I want to take some really cool pics of Stargazer but I don't know how to make the background blurry and the Bonnie sharp and definied. Is that a manual control or what? I have a digital camera.

Oh I seem to have misplaced my camera, I'll find it and give you the name of it...

Thats best that you do that.

My sisters Cannon (sp?) has a lot of manual features, but my Fuji have virtually none...

That effect is called depth of feild. DoF for short and digital cameras have great DoF. IE - its harder to get the blurry background. Its easier by far to add it during Post Processing.

Small digi-cams will not give you great control over the DoF. They have TINY sensors and short focal lengths, which equate to massive DoF. Even at a wide open aperture where DoF is the shortest, you won't get the background blur that you desire.

You need to step up to the SLR range which has larger sensors to take advantage of that effect.





This was shot with a 50mm lens on my 300D. The aperture is at f/1.4.



This was shot with my little Canon S400. I believe the aperture here was f/2.8. You can definitly tell the difference.

Use the smallest F/stop you can. If you don't know how to use a meter and shoot manually, or can't, go to the program mode, and scroll up/down to the lowest F/stop.

See, I have no manual modes what so ever. I can change ISO, but I have looked around and can't even figure out what it is. Anyway, using Macro modes and what not, here is the best example of what you are trying to do. Unfortunately I think the bigger the object, the harder it would be to do with a camera like mine.

Yes, when you focus closer to something, the DoF shrinks.

If you really want the pics, an older SLR can be had for pretty cheap. Or you can bum one off a local friend. I spent $300 on my film SLR, $1200 on my Digital SLR, and $30 on my Canon A1 (still an SLR). A1 shoots just as well as the others, if you don't mind scanning pictures.

Definately. I just paid $99 US on eBay for a 1993-spec Minolta Maxxum 700si with vertical grip - body only, I already have lenses. Some pics I snapped of it:





It'll compliment the other camera body I have that some might have seen at ONBF, my Minolta Maxxum 7000:


These cameras are pretty cheap on eBay. Lenses get more expensive. The ones used on this Minolta are compatible with the new Sony A100 digital SLR. Scanning and processing consume some time and money, but the results are quite excellent:
/^ My collection of 35mm scans. I have no plans to go digital SLR anytime soon.

I always wanted to use an Elan 7e, if I go Canon then i'll probably get an E7e to play with for film. They're DAMN cheap. If only the big guys made digital backs for the old SLRs...

Currently I have a Pentax ZX-7 that might need a battery, if anything.

Respin, you like the vertical grip?