Lensbaby edge 80 problem?
Please what am i doing wrong? MY images are sometimes very blurry sometimes very bright sometimes very dark… What i have to adjust in my camera to take the perfect picture? I'm using Nikon D5100 composer pro+edge 80 optic.
Using Manual Mode? Taking images in low light? These are the most difficult. I only use Manual Mode when mixing ambient light to flash, or when filming video for effect (fade to black for instance).
Use Aperture Priority (A or Av Mode) set ISO as low as possible, set aperture with depth of field in mind, half press the shutter and the camera will tell you what the shutter speed needs to be. It will be slower than you think in low light, slower shutter speeds leads to blur in your pics.
Raise the ISO and your images might be noisier, but the shutter speed will be faster and will have less blur.
Still a tad too dark or light? Then adjust the EV compensation, that's what it's there for and why it's always easily accessible.
To avoid blur due to camera movement the camera has to be rock steady whilst the shutter is open, holing the camera at arms length in live view is not the way to go, use the viewfinder as another point of contact with your body, tuck your elbows in cradle the lens in your left hand and gently 'squeeze' the shutter with your right hand. With practise longer shutter speeds can be hand held. Or, of course, you can use a tripod.
Alexandra,
The Lensbaby system can be tricky to work with. You'll just have to keep experimenting. Because you haven't said what you're trying to shoot, how close to it you are or what the lighting conditions are, it's a tad tough to answer your question in any definitive way. But here are some tips, in general, to try:
- If you shoot with the Edge 80 pointed straight ahead you'll get less of the selective blur effect - are you starting with the optic straight, then tilting, then adjusting the focusing ring to position the focus slice (decide whether to use a horizontal, vertical or diagonal slice for the effect you want to achieve)
- Related, a little bit of tilt goes a long way with the Lensbaby optics - just get it a touch off center, don't radically twist if you don't want a lot of blur (the amount of angle from the lens to your subject affects the blurring)
- What also matters is whether you're shooting straight on to your subject or from an angle - depending on which it is, the angle of tilt on your lens can make a difference in the sharpness or blurriness (because all the tilting is so customized there's no way we can tell you an exact setting, sorry)
- Your aperture size will affect the width of the sharp slice you get with the Edge 80 - with a smaller aperture the slice of sharpness becomes wider (Google it if you need to understand small & large aperture settings)
- If you tilt the optic diagonally, you'll get a wedge of focus rather than a slice of focus - a wedge will likely not extend across your whole photo
- When you tilt the Edge 80 your camera may not be able to meter properly - so you'll have to check your histogram and make any needed adjustments to the exposure (that would impact the "brightness" you're talking about). Exposure Compensation adjustments would be one way to deal with a skewed histogram, along with ISO adjustments
Good luck. The Lensbaby system can produce some interesting results but you have to experiment a lot to find what works for you with just one or a combo of optics and accessories…