Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a camera that I bought to take pics of my pets and wild animals. I figured more megapixels is a plus, as well as decent macro. I spent a while savign up money, and picekd a Samsung 5.0 mp Digima 530, with 3x opt. zoom, and 4x digi zoom (which I never use)

My problem is: I never can get sharp pics... I think it is because my hand is not steady....

Any tips for getting a better shot? Some examples:

THe ones taken from farther away turn out the best. The camera has 7 cm macro.
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0.0.1 Eastern Painted Turtle
0.0.1 Indonesian Blue Tongue Skink
0.2.0 Leopard Geckos
0.0.1 Northern Water Snake

TRy using a tripod.
I use one of the small ones 3" tall or so from walmart. Even if you are taking your pictures off the ground you can rest the tripod leg on the edge of the enclosure or a branch or anything solid to steady the camra. Be slow and calculative I have fownd with my cammera nothing is more shaky and fuzzy than when I get excited and snap a quick picture.
My reptile collection and research

Thanks, also, would nicreses shutter speed work?
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0.0.1 Eastern Painted Turtle
0.0.1 Indonesian Blue Tongue Skink
0.2.0 Leopard Geckos
0.0.1 Northern Water Snake
0.0.2 Crested Geckos
0.0.1 Ball Python
?.?.? Assorted goldfish, minnows and guppies
1.0.0 Ferret
1.1.0 Cats
1.0.0 Aussie Cattle Dog/ Border Collie Mix

Does your camera have a zoom, or is it a snapshot?

Snapshots are only good within a certain range. Usually it's recommended that you stand at least 3 feet from your subject, or you'll get a blurry picture. That's the most frustrating problem I run into, because I like to get close ups.

It helps that you have really high resolution. My own camera is 3.5 mp, and I have found that the best way to get a good picture is to take it as close as I can without it being blurry, then cropping it how I'd like. Because the resolution is so high, my pictures usually come in at only 33 or 50% and when they're enlarged to 100% and cropped, the detail is better.

If that makes any sense.

It also helps to have powerful software, like Photoshop, so that you can fix less than idea photos. This one was fuzzy when I took it, but after working with it a bit, it looks a lot better.

Alika