Joy: .

Sharp subject with a blurry background is the purpose of the Portrait mode. I helps to stand back aways maybe 10 ft. (3m)or so and zoom in on your subject. If your subject is larger than a head and shoulders portrait move back ever farther.

For waterfalls I use a shutter speed of 1/2 to 2 seconds to get the "angle hair" look. This requires manual adjustment. Bright light(i.e. sunshine) can be a problem. Cloudy days or tall trees can help a lot. If the light is dim you might try the "Night Scenery" mode.

I hope this helps. Post back if you need more information.

Jim.

I have had my LUMIX DMC-FZ20 for several years and can still not get a freeze frame shot. I take alot of animal pictures and basketball games and all I ever get is blurred or a delayed images. Can somebody please tell me what I'm doing wrong? I also have tried to use my Manual Focus and nothing happens...it never focuses. I am used to a Nikon F3 SLR film camera...will the digital cameras ever be as fast as the film camers? Thanks, .

Margaret Ray.

Non dslrs focus slower than than dslrs that is true (excepting most dslrs used in live view mode) One trick could be to prefocus on one area, (half press shutter, wait for focus confirmation), then press the shutter fully down when the action moves into that area. Most modern compacts will be faster at actually taking the shot than dslrs when doing this, ie press to shot taken when pre focused can be as low as 0.008 of a second for the latest cameras,, faster than the dslr that has to move the mirror up and down, however the older fz20 was measured at 0.038s still very fast. Mostly useful for things such as baseball, where you can focus on the hitter and press on the swing. If the action is blurred then you need a faster shutter speed, boost iso, for sports you really need a minimum of 1/250 and more likely 1/500-1/1000 or faster. Of course a compact will suck (compared with even an entry level dslr) with noisy images at the higher iso levels, the fz20 for anything over 4x6s is really a iso 200 or below camera, however it does have a constant f2.8 aperture which is good, a lens like that on a dslr would cost a lot...

Hi, Does the lenses from Canon AE 1 Program - fit on the any of Canon Digital Cameras? Thanks.