Sony point and shoot tips please!

[badger126]

Hey I've been trying to learn a little about photography and how to take decent pics. First thing I learned is that my camera sucks but I already knew that. Anyways, by searching the forum I've found some pretty slick photos taken by Sony Cybershots. I have a Cybershot DSC-H10 and I can't seem to find the settings that will get me some good shots. Does anyone else have one that can share their settings and some pointers?

 

[IPT]

you'll have to be specific? "Good shots" of what? A sunset, a tank, an indoor scene? You are gonna use different settings and strategies for each.

 

[badger126]

Haha sorry I figured reef forum = questions about taking reef pictures. Looking for advice on taking good pics of coral. I can't seem to zoom in close enough to get a decent picture. The one in my avatar is my best but anything smaller than that I can't seem to make work

 

[Reef Bass]

If point and shoot cameras could rival the performance of a dslr with macro lens attached, there wouldn't be much demand for those.

IMHO, you've pushed the limits of what you can do with your camera with your avatar. There might be "pseudo macro" attachments available, but what it sounds like you're wanting is a macro lens on a dslr.

Also, judging from the prevalence of blue in your pic, I'm guessing you're not white balancing properly or at all. The best way to do that is to shoot in RAW mode and set the color temperature during post processing. Unfortunately, your camera is not capable of that, so your only option is to fiddle with custom white balances which are less accurate and a pain, again imho.

 

[IPT]

Well, not sure this will help but here are a few things. General tank shooting suggestions include turning off the pumps, shooting straight on to the glass, and using a tripod. Not sure what editing software you are using. Looking att he cameras specs you have several White balances you can choose from. SInce you can't shoot RAW like suggested and manually adjust it I would take a series of shots with all the other paremters beign equal and see what setting yileds the best results. I would use the MAcro mode but you probably are.

If you are looking to get highly magnified macro images you will likely be limited by the gear. Only way to find out is to push it as far as it will take you with good technical form and see what you get. Post processing can also help quite a bit. You may need to spend some time with your software and learn it well.

These were on Vacation with my moms junky P&S - so decent images can be made by the majority of cameras out there...within reason of course. If I had my DLSR with I likely would have taken very different shots overall. They also would have been better in overall quality.

 

[lisafoster]

Those look great I am having trouble on my new sony cybershot with the flash showing in the pics.

 

[lisafoster]