A lot of people recommend Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson but the Field Guide contains all the most important bits from that book as well as bits of his other books so I think is better value.

You can view the table of contents at the above links and worth trying your local library as well.
 
applemint said:
Both Photography: The New Basics: Principles, Techniques and Practice and Bryan Peterson's Understanding Photography Field Guide are very good. A lot of people recommend Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson but the Field Guide contains all the most important bits from that book as well as bits of his other books so I think is better value.

You can view the table of contents at the above links and worth trying your local library as well.
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thanks I have added them to my wish list :)
 
Just replied to your PM, will send the lead and a CD with PSE 6, not the latest edition, but will do the job

Cheers
Rich
 
Yeah it will work, and it will read pretty much every card you can throw at it, so it's a pretty good investment for your £3.99. I've never spent more than that on a car reader. The on I have now is £1.99 as I only need SD and CF cards. If it breaks in a year's time, so I'll just buy another :)
 
Gary Coyle said:
Seriously think you lot have been had, read the OP's other threads she has started, bizarre.
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Possibly. Or just young and eager to learn. I do have my suspicions too though Gary.
 
I have been watching the thread all day glad someone else thinks their is something not quite right here,glad i wasn`t the first person to mention it :)
 
Have to agree things do look less than right having looked at previous posts

Think I will withdraw the offer of a free lead and PSE6 until it has been clarified a bit more

Sounded like a youngster with limited means and was trying to help out, but not so sure now
 
Gary Coyle said:
Seriously think you lot have been had, read the OP's other threads she has started, bizarre.
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I am NOT JOKING with anyone I am genuinely asking a question and don't joke when I want help!! I was a bit despondent after the carnival but I will keep going. Thank you. (y)
 
tijuana taxi said:
Have to agree things do look less than right having looked at previous posts

Think I will withdraw the offer of a free lead and PSE6 until it has been clarified a bit more

Sounded like a youngster with limited means and was trying to help out, but not so sure now
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I am 35 years old with mild learning difficulties if that helps :) Do you still want my postal address?
 
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