Hi all, Since I have a new, more "advanced" body, the N80, I tried taking some shots I would have avoided in the past. The results were awful-- not one good shot on the entire role, a miserable 0-for-24 (Kodak Gold 200).
In the past, I would avoid two types of shots: 1) indoor shots and 2) outdoor "high sun" shots in the fair weather months (i.e. during the hours of about 10:00-4:00). In doing so, I have assured myself decent, but not necessarily perfect, results. Since the N80 has a better metering system (10-segment) and a pop-up flash that is supposed to be pretty good, I figured: "let me see what it can do." As I have said, the results were dreadful. Here are the main issues. 1) Every indoor flash shot showed at least moderate spotlight/wash- out effect of the subject (people). 2) On the outdoor "high sun" shots, the camera turned a seemingly minor shadows (through the viewfinder) on the subject's face into a black blobs that covered almost all of the subject's face. 3) When taking indoor shots with the flash, I would meter (10- segment) something like 1/30 or 1/45 or perhaps 1/60 at, say, f2. With the flash powered up, I do not think it ever metered differently. For example, 1/30 at f/2 was still 1/30 at f/2 with the flash enabled. Is this correct, or is there something wrong with my camera? 4) The one decent shot in the whole role--an indoor shot using only available light...go figure?--was spoiled by some sort of small speck on the subject's face. I usually keep my filter free of dust, etc. Could this speck have appeared as a result of the cheap processing I used (Wal-Mart C-41)? I know that using a fill flash may have alleviated the problem expressed in issue number 2, but, since I have had my subjects turn a bit ghastly by using the flash, I am hesitant to use it indoors or outdoors. I would appreciate any advice or commentary (or even pep talk), as I am pretty down about this. What good is a more "advanced" camera if I cannot even come remotely close to satisfactory results on the more difficult shots (i.e. indoor, "high sun," etc.)? Thanks, Glen -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
