New A95 - concerned

[inthedark]

Thanks to DCRP review and other reviews, I just bought a new A95. I got it on Monday, and I've taken some test shots, inside and outside. But the pictures don't look as crisp and clear as I expected. In fact, I'm disappointed.

Here's some test picture (http://www.pbase.com/inthedark/a95_test). I'm just using the Auto setting, just pointin' and shootin'.

Do you think there's a setting I missed? Any feedback?

[Desertrat1981]

My Dad was having trouble with his A95 at first too, but for some reason whenever I get my hands on it it's really sharp. The light looks a bit dim where your shooting, the lense on the A95 is not huge, I think aflash would have made those pictures come out alot better. It looks to me as though the ISO setting is getting adjusted too high. Did you turn on Af assist? Also the default setting are for fine not superfine mode, make sure you set the resolution to max and then set it to Superfine (the curve icon with the S in it).

here is a link to some outdoors pics I took with my Dad's A95 last weekend.

Desert Pictures (http://desertrat.servepics.com/Glamis-Halloween-2004/)

These were taken at the highest resolution and the highest detail, then shrunk to 1024 and compressed to 70% quality! They still look very sharp compared to what you seem to be getting. The origionals are jsut that much better!

[inthedark]

Thanks for the feedback, desertrat. Nice four wheelers!

The resolution for these pictures was 2592x1944, superfine. I'll up the resolution to the max, and turn on the AF assist. I'll keep playing around other settings, and finish reading the manual. I was just disappointed with the initial pictures, but maybe there's hope. I won't return it yet. :cool:

[Terracotta]

I've got an A95 as well and here are some comments looking at the photos... first off the camera is having to work hard in all of them, the flash is used, they're at high ISO & the aperture is very open on all of the shots, like on my X20 the A95 likes to open the aperture rather than reduce the shutter speed, and quite right so!

IMG_0026.JPG & IMG_0022.JPG – In 26 the boys torso is in focus but his abdomen isn't, then for 22 the opposite is true torso is out of focus, the abdomen is in focus. Both are easily explained when you look at the aperture, it's stopped right open & you're shooting down at an angle, now I've found out that the A95 has a surprisingly shallow Depth of Field (DoF) compared to other digital compacts as seen in The Last Johnsons Blue (http://www.pbase.com/terrac/image/35737937). Looking at the background focus, this also confirms my feeling, the main differences is where the AF has chosen to place it's focus points, which to me are quite logical i.e. where the highest contrast is.

IMG_0042.JPG
Well the trailer seems to have a small amount of motion blur and with a shutter speed at 1/15 it's possible, but then again the wall beyond the fence seems to be the AF's true target here! Again the aperture is stopped wide, or almost wide, open reducing the DoF & the most contrasting texture is also at the point of best focus.

IMG_0044.JPG
Well the face looks to be almost perfectly in focus, and from there on the focus falls off, I think her top looks soft cause it's got soft curves on it and the camera does tend to turn the saturation up a notch or two, in other words it needs a little post-processing.

Personalty I find Av & Tv mode are much more useful than full auto Av when you know the shutter speed will be low & Tv when you want to keep the shutter speed low. For the record I get the most consistently accurate results when I have AF & Spot AE Point set to "Center", ISO is manually set to 50 or 100 & metering is 'Center Weighted Avg.”.

EDIT: Oh yeah, though the A95 has a shallow DoF the focus doesn't drop off very quickly and therefore looks soft rather than out of focus.

[Vette1]

Sorry I don't have anything useful to add to this post but I too just got the A95 and am having trouble getting good shots as well.

I thought it was a good beginner 'point and shoot' camera but I regret getting it. I am not blaming the camera but it just seems you need to know what you are doing. My old Kodak Easyshare took some really nice pictures but was only 2 megapixels and I needed something better.

[Rian]

Give yourself time to get used to it, I think your pics look pretty good. I have a new A95 also, shots seem to be a little fuzzier than my old A40, but I'm getting better at settings and holding still and my shots are improving. I think it's a good camera, but it will pay to really get to know its settings and not just set it at "Auto" and go. Just like anything else, it takes practice.

On the other hand, you could trade down for a true point & shoot, there are plenty out there to choose from.

Good luck.

[inthedark]

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate the help. One reason why I bought the A95 was because I wanted to learn some of the manual controls. All I've ever had in the past were true point and shoot film cameras (this is my first digital), but I wanted to step up from there, and the A95 seems like a nice choice. I'll keep playing around with it, and hopefully soon I can get better quality pictures.

I haven't given up yet! I've seen the quality in other people's pictures, so I know the camera is capable.