Canon A85
Author
Discussion

Stevenj214

Original Poster:

4,941 posts

259 months

Friday 6th April 2007
quotequote all
Can I use the manual mode on my camera to get a picture with the subject in focus and the background blurred or is that limited to SLR's?

miniman

30,188 posts

293 months

Friday 6th April 2007
quotequote all
You need to set the aperture as low as possible - e.g. 2.8

Set the control dial to "Av" mode and then set the value as low as you can. According to the manual, you can go as low as f2.8 when zoomed out but only down to f4 when zoomed in as far as it will go. Then focus on the thing you want to be sharp, and the background should come out blurred. It can be quite difficult to accurately focus on the right thing. If you use "Av" mode then the camera will work out the correct shutter speed for you. If you set it to "M" you have control of both aperture and shutter.

Stevenj214

Original Poster:

4,941 posts

259 months

Friday 6th April 2007
quotequote all
Ok, I had a go. Not very good light in my room, but here's the result:



I guess that could be far better with better light? On the Av setting at f2.8, it was putting the other setting at 0.6 seconds which was blurring everything. My pic is on the manual setting with that setting down to 1/4 second.


Edited by Stevenj214 on Friday 6th April 22:08



Edited by Stevenj214 on Friday 6th April 22:08