Poor Quality Digital Pix....suggestions?

[cynthia howard]

Hello,
I use an Olympus D510 2.1 megapixel camera and often am really disappointed in my pix. Brick houses are generally fine but if there is siding or strong horizontal lines, I often get an ugly moire pattern on the siding and sometimes on the roof as well. I have seen the same effect in some MLS pictures but I would like sharper pictures if possible. I have tried focussing on the brick part of the house and then recentering before I shoot, different angles, and on the olympus you can choose different quality prints and I have tried this. No one thing seems to noticeably improve this. Any suggestions?
Second question( I know, I know, only one question to a customer - but I am thinking of picking up a new camera with say 4 megapixels and many people in the past have mentioned they liked their Kodaks, anyone out there with Canons or Olympus?
Thanks for any comments,
Cynthia

 

[Mountain Man]

I had an Olympus D-380. Quit using it due to crummy pics, but it was a lighting problem. Even on bright sun day, the photos looked like there was a dark storm over head. Changing the camera settings from default helped, but was still not great. So I went back to a Kodak, much better , and love the DC4340. Bought it for the zoom lense, and got it on line for $315 new. Then bought a multi-card reader ($40) as my computer did not like the Shareware software. But the card reader turned out to be a very good purchase, as it will read any kind of memory card. The Olympus in now an emergency backup.

As for the resolution, I keep mine set on minimum anyway. Makes for smaller PDF files, and the 1 or 2 million mega-pixs are not going to show up on a computer screen, or look any better when printed out with a typical color jet printer.

 

[Pat Butler]

Try to shoot at the highest resolution possible. It sounds like just a bad camera. If that doesn't help then you can bring the image into an editing program like and rotate it slightly (like 1 degree.) When you rotate a photo its pixels get remapped and that'll sometimes get rid of a moire. If you find that that works, then you can shoot the photo at a slight rotation then bring it back level again in your software.

Or you can apply a slight blur filter and that'll help too. But all in all, sounds like the camera just doesn't take good pictures anyway.

 

[EDWARD BERRY]

I GET that effect sometimes on Vinyl and sometimes on the roof.(2%)

In you case, perhaps another RE person could try with theit camera on same house at same time of day.

If same the its just life, if different it is your camera and /or settings.

Happy bytes, ed

 

[airphoto]

Cynthia,

Bet your problem is only apparent on the montior .. how do your piccies look after your appraisal has been converted to *.pdf? How do your piccies look if you print to a laser printer? Bet they come out just fine ..

 

[Joe Gomberg]

First off, I'm in no way affiliated with Kodak or being paid for my comment here. :rofl:

About picture quality; lighting is the number one reason for quality issues in most cases. Just like taking that picture with the sun glaring down... you get a nice shot of the sky and composite roof but cant see anything underneath it.

My take on digital cameras..

Having used several digital cams, I still favor Kodak the best. Not saying they are the best but for me they are easy to use and if you know what your looking for, cheap to buy.

Most all Kodaks have a menu where you can find information about the camera. This info also tells you how many photos were shot with that camera, not how many were put on a flash card, but actually total of all pictures shot with that camera. Why is this significant? I purchased my 2nd DC215 (was about a $400 cam when it came out) for $80 at a pawn shop. It had 35 pictures taken from it. My flash card reader is 10 bucks and goes in my camera bag so I can hook up to any computer with a usb slot and download photos with no additional software, bs, etc.

 

[cynthia howard]

Greatly appreciate the input.
I will definitely borrow someone else's camera and compare to see if it is the camera or the monkey shooting the pictures .
I have tried the rotating the camera and/or the picture with little success and it is NOT my monitor because my principal appraiser is always lamenting over the pictures with siding. I suspect it is the camera.
What I have done though, since hearing a general opinion of the Kodaks, is go check them out at best buy and last night on Ebay I got a second hand DC215 for very little money. I will see how that works and then maybe look at a slightly higher end Kodak. Does everyone like the docking station?

Cynthia

 

[Pat Butler]

Are you printing the pictures out or just viewing them on your monitor? The monitor will tend to give you more of a moire pattern because of its low resolution. Sometimes it'll look bad on the screen yet still print just fine.

 

[Restrain]

On a typical printer, 800x600 or VGA settings is more than sufficient for the typical house. A megapixil is essentially 1 MB in the file, which can overload e-mail systems real quick. Don't worry about how it looks on the monitor, but rather how it looks on the page.

BTW, I use a Sony 52. Fast, easy, great photos with no problems.

Roger

 

[Rich Hahn]

Adobe Photoshop
filter,
sharpen or sharpen more, really helps.

Nikon
Nikon
Nikon
Nikon
is the answer.