Don't laugh at me

aurrasing · Mar 1, 2018

Ok laugh a little. Way back in the day I thought "hey! I'm going to be a photographer" and I bought the brand new canon rebel xs. That's right. The last camera I bought was a rebel xs when it was new. The dream died when I realized there was a lot of buttons and options and I'm lazy... I hate school... I hate learning things I have no interest in like photography lol. I love other people's photos it's just not for me.

The point to this post is I need help with this camera. Or if there's some cheap simple camera on the market that will help me. I have ferrets. 3 of them. I would normally just use my phone to take pictures of them but it's like they vibrate. They're always blurry. Is there some setting on this camera that I haven't touched in 10 years that will make them not blurry? Or a point and shoot that has a ferret anti blur option. Just pretend you're talking to someone that's never seen a camera before. I want to do a little Easter photoshoot with them so I can be that person and give everyone and their grandma a card. Here's what I get with my phone.. help me make settings. Help a ferret in need.

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jaomul · Mar 2, 2018

Your issue is likely your lens that came with the camera. It's an ok lens but indoor when the light is not great it doesn't allow enough light in to get a fast shutter speed which means your shots suffer motion blur.

Try have your ferrets near a bright light source such as a big window or outside where it's brighter that may give a faster shutter speed

weepete · Mar 2, 2018

Yup, it's shutter speed (AKA Tv for time value on Canon cameras). You'll want to turn the mode dial to TV then use the wheel near the shutter release (near your right index finger when holding the camera). You will also want to set the ISO to "Auto", Should be done by pressing the button marked ISO then turning the wheel near the shutter release until ISO reads 250 i think.

If you get flashing numbers on a half press of the shutter release then it's just too dark and you need somewhere with more light or a more advanced setup.

cemam · Mar 2, 2018

Maybe try the AUTO Mode setting first, if it is not set already. If it is, then try Tv and ISO adjustment, as AUTO Mode is not getting the job done.

SquarePeg · Mar 2, 2018

@pixmedic ferret alert.

aurrasing · Mar 3, 2018

Those pictures are from my phone. Not camera. I had to hunt down my camera last night in my crawl space. I charged the battery, laughed at the 10000 cat pictures on the SD card and tested it today. I got a lot of none blurry photos using TV. Now if I can get the 3 ferrets to stay and look at me at the same time lol. This is a great start though. Thank you very much.

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aurrasing · Mar 3, 2018

Ferrets

Here's what I was able to get. Any other advice would be great. I think I'm finally going to sit down and read DSLR for dummies and actually use my camera. I have many empty frames that are begging to be on my walls.

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BrentC · Mar 3, 2018

Increase aperture. You have a shallow DoF. Try f8. And always focus on the eyes.

cemam · Mar 3, 2018

Not bad at all. Maybe you could get a bit more light on the scene so you could use a smaller aperture and get greater depth of field.

aurrasing · Mar 3, 2018

Ahahah you guys are pretty much speaking German to me. After googling aperture and reading many things I think I can talk to you. I had it on auto focus and I believe that chooses my aperture. I can manual focus and I will... But I didn't because I was just testing out my camera that hasn't been touched in 9 years and was probably knocked around durring the 10 times I moved and sitting in storage closets the whole 9 years. Also my handy boyfriend wanted to change a switch on the wall and decided to take all the wires apart and "fix" it. It no longer works so my lights don't work in the ferret room right now. All I had was window light and ferrets that bounce around everywhere away from the light lol.

Now.. I have my camera in my hands.. could you tell me how to change the aperture. I actually just noticed this white balance button. That would have been useful... It was set to tungsten light

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cemam · Mar 3, 2018

"Auto" has several meanings. There is Auto Mode (the little green box symbol on your Mode dial) and auto focus. If you had the camera set to the former, it would have chosen all the settings for you, including aperture. It basically becomes a glorified phone camera. All you have to do is point and let the camera focus. From reading the Exif file from your Flickr images, you were using Tv (shutter speed control). When you set the shutter speed, the camera then selects the aperture that will give you a properly exposed photo. Do not confuse Manual Mode, where you have to choose all the setting, with manual focus, in which you have to adjust the lens by hand.
You can set the Mode dial to Av and dial in a smaller aperture (larger f-stop number), but then the camera will have to adjust the shutter speed to get enough light.
As far as the low light, you could try using the built in flash on your camera. I hope I have not just made this sound more complicated than it is.

aurrasing · Mar 4, 2018

I actually understand that lol thank you! I don't want to use a flash because it will blind the little weasels. I normally have a overhead light in the room that is very bright. I can't mess around with my camera much until the lighting get set up again. Maybe tomorrow... Lol it's really hard to get shots of these guys. When my camera is focusing it makes a noise and they get excited and put their noses all over the lense. I need to get some cleaning wipes.

Everyone has been so helpful. Once I'm done annoying my ferrets with the camera I will need advice for human portraits so I can annoy my family... And I can finally get the all jeans and big glasses family portrait I have always wanted! I feel bad for everyone that knows me...

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weepete · Mar 4, 2018

Don't worry about manual focus, leave it on autofocus. It won't affect your aperture.

Having a look through your shots they look better, all but the last one looks a little underexposed to me. But definatley better. I do notice these are all at ISO 1600, is there a reason why you kept it at that setting? It's great if you are not getting movement blur at 125th though!

More depth of field would be another improvement that could be made (as others have pointed out by changing your aperture to f8) though looking at your settings this would mean that for the same exposure your ISO would be maxed out at 6400. Which is not necessarily an issue but it is an indicator that you may need supplimental lighting for the group shots of the ferrets.

aurrasing · Mar 4, 2018

The reason I kept it at this setting is because my camera is an alien object. Lol I bought it in 2008. I only ever used auto. I turned that wheel once, got scared and turned it back. I probably used about 10 times throughout a year and then it never left the case after 2009. I've always wanted a simple point and shoot because all the options on this camera are useless to me because I don't know what it means. I am now learning though. There's no point in buying a new camera though because I don't aspire to be a photographer. I do want a waterproof sandproof dropproof one so my stepson can use it in the forest and pool and such.

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aurrasing · Mar 4, 2018

What does this do. I turned it a bunch of times and it got brighter photos (orangey coloured because the room is dark) but they also got blurry. [emoji21] Can someone just come hold my hand.