CarolynMcMullin

I bought a new a Nikon Coolpix B700. I'm having difficulty getting my pictures to be clear. The camera is hard to keep the picture steady on zoom. My other camera is a Rebel Tri3 - Canon and I have lots of options for picture settings. Portrait to sports, close up to mountains. I bought the Nikon so I would not have to bring an extra lens and it was light weight and smaller for when we go on vacation. So what might I be doing wrong.. settings, etc. Just need to have some advice on what to do - settings, secrets, Thanks, Carolyn

MadMikeOne Loc: So. NJ Shore - a bit west of Atlantic City

Please post a couple of images and check the "store original" box so we can see your EXIF data. Then we will be able to give better advice.

OOPS - Forgot to say "welcome!".

CarolynMcMullin

Ok, I'll do that later on , busy now.....

terry44 Loc: Tuolumne County California, Maui Hawaii

Welcome to the forum, I bought the B700 for its raw image capability, I like it but it holds no candle to my D7100 or the D800. Are you shooting jpg, or raw?. Are you also shooting at near full zoom if so you probably need to use a tripod the B700 I have does fine with medium zoom but I use a tripod to steady it at full or near full zoom.

CarolynMcMullin

Thank you, jpg and at 3/4 to full zoom. When we go on our vacation I didn't want to carry an extra lens so I bought this one for those faraway castles....I do have a monopod, ( and several tripods) not sure that would be easy to carry around while walking and site seeing. Thank you for your information. This camera is several lbs lighter than my other one...I have to practice more and do some dry runs to see what will work for me.

terry44 Loc: Tuolumne County California, Maui Hawaii

The monopod might be enough for you as the camera is light and you might not be a shaky as I am. It is a nice camera I cant get the snapbridge to work but really don't need it anyhow. Have fun shooting with it.

cthahn

You need to take some classes and learn the basics of photography. Just purchasing a camera and expecting to get good pictures immediately is dreaming. The photographer takes the picture, not the camera. Join a camera club. There is always someone there to help you.

Festus Loc: North Dakota

The Nikon B700 zooms to about 1440mm I believe. If You zoom out past about 300 to 400mm you need to use a tripod.

mikeroetex Loc: Lafayette, LA

Most people do not take into account that at full zoom, even a tiny amount of movement is multiplied. Most, including those of us past 45, don't have steady enough hands or good enough technique to pull it off. And a lightweight camera doesn't have enough heft to balance properly when hand held.

Think about it, any shake, ever so slight at 60x zoom. To get an idea of the effect, hold a long curtain rod extended to 8 feet or more in your hand. Flex your wrist about an inch and watch the far end move 6-8 inches.

Get a monopod or tripod or a bean bag and look for something to steady yourself. I've gotten to where, except for action shots at high shutter speed, I use a tripod for almost all photos, just for that rock steadiness. My hands just aren't as strong as when I was a kid. Fortunately, there are tools to compensate!

lhardister Loc: Brownsville, TN

Hi, Carolyn,

I too have a B700 and I feel that it compares quite well to other cameras of this type. With your statement that "The camera is hard to keep the picture steady on zoom", I think you have essentially identified the major aspect of your problem, that is, camera shake. As others have suggested, it would be helpful if you would post some pictures for them to analyze, but in the meantime I suggest working on the matter of camera shake. (1.) Try using a tripod. Make test shots at long, medium, and short focal lengths. Camera shake becomes much more noticeable at the longer focal lengths. Try releasing the shutter with the 2-sec or 10-sec timer on the camera and your hand removed from the camera--or use a cable/remote shutter release. Try setting the camera in the "S" mode (shutter priority) at 1/1000 sec or higher--the faster shutter speed will help to "freeze" the motion of camera shake. The classic advice seems to be to turn VR (vibration reduction, same as image stabilization on your Canon) off while using a tripod, but some say that it does not matter; perhaps you should try it both ways and see for yourself what difference it makes. (2.) When not shooting from a tripod, use some sort of rest, like a monopod, a post, a wall, a tree, a monopod, the window of your car with a beanbag or piece of foam over the top edge--anything to help steady the camera. Use VR and when you press the shutter to autofocus, wait to see the VR steady the image before releasing the shutter. (3.) Research and read articles on good shooting technique--you could start with the search feature on UHH.

In addition, you might want to check the "AF area mode" setting that you are using to be sure that it is appropriate for the type of picture you happen to be taking at a particular time. If shooting birds at longer focal lengths, you probably want to use the "manual spot" setting to focus as much as possible on the bird and not its surroundings. If shooting broad landscapes, you would probably want "manual wide" to try to get as much of the scene as possible into focus. In order to use these options, you will have to shift out of the auto shooting modes, (i.e. the "green camera icon" and "Scene" modes), and go to the P, S, A or M modes on the shooting mode dial. To be consistent, of the P,S, A, M modes, I suggest concentrating on the "S" mode until you become comfortable with trying the other modes.

Shooting these cameras, especially at longer focal lengths, is sort of like shooting a fine rifle at long ranges. Regardless of its capabilities, one cannot reasonably expect to do well without practice.

Best regards,

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

Canon, Nikon, Sony, it doesn't matter. With the long telephoto, especially with a light camera, you really will need a tripod or at least a monopod. Perhaps a few folk could get by just by bracing against a wall or a window-sill, but most of us really need the tripod.

suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ

I think the key tip here is "with the long telephoto, especially with a light camera..." That happens too with DSLRs and mirrorless cameras with the cheaper, mostly plastic light lenses that zoom out - much harder to manage than the heavy lenses especially in the wind.

twowindsbear

Are you using the camera's image stabilization? It works wonders with my Nikon P500 at long and maximum zoom.

Good luck

CarolynMcMullin

I'll have to check and see if the stabilizer is set. With my Canon I have used my husband's shoulder or back to help brace me when the wind is blowing. Thank you everyone for your suggestions I'm looking forward to tying more setting on my new camera.