Fuzzy images when enlarged


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Old 02-12-13, 08:28 AM
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Fuzzy images when enlarged

I am currently looking to upgrade to higher level equipment, but for now I have my Nikon cool pix and canon ixia hg21 (the cannon is also a video camera). When I send pics to Costco to enlarge them, they always have an alert saying that the quality will be effected. When I get 10x12 they are decent enough but definitiely fuzzy. Is there a setting on my cameras that would allow for higher quality prints when blown up?
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Old 02-12-13, 08:43 AM
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The more pixels in the picture, the larger image you can make from it.

Sounds like you need a camera with greater resolution. If you do a lot of long range pictures, a better optical zoom would likely also be in order.
 
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Old 02-13-13, 03:36 AM
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That is right in that a higher megapixel camera and a better quality lens will help improve picture quality.

You can however work with what you have now to improve your images.
The first thing to figure out is if being fuzzy when enlarged is from too large a print size for the resolution of your camera or perhaps motion blur from an unsteady hand or settings on the camera that make the images more susceptible to movement.

The Canon camera you are referring to I believe is a movie camera that is capable of stills and is 3 mp in resolution....is this so and what model is the Nikon?
3 mp is fairly low resolution by today's standards but I believe with the correct camera settings you should get a reasonable 10x12 print.

1. I would first try to ensure that you have a good grip on the camera and try to hold as steady as you can when taking the pic.
2. A tripod would also be a good investment and would let you try to stabilize the camera.
3. The more zoom you use the more camera motion when taking the picture will occur.
4. Taking pictures in low light will cause the camera to slow down the shutter speed to the point that an unsteady hand will cause the pictures to be unclear.
5. You can also make sure the ISO setting on the camera is set to a high value.
Most modern cameras can do fairly well at ISO 400 and should be the setting you are using.
6. Not sure what settings you are using but you could experiment with other than automatic settings.
There should be a choice of Tv which sets the shutter speed and lets the lens opening vary to set the exposure.
Provided it is fairly bright outside once you turn the setting to Tv there will be a way of adjusting the setting to a minimum of around 125 which is 1/125 th of a second exposure which will be a good place to start.

I think that if you were to use a tripod, take pictures in fairly bright light and minimize zoom you will be surprised at the difference in your pictures.
A way for you to see the quality of your pictures is when viewing them in Windows use the zoom feature to see the effect of your experimenting......this will be the same as making a bigger enlargement.
If you have any questions about camera settings just ask.
 

Last edited by GregH; 02-13-13 at 09:46 AM. Reason: Typo
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Old 02-13-13, 09:46 AM
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One thing I forgot to mention is a problem with digital as opposed to optical zoom.
Digital zoom lowers the quality of an image considerably over using optical zoom.
If you need more zoom than your camera offers you will get much better results to take the picture at the cameras maximum optical zoom and then crop the image in your computer if you want the subject to appear larger.
 
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Old 02-28-13, 03:08 AM
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I see this thread is a bit old by a couple of weeks but thought I would put my two cents in. I have a Nikon D3000 digital slr camera and it has a resolution of 10 megapixels. It also has an anti-vibration body and lens that helps you take a good picture even if your hand moves slightly. I am quite pleased with the camera as it has taken some really fabulous pictures. It is great for low light and bright light and has a built in picture correction feature right in the camera so you can do some basic edits. The D3000 now is an older model and they have models with even more features on them now but it is a good model to use for comparison shopping and can probably still be found on e-bay which is where I found my camera at auction.
 
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Old 02-28-13, 08:49 AM
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It's been my experience that camera brand is important - the camera hedgeclippers mentioned above is a Nikon and they have a good reputation. Conversely, it's been my experience one should have lower expectations with a Vivitar.
 
 

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