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Stephanie Seto | profile | all galleries >> Fujifilm FinePix F10 Gallery >> Indoor Portraits tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Indoor Portraits

Updated May 29, 2006: Images 1-3 added.
Early Mother's Day dinner
Early Mother's Day dinner		 Robert and his sushi boat
Robert and his sushi boat		 Nancy and Grace
Nancy and Grace		 Enjoying a good cup of tea
Enjoying a good cup of tea
Dad and Mom
Dad and Mom		 Elaine and Jack
Elaine and Jack		 Robert and me, no flash
Robert and me, no flash		 Robert and me, with flash
Robert and me, with flash
Another self-portrait test
Another self-portrait test		 Mom and me, macro style
Mom and me, macro style

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w3 12-Jul-2005 17:44
Hi Stephanie,

You don't have to try under the same series 2 conditions. To test the "theory" without actually taking pictures, please just point your F10 at different areas of lighting conditions at home. Just half-press the shutter and read the shutter speed from the LCD. Try both the M mode SSF and SP Night mode SSF at each area. You will find that with M mode SSF there is a shutter speed floor of 1/12s, and it is less responsive above 1/12s as well. It climbs only a little bit even when there is more light. SP Night Mode SSF picks a wider shutter speed range down to 3s but it is also much more responsive when there is more light. It climbs much faster.
w3 12-Jul-2005 16:17
Hi Stephanie,

Looks like we both are determined to get to the bottom of this. ;-)
SP Night Mode SSF should work under the lighting condition similar to when the pictures "Robert and me" were taken (1/42s f/2.8 at 8.0mm iso400 No Flash; 1/100s f/2.8 at 8.0mm iso100 with Flash). You probably could do SP Night Mode SSF at ISO 100 with a shutter speed somewhere around 1/50s there and get better exposed pictures than the shot with normal flash at 1/100s. See if you can "test" (just look at the shutter speed on the LCD) under similar conditions without actually taking the shot. Sorry about the rain. It never rains in Southern California - Not. We just had an almost record shattering raining season. But it is not going to rain again for a long time.
Stephanie Seto12-Jul-2005 07:17
w3,

I tested your theory about using Night Mode with Slow Sync Flash (no pictures, just looked at the shutter speed) using the exact same scene as the one used in my ISO Test Shots with Flash, Series 2 gallery (http://www.pbase.com/sjseto/series_2 ). I even turned on two more lights in the room, to be more than fair. And it wasn't until ISO 800 that the shutter speed went faster than 1/15s (I was getting anywhere from 1/15s to 1/20s). Not too much of a difference. ISO 1600 provided more handhold-friendly shutter speeds, but in practice I can't see myself ever wanting to use ISO 1600 with flash.

So perhaps when I get a chance I'll try a portrait shot that has more light in the background, like a sunset or twilight scene, and see if that makes a difference. If the rain EVER stops here. We aren't called the wet coast for nothing.

Thanks for the suggestion.
w3 12-Jul-2005 05:56
Hi Stephanie,

Funny how you put it: "I was pretty confident that the person who took that picture would not be able to hand hold the camera steady enough to avoid a blurry shot." ... Confident that someone would NOT be able to do something ..... LOL

I tried the same thing (followed my own advice and used Slow Sync Flash) yesterday. And I was NOT confident that the person who took the pictures would be able to hand hold the camera steady enough to avoid blur. But I went ahead anyway ..... and got blurry shots. They were also at 1/15s. And the shots were overexposed besides blurred.

However, that was the Slow Sync Flash (SSF) under M mode. What I didn't try but should have was to use SSF under SP Night Mode. I did notice that the SP Night Mode SSF (which could have shutter slower than 1/12s - slower than M Mode SSF could when there is little light) has a tendency to pick a faster shutter speed when there is more light. I really think that it will work! I will try that next time and let you know (you may try that before I do).

Meanwhile, between you and me, if I have to take a reliable Flash shot with my F10, I would choose Auto ISO and Auto Flash and let it do its ISO 800 and 1/100s thing.
Stephanie Seto11-Jul-2005 15:25
Thanks for pointing out the capabilities of slow sync flash, however since the F10 uses a shutter speed of 1/15s on that setting, I was pretty confident that the person who took that picture would not be able to hand hold the camera steady enough to avoid a blurry shot. Most people, expecially those who aren't experienced in holding a camera, wouldn't. I decided that the underexposed background was the price I'd have to pay for getting a usuable image. It was shot from about 5 feet away.

I did use slow sync flash for another shot from the same evening, which turned out pretty well; only a slight amount of camera shake that wouldn't be noticeable as blur in a smaller image size. But the person in it would not want her picture posted publicly.

I don't expect miracles from the flash on a little point-and-shoot like the F10. I know it won't light up a big dark room. I try to keep flash shots fairly tight and intimate, e.g. not including too many people in the shot at once.

Thanks for saying I don't look like a geek. I put on a good front sometimes. But really, I don't mind admitting my geekiness. I was never one of the cool kids and that didn't change when I grew up; only difference is, now I don't care :)
w3 10-Jul-2005 13:26
Sorry, I was talking about the "Robert and me, with flash" picture, not the No flash picture. Are you ever a geek? Nah, don't look like one, don't talk like one even if trying and won't turn into one ever. So, don't worry, and keep talking. w3
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