Steve'sDigicams

symplistik · Oct 21, 2004, 10:02 PM

Hi everyone. This is my first time posting in the forum. Well , I recently brought a 3.3 megapixel HP 720 digital camera. I had seen a couple of gallery pictures that the camera had taken and they looked really good so I decided I wanted one. Ebay is the first place I checked because they have some really good deals on cameras. I found the one that I have now and brought it through Paypal.

The camera is in brand new condition. It looks and works perfectly but the pictures are horrible ! Very blurry and you can't even make them out. I really need some help. Maybe i'm doing something wrong and i'm hoping someone can give me some advice before I start complaining to the seller about wanting my money back. I'll attach a sample picture that I took of my sneakers so you can see how bad it looks. If someone would help me , I would really appreciate it. Thanks. :sad:

Oct 21, 2004, 11:05 PM

2 questions...ok, 3 questions:
1. Did you use a tripod?
2. Did you shoot in manual mode?
3. Do you have the shot information (aperture, shutter speed, focal distance, ISO, etc?
Otherwise, we are shooting in the dark.

QDravrah · Oct 22, 2004, 12:39 AM

Why don't you take it back to the seller and have him try to take a picture and check out how it looks in the lcd (and zoom in to see in detail) ? If he can't get it to take good pictures either, then return it...

It looks as if you have a defective product..

JimC · Oct 22, 2004, 8:17 AM

Your picture appears to have been taken with flash. The problem seems to be that it's simply of focus (although it *could* be motion blur if there was a lot of ambient light, it'svery unlikely at wide angle at 1/40 second with flash).

Your camera only appears to have one focus mode, that should get you relatively close (so that should rule out a setting problem).

Have you taken any photos in good light outdoors? Do they exhibit the same symptoms?

Indoors, what looks bright to you, may not be bright to the camera. Make sure you are getting a focus lock before deciding if the camera may have a problem (it may just be that you don't have enough light).

Half press the shutter button down. If the camera locks focus, you'll see the tiny LED by the viewfinder go steady. Then, press the shutter button down the rest of the way to take the photo.

If you are not gettting a focus lock, then you'll need better light and/or more contrast in your subject.

If they are still out of focus with focus lock, then I'd check your manual to see if there is a way to reset the camera to factory defaults. With some models, you need to leave the battery out overnight.

If these things don't solve it, and the camera won't focus outdoors in good light either, then it's probably defective.

fporch · Oct 22, 2004, 2:19 PM

Try some outdoor shots in auto, see what you get. If you're still having problems, make sure the camera is not in macro setting - I did this once and drove me to distraction untili figured it out.....good luck.

JimC · Oct 22, 2004, 2:30 PM

fporch wrote:

Quote:

Try some outdoor shots in auto, see what you get. If you're still having problems, make sure the camera is not in macro setting - I did this once and drove me to distraction untili figured it out.....good luck.

This model doesn't have a macro setting (I looked for that in Steve's review when I replied originally). ;-)

It should focus down to 20cm (around 8 inches) in it's one and only Autofocus Mode (provided light and subject contrast is good enough, so it's a very good idea to test it outside).

BillDrew · Oct 22, 2004, 9:09 PM

Get an EXIF viewer. That will let you see the shutter speed, aperature, ISO, and a bunch of other things. What else depends on the camera, so look carefully at the software that came with the camera or ask in the forum for your camera.

Keep trying stuff - since you don't have to pay for film and processing there is no reason not to try all kinds of things. A lot of things you try won't work: if you can figure out why the didn't work (to close, to far, to bright, to much contrast, to dark, to slow, to fast, metering issues, ...) you will learn a lot.

Oct 21, 2004, 10:02 PM	#1
symplistik Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 3	Hi everyone. This is my first time posting in the forum. Well , I recently brought a 3.3 megapixel HP 720 digital camera. I had seen a couple of gallery pictures that the camera had taken and they looked really good so I decided I wanted one. Ebay is the first place I checked because they have some really good deals on cameras. I found the one that I have now and brought it through Paypal. The camera is in brand new condition. It looks and works perfectly but the pictures are horrible ! Very blurry and you can't even make them out. I really need some help. Maybe i'm doing something wrong and i'm hoping someone can give me some advice before I start complaining to the seller about wanting my money back. I'll attach a sample picture that I took of my sneakers so you can see how bad it looks. If someone would help me , I would really appreciate it. Thanks. :sad: Attached Images

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Oct 21, 2004, 11:05 PM	#2
Guest Guest Posts: n/a	2 questions...ok, 3 questions: 1. Did you use a tripod? 2. Did you shoot in manual mode? 3. Do you have the shot information (aperture, shutter speed, focal distance, ISO, etc? Otherwise, we are shooting in the dark.

Oct 22, 2004, 12:39 AM	#3
QDravrah Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 11	Why don't you take it back to the seller and have him try to take a picture and check out how it looks in the lcd (and zoom in to see in detail) ? If he can't get it to take good pictures either, then return it... It looks as if you have a defective product..

Oct 22, 2004, 8:17 AM	#4
JimC Administrator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Savannah, GA (USA) Posts: 22,378	Your picture appears to have been taken with flash. The problem seems to be that it's simply of focus (although it could be motion blur if there was a lot of ambient light, it'svery unlikely at wide angle at 1/40 second with flash). Your camera only appears to have one focus mode, that should get you relatively close (so that should rule out a setting problem). Have you taken any photos in good light outdoors? Do they exhibit the same symptoms? Indoors, what looks bright to you, may not be bright to the camera. Make sure you are getting a focus lock before deciding if the camera may have a problem (it may just be that you don't have enough light). Half press the shutter button down. If the camera locks focus, you'll see the tiny LED by the viewfinder go steady. Then, press the shutter button down the rest of the way to take the photo. If you are not gettting a focus lock, then you'll need better light and/or more contrast in your subject. If they are still out of focus with focus lock, then I'd check your manual to see if there is a way to reset the camera to factory defaults. With some models, you need to leave the battery out overnight. If these things don't solve it, and the camera won't focus outdoors in good light either, then it's probably defective.

Oct 22, 2004, 2:19 PM	#5
fporch Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 332	Try some outdoor shots in auto, see what you get. If you're still having problems, make sure the camera is not in macro setting - I did this once and drove me to distraction untili figured it out.....good luck.

Oct 22, 2004, 9:09 PM	#7
BillDrew Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Hay River Township, WI Posts: 2,512	Get an EXIF viewer. That will let you see the shutter speed, aperature, ISO, and a bunch of other things. What else depends on the camera, so look carefully at the software that came with the camera or ask in the forum for your camera. Keep trying stuff - since you don't have to pay for film and processing there is no reason not to try all kinds of things. A lot of things you try won't work: if you can figure out why the didn't work (to close, to far, to bright, to much contrast, to dark, to slow, to fast, metering issues, ...) you will learn a lot.