Point&Shoot deficiency

[mnhermit]

Here's a reason that point&shoots are deficient. This is a photo of a sunset that was predominantly red, but the auto exposure stepped the f-stop down so that the pale yellows became the dominant color - it makes for an impressive shot, but not what I was trying to capture.

Do any of you have recommendations for how I might get the little p&s camera do what I'd have done on my old Kodak RetinaII?

[brucemacneill]

No clue but I was thinking similarly last night when there was a herd of deer in my back yard at dusk. I probably could have shot them with my old Pentax SLR but not having an adjustable digital I knew there wasn't going to be enough light for a decent exposure. Of course, you could always throw money at the problem.

[mnhermit]

Oct 18, 2011 14:10:16 GMT -5 brucemacneill said:

Of course, you could always throw money at the problem.

Just what I'm trying to avoid

[Ian]

Most of my digital cameras would hold exposure settings if I held the button half way down. I would point the camera a bit low - at the darker foreground, until I saw an exposure I wanted, press and hold the button half way, pan up and snap the picture.

[mnhermit]

Oct 28, 2011 22:42:44 GMT -5 @Ian said:

Most of my digital cameras would hold exposure settings if I held the button half way down. I would point the camera a bit low - at the darker foreground, until I saw an exposure I wanted, press and hold the button half way, pan up and snap the picture.

Thanks Ian, I'll try to remember that next time.

[Kramster]

Half way down on the button does help... also depends on camera..my Sony DSC-HX9V seems to enhance the color as opposed to my Nikon S8000

[Deleted]

Don't leave your white balance set on Auto... set it for daylight, and use the 1/2-way down on the shutter release technique while reading a medium tone, not pointed right at the light. Auto WB will want to compensate for the extra warmth of the light at sunset. Daylight WB shouldn't do that.

[mnhermit]

Thanks Howard, I'll do that.

[sekhmet]

Looks like you have the answers mnhermit. And then again, you could buy an SLR and have to do exactly the same thing. You might be able to fix this one in post-processing.

The major problem with little point and shoots is the delay between the time you click the shutter and the actual exposure. I took a lot of there it was photos before Canon finally brought out an SLR that was financially feasible.

[Kramster]

Old thread here...the new Point and Shoots are coming along....new Sonys are pretty cool

[jdd2]

I picked up a sony dsc-rx100 P&S earlier today, about $550.

www.dpreview.com/products/sony/compacts/sony_dscrx100/overview

kakaku.com/item/K0000386303/ 4.77 out of 5 (scroll down about six screenfulls)

amazon folks also like it:
www.amazon.co.jp/product-reviews/B00898JY8E/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_top?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

[Deleted]

I was looking at that Sony last week ... before I went DSLR I had a Sony that was great. I'm without a P&S right now ... seriously considering this Sony.

[Deleted]

I found the sony cameras (RX100) just too small and sold mine after a couple of months use. My Ricoh GR while small is quite useable and acts like a professional camera, and my Fuji XE1 with the deal right now is about as good as it gets if you learn how to get the best jpeg or shoot RAW and process with the proper software.

[sekhmet]

Sony has some really beautiful 4.5 cameras coming out. One releasing today - full frame. A little pricey but very nice.

[Deleted]

Something else just occurred to me... next time you shoot at sunset, try photographing the landscape on which the light is falling, rather than pointing right into the sunset itself. In other words, rotate yourself 90-180° from the sun. You may be surprised at the results.