Taking pictures during shows About This Page:

[sassymom]

I have a Kodak C875, 8 mp, 5x optical zoom. It takes great outdoor pictures and good still pics inside. It does not take good pictures of things inside that are far away like on a stage. They turn out dark and very grainy. Does anyone know how to correct this problem? It has manual settings as well that I have not used.

[Tonichelle]

manual is the way to go but you have to know what you're doing, because it isn't like the automatic where you just set it and go. you will constantly be dealing with correcting the exposure...

[emtpej]

Originally Posted by sassymom

I have a Kodak C875, 8 mp, 5x optical zoom. It takes great outdoor pictures and good still pics inside. It does not take good pictures of things inside that are far away like on a stage. They turn out dark and very grainy. Does anyone know how to correct this problem? It has manual settings as well that I have not used.

Your camera may have a 'landscape' setting that may help. Also, practice, practice, practice, ahead of time. Experiment with the settings and read the manual for instructions on the manual settings... If you rely on automatic for everything and then can't use the flash, it may turn out very different than you think it should.
You also need to hold it very still before and after you press the release because there may be a delay when it takes an image and the exposure length may be long.

[bradk]

stage lighting can be a huge pain in the .. you definitely do end up spending a lot of time trying to adjust the camera and when you get the right setting, the lighting changes and everything is messed up again.

dark and grainy suggests two things. darkness can occur if you're using a built-in flash which will adjust the shutter to stay open just long enough but your flash isn't going to make it to the subject. graininess is often an issue with ISO sensitivity. the higher the speed/ISO, the more graininess/noise is introduced, especially in low light. usually auto mode doesn't go above 400 or 800 or so with ISO tho.

and nothing is worse than spotlights. it's very hard to get a decent picture of someone with a spotlight on them and the rest of the stage without either overexposing one or underexposing the other.

[Tonichelle]

Flash won't work in a stage setting unless you're right up against teh stage anyway, so don't even worry about the flash (people around you will be glad you didn't!)

[muphoto]

When I shoot stage shows that have spotlights, I sent my camera on manual and underexpose by as much as two stops. If you try to use automatic, it will overexpose the subject in the spotlight. Underexposing usually gives good detail in the person and the background. Each situation is different, but this would be a good starting point.

[Tonichelle]

another thing to do is bracket one to two stops in either direction... if possible...

[Dave Marx]

Please, for the sake of the performers' safety, be sure your flash is turned off.

Try to get seating as close to the stage as you can. That'll ensure you take maximum advantage of the stage lighting. Also, when you're farther away you're usually using maximum zoom. Since the maximum aperature at maximum zoom is smaller than it is at shorter zoom lengths, you're getting even less light through the lens.