Camera Trouble--Shadows in the Corners

Orianna2000

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I'm having a minor, but annoying issue with my camera. It's a sophisticated point-and-shoot by Samsung, the WB35F. Most of the time, I leave it on auto, so it picks the best settings for the situation. Occasionally, it can't figure out what to use, so I have to manually change the settings. I'm pretty sure you can adjust f-stops and aperatures and all of that stuff, but I'm pretty clueless, so I just leave it on auto, or semi-auto. Anyway, what it's doing now is casting shadows in the corners of every photo I take. I do a lot of closeups of jewelry and doll clothing against a solid white backdrop, so these shadows are pretty obvious.

See what I'm talking about? The dark smudge in the bottom right corner. The other corners are shadowed too, but it's not as obvious in this particular photo. It used to just do it once in awhile, but now it's every photo I take.

No, my fingers aren't in front of the lens. Yes, it does it even when the lighting is good. Yes, I've tried cleaning the lens. I even bought a special cleaning "pen" and brush, but it didn't help. I'm about ready to buy a new camera, because I have to keep cropping my photos to get rid of the shadows. It's getting annoying.

Any ideas on what's causing it, or how to fix it? Or how to prevent it from happening again if I buy a new camera? (The only reason I haven't bought a new one yet is because I'm being stubborn about wanting a purple camera. This one is purple and I love it. I'm not going to settle for dull, boring black! But if I get a new camera, I want to upgrade a little, and I can't find an upgraded camera that's purple.)
 

talktidy

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It's been a long time since I did any photography, although at one stage i was quite keen, so take the following with a pinch of salt.

Are you using a lens hood? Because I seem to remember that when I used my camera with a zoom lens set toward maximum zoom, it was doing exactly this. I believe this is why you see lens hoods with "cut outs" on them, so that this problem is resolved.
 

Orianna2000

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Nope, no lens hood. It's a point-and-shoot, so there's no removable lenses, and I assume you need that sort of lens for a lens hood? Sorry, not really sure what a lens hood is for. Still rather new to photography. But in any case, no, I'm not using a lens hood. Thanks, though.
 

talktidy

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Okay, one more and I'm outta ideas. Is your camera fitted with a clear lens filter? If so is there any difference if you take it off.

If this is no help, hope someone jumps in here for you.
 

mirandashell

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TBH, and you're gonna hate me for this but.... I can't actually see a shadow on that photo. I can see the flash highlight but that's all.
 

Orianna2000

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Miranda, before I uploaded the photo, you could see the shadows really well, but when I looked at it online, they aren't as obvious. Not sure why. But if you look at the bottom right corner, you can see that it's darker than the rest of the picture. It's supposed to be all white, but the corners are much darker. And it's not MY shadow, either. I've learned how to angle my body to avoid casting my shadow on whatever I'm photographing. It can get pretty awkward at times, LOL!

I can't see anything on the lens, but I've never touched it. It's the kind of camera where the lens closes when you turn the camera off. I tried cleaning it with a lens pen, but it didn't make a difference.

ETA: No, there's no lens filter or anything. It's a point-and-shoot, so the lens is built-in, and it shutters closed when the camera is shut off.
 
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JimmyB27

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This is called vignetting.
There are a few potential solutions at the link, including some not relevant to your camera. If you can manually set the aperture (which is actually the same thing as f-stop), then a wider aperture (which, confusingly, means a smaller f-number), might help a bit. Bear in mind, though that this will result in a shallower depth of field (less of the image will be in focus).
 

Orianna2000

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Thank you! I knew there had to be an explanation. Apparently, I just have a cheap camera, LOL.

I wouldn't mind upgrading, actually--maybe to an entry-level DSLR instead of a point-and-shoot. But I want a purple camera, which is proving hard to find.