Christmas morning photos with the flash

[Nick_1020]

I'm really looking forward to taking a few photos of the kids opening their presents on Christmas Day morning with my 1020, but I'm a little worried about the white balance when using the xenon flash. I'm sure this was supposed to be addressed in an earlier update but I'm still noticing that whites sometimes have a yellow tint on them when using the flash indoors. I really hope none of my Christmas photos are ruined because of this, so has anyone got any tips to avoid it please?

 

[gb33]

I came here for the exact same reason. Outdoor shots look fine, but I am more than disappointed with the indoor results. I can only show off the zoom function so much. Now I realize that the screens white balance can be adjusted from warm to cool, also I have not exported any of the pics to a calibrated monitor, but the skin tones especially, and pretty much everything has a heavy yellow cast to them.

 

[liamjanin]

You could try set your white balance to the coldest possible? Maybe do your present opening near a window with plenty of light and ignore the flash altogether.

 

[buxz777]

easy fix nick mate -- turn iso down to 100/200 , flash forced on , faster shutter speed then 1/30second which the phone loves to choose with xenon and then pollutes the image with an orange/yellow tint

try it now your self take a photo in auto then check the pictures details in nokia cam , youll notice the phone pumps up the iso a bit and also the shutter speed ive had the phone use iso 800 and shutter speeds of 1/30 second

the faster you make the shutter speed the darker the background of the image will be ie at fastest shutter speed the subject in front will be lit but everything behind black ;-)

you will also get nicer cleaner images because the iso is set to low and not jumping to 800iso some of the flash pictures I take have much better quality then the auto xenon shots ;-)

 

[Nick_1020]

Thanks buxz777. I can vaguely remember reading similar advice before and I think it may well have been you who provided it then too.

I will have a test run tomorrow. Gonna wrap up some fake presents tonight then I'll wake the kids up at 5am (see how they like it!!) and convince them it's Christmas morning. Can't wait to see the disappointment on their faces as they unwrap some empty shoe boxes Still, it's an important experiment so will be worth it in the long run.

 

[TruPlaya187]

Thanks for the tip!!!!!!

Also, I've tried to use the Xenon flash indoor and notice also that it was yellow...One thing is that I use for now is Creative Studio from Nokia and honestly if you play just with the Color balance, you can remove the yellow tint that it does in the indoors pics...

 

[marcomura]

Can't wait to see the disappointment on their faces as they unwrap some empty shoe boxes

I really like your cruelty and I respect you for this XD
Anyway, if you really care about the pictures quality, you should use at least a compact photo camera, not a phone. IMHO, as far as a phone camera seems to be good, it is designed for casual photos and it's not a good solution for taking pictures of an event like this.

 

[Nick_1020]

I really like your cruelty and I respect you for this XD
Anyway, if you really care about the pictures quality, you should use at least a compact photo camera, not a phone. IMHO, as far as a phone camera seems to be good, it is designed for casual photos and it's not a good solution for taking pictures of an event like this.

I've used a smartphone to capture the Christmas magic for 3 out of the last 4 years and if I'm entirely honest, I think the photos from my 808 and N8 beat the compact which I used on the other occasion.

The 1020 is capable of extremely high quality photos, it's just that the yellow tinge when using the xenon flash is a slight issue for me but it seems it can be rectified with a little tinkering with the settings. It's not often I use the flash on the 1020...although it is handy for freezing motion for water etc but I expect it will be needed on Christmas morning.

 

[Blacklac]

Are you doing presents before the sun rises? If not, probably dont even need it. Sure, it could benefit you if you can get the settings right.

 

[mooreted]

I got some great Thanksgiving photos of the grand kinds with: flash on, ISO 100 and 1/250 shutter speed.

Sent from my easy chair using brainwaves.

 

[buxz777]

I've used a smartphone to capture the Christmas magic for 3 out of the last 4 years and if I'm entirely honest, I think the photos from my 808 and N8 beat the compact which I used on the other occasion.

The 1020 is capable of extremely high quality photos, it's just that the yellow tinge when using the xenon flash is a slight issue for me but it seems it can be rectified with a little tinkering with the settings. It's not often I use the flash on the 1020...although it is handy for freezing motion for water etc but I expect it will be needed on Christmas morning.

your exactly right nick , the 1020 and 808 both have sensors that are bigger then most point and shoot cameras and both have excellent lens systems too , I would much rather shoot my xmas morning with a 1020 or 808 then a point and shoot in fact I went to Thailand for a month last year and the only camera I took was my 808 , risky yes , I didn't know if it would be good enough for a trip like that but it performed really well and I have some great shots to treasure forever , so you are right the 808s and 1020s can defo replace a point and shoot in important situations

it was indeed me that mentioned it before in another thread I uploaded these samples of my friend as well

this is auto

this is changing the settings a little

if you zoom into the face/skin you can easily see noise in the auto version , the arms look quite messy when zoomed in , its not as good as it could be , the is over exsposure on the hands , my friend looks very orange , the background has visible noise , it is such a messy picture when I took it I knew it could be better , when I checked the settings I knew what was up and tried again

now look at the same features on the second picture , it is much cleaner and also not as orange/yellow ;-)

nokia need to sort the settings out , it isn't the white balance , it is the high iso and the slow shutter speed making images not as pure as they could be and also more orange then they should be because the shutter is open to long and along with the xenon flash the lens is absorbing un-natraul light from other light sources , lamps , above lights , wall lights , tvs etc etc

xenon flash is as fast as light , certainly faster then 1/30 second ;-) as the user above me has said 1/250 second is much better to use , it matches the flash with the lens a lot better and also lets you lower the iso for better quality pics

the only reason I can think that nokia programmed it like this is

a) more natraul looking flash pics at the exspense of quality (ie it adds a natraul tint/glow/lighting/ambience instead of a white xenon flash)
b) it could possibly make the flash o further due to the shutter being open longer and absorbing more light

I am not sure but I know it behaves much different to the 808 and if you lower the iso and fasten up the shutter speed you get much more 808 like pictures ;-)