Taking indoor pictures in large dark church, auditorium, etc. with Kodak Z710

[smclaug]

I can't seem to take good pictures with my Kodak zZ710. My daughter had a performance in an auditorium and the pictures I took came out dark and blury. The same has happened in the past in our church. I know I am at quite a distance when taking the pictures and I have attempted to use the manual settings (i.e. adjusting the ISO, apeture and shutter speed) but I just can't seem to find the right combination. I know in cases such as these using the flash really doesn't do anything because of the distance. It seems as if the pictures look good on the digital display but when I actually take them they are terrible. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have had this camera for many years and I can take great outdoor pictures but I am a newbie when it comes to understanding how all of this stuff works (i.e. ISO, apeture and shutter speed, etc.)

Thanks!

Here are the specs for my camera:

Sensor type	1/2.5 in. CCD
CCD total pixels	7.4 MP (3152 × 2342)
Effective pixels	7.1 MP (3082 × 2314)
Lens	38–380 mm (35 mm equiv.) f/2.8–f/3.7 SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH VARIOGON Lens
Zoom	10X optical, 5X advanced digital zoom, total zoom range 50X
Shutter speed	8–1/1000 sec. in 1/3 step increments
LCD	2.0 in. (5.0 cm) indoor/outdoor color TFT display
Viewfinder	high resolution (201K pixels), electronic
Storage	32 MB internal memory[1]available, SD/MMC card expansion slot
Focus Type	TTL imager AF system
Auto focus modes	normal AF, macro AF, infinity AF
Focus range	normal (wide): 2.0 ft (0.6 m)–infinity, tele: 6.6 ft (2.0 m)–infinity macro (wide): 4.7 in.–2.3 ft (12–70 cm), tele: 3.9–6.9 ft (1.2–2.1 m) infinity (wide): 65 ft (20 m)–infinity, tele: 65 ft (20 m)–infinity
Auto focus control	single, continuous
Auto focus zones	TTL multi-zone AF, center zone AF
AF (Auto Focus) assist light	yes
ISO sensitivity	auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800[2]
Metering modes	multi-pattern, center-weighted, center spot
Compensation	±2.0 EV with 1/3 EV steps
AE (Auto Exposure) lock	when shutter button is pressed halfway
Histogram	yes
White balance	auto, daylight, tungsten, fluorescent, open shade
Guide Number	10.6 (ISO 100)
Range	wide, ISO auto: 2.0–16.1 ft (0.6–4.9 m) tele, ISO auto: 6.6–12.1 ft (2.0–3.7 m)
Modes	auto, fill, off, red eye reduction
Drive modes	single shot, self-timer (10 sec.), two-shot self-timer (10 sec.), delay shutter (2 sec.), first burst (approx. 1.7 fps up to 3 frames), last burst (approx. 1.7 fps last 3 frames)
Shooting modes	auto, sport, portrait, night shot, SCN (scene), P (program), A (aperture priority), S (shutter priority), M (manual), video
Scene modes	sport, portrait, night shot, landscape, flower, backlight, candlelight, manner/museum, text, beach, snow, fireworks, children, party, night portrait, night landscape, self portrait

Standard features
Auto focus
Exposure control
Flash
Shooting specifications

 

[Dao]

In short, your camera is not the right tool for that job.

Basically, you need a setup that is capable of taking photos with the require shutter speed for action shots and perform well in low light. That may means a camera body that can output a clean photo with high ISO settings AND a lens that can gather more light at a given time. (Wide max aperture). And I do not believe your camera can do that.

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

I will agree with Dao, you are just asking too much of your camera.

As you know, there are three things that affect the exposure of a photo; aperture, shutter speed and ISO. I'm not sure what the maximum aperture of your lens is, but you were probably at that limit already. You could make the shutter speed longer, to get more exposure, but that will just give you blurry shots due to the motion of the camera and/or subject. You could increase the ISO, but that will mean a lot of digital noise and you will still hit an upper limit.

So once you've reached that point, you are at the limits of what you can get from your camera. The only other option would be to add light (flash or other).

If you had a camera with an interchangeable lens, we could suggest getting a lens with a larger maximum aperture. That would allow you to get more exposure without sacrificing the shutter speed.
Another option would be a better camera, that has better performance at high ISO. Your camera only goes up to ISO 400 (800 at a reduced MP setting).
Most DSLR cameras will go up to 3200 or 6400, and still look really good at ISO 1600.

 

[MLeeK]

First you cannot use any zoom. Your lens aperture opens up to 2.0 but only at no zoom at all. Second you will have to raise your ISO. Probably well past 1600.
Third your shutter will need to be appropriate for the movement. If it's a chorus kind of thing where they are standing still you can get away with 1/125. If not you will need to bump to 1/250 or even higher if it's a fast dance kind of thing.
Then you pray. Because your camera isn't actually equipped to handle this extremely well.

Set up in aperture priority with an aperture of 2.0 and an ISO of 3200 and see how the shutter reacts. If it's still blurry then raise to ISO 6400.

 

[Big Mike]

Set up in aperture priority with an aperture of 2.0 and an ISO of 3200 and see how the shutter reacts. If it's still blurry then raise to ISO 6400.

As I mentioned above, their camera has a maximum ISO of 400. It goes to 800, but it said '800 at 2 MP'.

 

[smclaug]

Thank you guys for all of your wonderful comments. I bought this camera because it had a great optical zoom and because of the varioius picture settings. I guess I didn't know enough back then because it just doesn't perform well in distant indoor situations. I thought it was something I was doing but I guess it's just the camera. Since I don't have the high ISO settings you guys recommended, can you tell me what shutter, aperture and ISO I should try to get something better than the black pictures I am getting, at this point anything would be an improvement. I really don't know what half of this stuff is so but I am providing some additional specs I was able to get:

I have a PASM Mode:

• Program mode (P)—camera sets optimal shutter speed and aperture combination
• Aperture priority mode (A)—you choose aperture, the camera sets shutter speed
• Shutter priority mode (S)—you choose shutter speed, the camera sets aperture
• Manual mode (M)—you choose both the aperture and shutter speed

[h=3]Manual (M) Controls[/h]

• Exposure compensation—±2.0 EV in 1/3 EV step increments
• Aperture—f/2.8–f/3.7
• Shutter speeds—8–1/1000 sec. in 1/3 step increments
• ISO sensitivity—auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800[2](selectable)
• Auto focus—TTL multi-zone AF, center zone AF
• Exposure metering type—multi-pattern, center-weighted, center spot
• White balance—auto, daylight, tungsten, fluorescent, and open shade
• Flash mode—auto, off, fill, red-eye reduction

Again, I really don't know what any of this means but if I can get any type of picture at this point (until I can afford to buy a better camera) I would be happy. Thanks!

 

[MLeeK]

Set up in aperture priority with an aperture of 2.0 and an ISO of 3200 and see how the shutter reacts. If it's still blurry then raise to ISO 6400.

As I mentioned above, their camera has a maximum ISO of 400. It goes to 800, but it said '800 at 2 MP'.

Whoops! I was reading your post for specs when I was typing that! Guess I should probably have my coffee before I respond... It'd probably make more sense that way.

 

[MLeeK]

Use flash.
The only think you can do in this situation is add light.

Remember when they are performing that you don't have to expose for the DARK auditorium (and depending on how you are using the camera's metering system it will try to) but you have to expose for the LIGHT on the performers. If the aud is dark as pitch, but the stage is lit you are better off using your center spot metering. You don't want the camera to meter all of that dark as pitch.

 

[Dao]

Use flash.
The only think you can do in this situation is add light.

Remember when they are performing that you don't have to expose for the DARK auditorium (and depending on how you are using the camera's metering system it will try to) but you have to expose for the LIGHT on the performers. If the aud is dark as pitch, but the stage is lit you are better off using your center spot metering. You don't want the camera to meter all of that dark as pitch.

This must be a "after coffee" response.

 

[TCD photography]

What MLeeK said, expose for the lighted area. Also, if you're not already shooting in Manual, don't be afraid to try it. I took my Kodak Z712 to several concerts and it did pretty well (and would have done better if I had bumped the ISO above 64 :er.

 

[photo guy]

Different camera needed