Questions about a specific problem or issue, often dealing with a lens, camera body, image sensor, lighting equipment, or software specific to photography.
15
votes
4answers
1k views
Why can't my SLR autofocus on certain parts of a scene?
I had my Nikon D7000 on single-point auto focus and it just would not focus on the spots I wanted. I have marked the spots that could not be focused on with red circles, and the parts that could be ...
13
votes
3answers
677 views
Could my lens be damaged after being used as burning glass?
During a nice nature trip, sitting at a table with a bottle of wine, somehow we had the ridiculous idea to test a lens as burning glass (which performed quite well).
After we went home I started ...
12
votes
4answers
2k views
How can I avoid soft dull “spots” in my pictures?
Recently, I've been doing a lot more photography, particularly with my 100-400mm telephoto and 16-35mm wide. I am skilled enough that I can capture the shot mostly as I want with just the camera gear, ...
11
votes
8answers
819 views
How can I prevent blurred images when using a tripod?
I'm doing panoramic HDR photography for work using one of those stupid cheap mirror balls mounted on a tripod (not my decision!) and I am noticing on my longer exposures that sometimes I'm getting ...
11
votes
2answers
292 views
What's the reason for this exceedingly blue reflection from buildings in this image?
I've noticed that lately my camera has some issues with blue neon lights. Here's an example shot.
You can notice the effect in the reflection of the water in a building and in the blue dome of ...
11
votes
1answer
715 views
How can you tell if a lens is having problems with back focusing?
I recently bought a Canon EF 24-70/2.8L to use with my 450D and I suspect that it is constantly back focusing. Is there any way of determining if it is something wrong with the lens or if it is a ...
10
votes
4answers
894 views
Why is the sky in photos always too white?
Why do I never seem to get a clear picture of the sky during the day, even with white puffy clouds in the sky? It always looks over exposed and whitened out? I am using a Nikon D3100, no lens hood, ...
10
votes
3answers
723 views
Is my Canon EF-S 15-85mm IS USM lens defective or par for course?
I got the Canon EF-S 15-85mm IS USM this week after a lot of deliberation as an upgrade to my 18-55mm IS kit lens for my Canon 550D, and did some trial shots using it and found the images to be on the ...
10
votes
4answers
500 views
Why is my Nikon D90 viewfinder shaking?
My Nikon D90 started having an issue where the image in the viewfinder shakes, or taps whenever I turn it on or focus. Has anyone ever seen this issue? I'm assuming that it's the mirror.
I turned ...
9
votes
1answer
432 views
Why is sharpness lost in my DSLR viewfinder?
I have a fairly new Nikon D7000 (I've taken about 2000 pictures).
Something happened during my last trip, where thew viewfinder never gets sharp anymore. It always looks out of focus, regardless if ...
9
votes
1answer
276 views
What caused dark areas around bright light in this cityscape shot?
I know a little about cameras since doing two courses, and so I set my camera on manual setting most of the time to take shots.
I took the following shot in New York of Manhattan at night. Because of ...
9
votes
2answers
382 views
How to prevent zoom-creep?
The Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens creeps until fully extended if pointed vertically down.
This is preventing me from using it on a rostrum camera.
Is there a piece of equipment or a simple (and ...
8
votes
4answers
1k views
Why are those green spots on my photo?
Took a pic with my 35mm Nikon lens last night, and got this light artifact. Is this something normal? Reflection? Is it dirt on my lens? How do I prevent this from happening? I think it only happened ...
8
votes
2answers
120 views
Is my Canon speedlite really dead?
My Canon 550ex wouldn't switch on yesterday. Completely dead. Changed the batteries (twice). Still nothing, no indication of life. It was fine last time I used it about a week ago.
Is there anything ...
8
votes
2answers
799 views
Are these images symptomatic of shutter failure?
This is a burst sequence taken with a Canon 1D Mark II N in high-speed mode (8fps). You can see the bright line down the center and the dark area in the upper-right. I have several other sequences ...
8
votes
1answer
972 views
Why am I unable to disable automatic sensor cleaning on my Canon DSLR?
I've been recently getting the infamous "error 99" on my Canon Rebel XS, under very specific circumstances:
Insert a fresh battery
Turn on the camera
Shoot one or more exposures
Turn off the camera
...
7
votes
4answers
4k views
Why does my D90 shutter release button sometimes not respond?
Once in a while, my recently acquired used D90 doesn't respond to the press of the shutter release button. Half-press, full-press, neither works. I make sure the Automatic/Manual focus switches are ...
7
votes
7answers
3k views
Why are my Lightroom exports too dark in Flickr?
I've been using LR3 for a while now and have noticed that when I export a photo to JPG and upload it to Flickr it ends up slightly darker. The exported photo is ok, it's the image when viewed through ...
7
votes
5answers
524 views
What conditions hold up continuous shooting?
Sometimes when attempting to shoot continuously (at high speed) with my Nikon D90, something appears to block the smooth interval between shutter releases.
I have it set up to take RAW and JPEG ...
6
votes
3answers
416 views
Why does my external flash use Ni-Cd and Ni-Mh batteries so quickly?
I've recently purchased a Canon 430EX II to use with my 550D and it's great but I'm having battery issues.
I've been trying to use 2× 800mAh Ni-Cd and 2× 2500 mAh Ni-Mh (all rechargeables, the 800mAh ...
6
votes
5answers
1k views
Why is my Nikon 18-200 lens not focusing at higher focal lengths?
My Nikon 18-200 lens on a D300 camera will not focus when it is zoomed between 135mm and 200mm. Is there any tips on how to solve this besides handing it in to a photo store?
6
votes
5answers
3k views
Why is my camera showing a lot of stuck red and white pixels?
After shooting for one hour with my Rebelt2i + Tamron 17-55 f2.8, I went back home and checked pictures on my computer.
For every single picture, there are a lot of 'dead' pixels at the same ...
6
votes
3answers
6k views
Why does my Nikon D3100 give the error “Lens not attached” with a Vivitar 200 telephoto lens?
I have a Nikon D3100 camera, and am trying to use an "Automatic Fixed Mount Vivitar 200mm lens" with it. When I attach the lens, I get the message "Lens not attached". and nothing works. HELP!
I ...
6
votes
2answers
487 views
Why are the black parts of my photos flashing?
Recently I have borrowed my friend's SLR.
I don't know what settings I have changed.
When reviewing a photo, the black parts of the photo are highlighted (flashing) black/white every second.
The ...
6
votes
2answers
276 views
Why is my DSLR taking pictures with the top darkened?
What's wrong with my D5100? Recently, I'm not getting full size pictures? Pictures taken shows top side with darkened layer. It started after I had a sports activities coverage, but as far as I can ...
6
votes
2answers
566 views
Err 80 appears when I turn on my Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Recently when on holiday in Italy my 5DII stopped powering up. Turn the switch on and - nada. Pulling the battery and popping it back in brings the camera to life, however as soon as the camera goes ...
6
votes
1answer
229 views
Is camera damage causing these severe diagonal lines from concentrated light sources?
Since a week or so, I have severe diagonal stripes around light-sources in my night-time photographs on my Canon Powershot A650. In the past, I had some (I guess due to Fraunhofer diffraction, see ...
5
votes
4answers
2k views
Why am I getting poor AF results with my Pentax K10D?
I've been using Pentax K10D for a while and I'm a bit frustrated with performance of auto focus on that camera. Very often the images are not sharp enough despite taken in with decent lens (e.g. ...
5
votes
2answers
156 views
What would cause a hot-spot (large) in Live-view but not when shot through the viewfinder of Nikon D7000?
viewfinder shot - Same exposure/iso settings
http://cchanphotography.com/images/sensor_issue/viewfinder.JPG
liveview shot
http://cchanphotography.com/images/sensor_issue/liveview.JPG
5
votes
3answers
438 views
White spots on some photos
I'm fairly new here and fairly new to photography too. So I'm hoping someone can help me out here. You see, there is this white spot that appears in my photos and I don't know what causes it. It ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
I cannot open the internal flash on my Canon 60D camera; how do I fix it?
I tried opening the internal flash on my Canon 60D camera the other day and it didn't open at all. I couldn't understand why. After messing around in the menus, I found out that the camera thinks that ...
5
votes
1answer
679 views
Does this look like a sensor problem?
I have these tiny dots in a lot of my pictures. They look like tiny stars.
On this Nikon D60 I've tried cleaning the area where the shutter is (what's this called?) with a hand pumping duster, but ...
5
votes
1answer
246 views
Why does my Nikon D300 have live view disabled with my 300mm f/4?
Recently I wanted to use the live view with my 300mm f/4 AF-S and when I pressed the shutter it did nothing (live view did not start).
The live view works perfectly with the 24-85mm AF-G f/3.5-4.5 ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
Why does my Canon 7D get blurry pictures with a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS (series 1)?
I'm wondering if it's normal for a Canon 7D with its crop sensor to get unsharp pictures with a 70-200mm 2.8? I just bought a used 70-200 and it seems a little bit blurry. Maybe it needs calibration? ...
5
votes
1answer
1k views
Why is my Nikon d3100 with 18/55 lens suddenly fuzzy?
I was taking some inside pictures with my Nikon D3100 and 18/55 lens when, all of a sudden, the lens started to work funny -- the more I zoomed in on the subject, the fuzzier the picture looked in the ...
5
votes
6answers
7k views
Why does my Nikon D3100 no longer auto-focus correctly?
I bought my camera on January 2011. Since a few months ago, I'm facing a problem with the autofocus.
It happens with my two lenses 18/55mm and 55/200mm. I noticed that the focus light doesn't turn on ...
5
votes
3answers
422 views
My DSLR appears to be corrupting CF cards — get new camera or repair?
I have a Canon Rebel XTi which has been ruining CF cards (when I try to see the pictures it tells me the CF card is corrupted--three different cards which were formatted). Anyway I want to know if I ...
5
votes
2answers
451 views
Why does my 420EX Speedlite sometimes fail to start up?
I have a Canon 420EX Speedlite that sometimes won't start up. When it's not working, it behaves as if it didn't have any batteries in it... just totally dead. The odd thing is, it doesn't seem to be ...
4
votes
3answers
7k views
Why won't my new Canon Rebel T3i take a picture with the 18-55mm lens in autofocus mode?
I just purchased a brand new Canon Rebel T3i kit from Costco.. I used it for a couple of days, but now when I have the 18-55mm lens attached and the camera on auto-focus, it will not take a picture. ...
4
votes
2answers
762 views
Is it sensor damage? Or dust?
I have been trying to shoot partial solar eclipse today with my Nikon D3100, and later noticed this spot on images:
http://pix.academ.org/img/2011/01/04/70baea815d1557594f096a82ab05704f.png
I do not ...
4
votes
3answers
374 views
Why is there a strange white spot on all of photos from my Zenit-B SLR?
I've taken some photos with my old Zenit-B camera. And I have some strange white spot on all of the photos in the upper right corner. Sometimes it is not too recognizable, but it is everywhere.
...
4
votes
3answers
1k views
Why does my Adobe Lightroom temporarily pixelate photos after every change?
I'm using Adobe Lightroom 3.0. I go to develop mode and everything is fine (the photo is sharp). After I do any change (saturation, fill light, sharpness... whatever) the photo automatically gets ...
4
votes
4answers
771 views
Why is my new reverse-macro mount adapter not working?
I recently purchased a reverse macro mount (62mm) for my 30mm 1.4 sigma. I ordered it online because the price was so cheap I wouldn't be too upset if it didn't work. Anyhow, this morning I screwed it ...
4
votes
4answers
807 views
Why is Nextgen / wordpress is reducing the quality of my photographs?
I have been researching this night and day for months now. Photos viewed on my website look terrible compared to the same file viewed with other mediums. I have contacted many website support ...
4
votes
2answers
456 views
Why would my Hoya ND8 Pro 1 decrease the white balance dramatically?
I've just bought the Hoya ND8 Pro filter (+3 stops). After some tests, i've just notice that the results are very different from a single shot. After some tests, here is my conclusions :
The ND ...
4
votes
4answers
5k views
What should I do about Canon PowerShot “Lens error, restart camera”?
I've had a Canon PowerShot A1100 IS camera for almost a year now.
About a week ago, I went on a trip, took pictures the whole trip, everything was ok.
When I got home, and tried to turn the camera ...
4
votes
2answers
581 views
EOS Rebel T3i 18-55mm lens won't take a picture - happened with two lenses
I'm a reporter for a small town paper - Early in 2012 we had a body of a T3i go bad and it was replaced new body and we used the old 18-55mm lens. It worked fine for 7-8 months. I do a lot of sports ...
4
votes
3answers
2k views
Why does my Nikon D5000's AF Assist only turn on in some automatic modes?
I am using a Nikon D5000 with a 50mm f/1.4 with autofocus. When I try to use manual mode (or aperture priority, or shutter priority), my AF assist beam does not light, which makes it hard for my ...
4
votes
3answers
3k views
Why do the focus points leds in my viewfinder appear shadowed?
The focus points leds (red colored ones), looks shadowed (smudged) in my Canon 550D. Not all points, but the bottom 3 points, when the light glows, looks kind of shadowed. I tried cleaning the both ...
4
votes
3answers
190 views
Is AEB possible in Manual mode on Canon Powershot G1 X?
When the G1 X is set to Manual (M) mode, AEB no longer shows up in the FUNC menu. Is there another to set it? Seems like a serious limitation otherwise.
