Distorted lines in photos

[hokeypokeygirl]

I have a Fuji FinePix S5100 and I’m having problems with it when taking shots that have telephone or power lines and even lines on the roads in them. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but they often appear distorted like dotes or dashes. I’m only learning as I go how to use this camera and I cannot figure out what is wrong. I’ve checked out other photos of towns or cities taken by the same camera as mine and if they have power lines in the shots they are very clear and no dotes or dashes. What am I doing wrong?

[dang]

Hi Dianne,
It would be great if you could post an example shot, or give us a couple of links to photos to view. It could be the way they're processed, uploaded or your photo program it's self. Seeing exif helps give an idea of shooting conditions, and settings you use. Processing for the net can be a bit different than for prints, so knowing your programs and processing steps helps also. I did do a quick browse, and some seem a bit over sharpened which might be the cause. Try using sharpen as the last step after you've done other adjustments & sized for upload to the web.

[hokeypokeygirl]

Hi Dang,

Here is a link to a gallery I have temporarily created for you to see 3 photos that have this problem, http://www.pbase.com/hokeypokeygirl/temporary. The program I use to download the photos onto my computer is Microsoft Digital Image Pro 10. The ones that look so bad I have not edited at all. The problem had nothing to do with edited, because it was there in the original photo.

Thanks for your advice on some of my other photos.

[andrys]

hokeypokeygirl,

This usually is a result of how they compress the file.

At full size, the twists would disappear whenever I've seen this.

[hokeypokeygirl]

Andrys,

I zoomed in to find the distorted lines disappear, so it would seem you're right, but why is it when I take a photo at a small size of 640 x 480 the distorted lines can still be there, even though I'm viewing the photo at full size?

[andrys]

Andrys,

I zoomed in to find the distorted lines disappear, so it would seem you're right, but why is it when I take a photo at a small size of 640 x 480 the distorted lines can still be there, even though I'm viewing the photo at full size?

It could be the effect of the camera doing whatever it does to make
such a small picture. Not much resolving going on at 640x480 I think.

[dang]

I agree with Andrys, the camera can be causing the jaggies in small size. If it were only due to compression, every shot on the web should show this effect. Have you tried viewing with another program? And also, have a look at the camera reviews of it for possible insight. You might can lower the settings, and do more post processing instead of "in camera" processing to soften the image some. After viewing them, and noting you haven't done any processing on the one, it seems a bit edgy. It may be normal for this model, or it still could be the program.

[hokeypokeygirl]

Good news! I've been able to fix the problem by using the photo software FinePixViewer. I was able to resize my photos to the 800 x 600 I wanted and the improvement is fantastic. http://www.pbase.com/image/79612693

Thanks to you both Andrys and Dang for your help.

[dougj]

Late to read & post, Andrys, Dang & you sorted this out, which is great

Here is a bit more. The number of pixels make the difference. The original shots were at 640W x 480H pixels, which means horizontally the entire photo width must be represented in 640 pixels, or steps; and 480 pixels, or steps, for the height.

Checking one of the shots, the jaggedness is the transition from one pixel to the next, the low number of pixels makes this look like visible steps. Add more pixels and the transition becomes smoother and less visible under the same viewing conditions

[hokeypokeygirl]

I want to thank everyone again for their advice and to let you know the links won't work anymore because I've deleted the images. Don't need them there anymore.

Cheers!
Dianne