Critique/help with my 35mm film shots

newbie123456789

Suspended / Banned
Messages
17
Edit My Images
Yes
just recieved scans back of some photos i took in derbyshire. i'm disappointed, as the ones that actually came back in focus look pretty much the same to the ones i took on my compact digital camera.

the camera is a minolta 500si with 35-70 3.5-4.5 lens, using ektar 100 film.

is there any advice of where i went wrong or how to take a better focused (particularly in close portraits or moving shots, as none of these worked) shot?

i would post this with the critique prefix but i dont know how, also dont know how to post individual pics (useless i know) so here's the link to the flickr set

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nthornetc/sets/72157627179716139/

feel very disheartened, 36 exposures and only 1 or 2 decent ones :(
 
just recieved scans back of some photos i took in derbyshire. i'm disappointed...

feel very disheartened, 36 exposures and only 1 or 2 decent ones :(

Pretty average return, 1 or 2 shots per roll is pretty much what I get.

Have just looked through your pics and I can see your problem. To be honest the AF is not the best, it's slow and tends to hunt in low light or difficult scenes. The lens you've got is also a bit slow, you might have better luck with a Minolta 50mm AF.
 
Last edited:
Try posting in the 'Photos from Film' section further down the forum listing if you want critique.

What mode did you use to take these? It looks like a problem with depth of field rather than focus looking through some of them, especially on the close ups where everything the camera has focused on seems sharp. Nothing seems wrong with most of the landscape shots, their in focus, if your referring to the foreground being out of focus then read my explanation below.
Before I go any further can I ask how much you know about photography regarding apertures, shutter speeds etc?

If your clued up on that then ignore the next section.

On close ups like those of the flowers, depth of field (how much of the image is in focus around the point/object focused on) decreases the closer the object you focus on. So in case of the flowers for instance, the flower you focused on will be in focus and the background/foreground will be out of focus if you take it on 'small' f number such as f3.5 as there will be only a small amount of depth of field. On a larger number such as f16 or f22 more will be in focus. Thats why on the landscape shots some of the foreground looks out of focus, the camera has focused to infinity and theres not enough depth of field to have the foreground in focus as well.

A compact digital has a much much much smaller sensor than a 35mm frame, so there will be much more depth of field (I'll try to avoid technical explanations so take it as I say) but you have less control over it.

Did you use the 'program' mode on that camera? I have a 505si super and if you use the program mode where you have the camera select the aperture and shutter speed then thats likely the source of your problems, the camera doesn't know what you want in focus etc so its selcted a small f number to keep shutter speed up and avoid camera shake. If you use the scene modes such as landscape, portrait etc then it can help alleviate the problem as it weights the cameras choice towards what sort of aperture it will select as in landscapes for example you will want lots of depth of field so it will select and aperture such as f16 to give you this.

The ones that seem very dark are simply underexposed, i.e theres not enough light for the chosen aperture/shutter speed. 100 speed film is a little slow for pictures like that, try using 400 speed film or use a tripod to allow you to use a long shutter speed.

You can help by shooting the aperture priority mode ('A' mode) where you select an aperture and the camera selects the correct shutter speed. For landscapes or close ups such the ones you've taken, use between f11 and f22 to get more or most of the image in focus. There is always a limit though so try to avoid having things very close in the picture if your focusing on something far away. For portraits shoot between the minimum and around f8. Be mindful of shutter speed though, if its less than 1/30th, select a smaller f number to get a faster shutter speed and have less chance of camera shake. With action shots, try using shutter priority ('S' mode) where you select a shutter speed and the camera selects an aperture. 1/125th to 1/500th will freeze most action.

You've done a good job, most of the pictures are quite good, just learn how to use the camera and try to improve the composition by not having very close and far away objects in the picture for example. I would recommend getting a basic book on using an SLR, its the same principles for digital and film. Also try asking around in the 'basics' section of the forum if you have any questions.

BTW that lens is fine for what your using it for, just take my advice above and you'll start to see an improvement. It may be a kit lens, but it is pin sharp with very little distortion and aberrations. Just a shame they couldn't make a little better built.
 
Last edited:
***feel very disheartened, 36 exposures and only 1 or 2 decent one***

Well I make a possible 14 with a bit of manipulation in Photoshop...but cant copy from flickr to play with a few (in PS).
 
thanks for the responses, yeh raglansurf it was being a little b****r near these really old dark railway tunnels, couldn't get it to shoot, despite the many profanities aimed its way. i'll try posting some in that thread too!


wow thanks so much s162216 i really appreciate the essay of a post! i did have it in the pre sets, landscape, sport etc, as i wasnt feeling particularly confident :/ . But im definitely going to take your advice about apperture and shutter priority for those scenes during attempt 2 next week!

excalibur2 im mid trying to upload them to tumblr as we speak from which you could try and inject some photoshop magic into, i'll edit the link in when they've done :)
 
Be careful with close ups though, using an aperture like f16 is all very good, but it will usually give you a slow shutter speed which is beneath what could be hand holdable. The close ups of the flowers you did (such as http://www.flickr.com/photos/nthornetc/5985421903/in/datetaken/) are fine, your keeping the eye on what you want the picture to be of, if the background was in focus as well then it would distract your attention away from the subject of the image, i.e the flower. Try to make them less 'cluttered' by framing it so that the main subject is not surrounded by other distracting objects.

Its difficult to get any sort of camera to focus in dark locations, switch to manual focus if the camera is unable to. Also I noticed that one picture was a bit underexposed because the sun was in the top corner, use the exposure compensation if your in a sitation like that, just add +1.0 stops. Look in the manual for how to use it.
 
Back
Top