I've recently purchased a bridge camera and I'm a novice in this field. I'm facing the following problem:
In Manual Mode, at low room light condition, if the flash remains off, there is no capture of the object, rather a uniformly black screen is being saved. The black screen even consumes a space (as pictures do), but without any slightest presence of the object. But there is no problem with the flash being on or in Auto Mode.
Otherwise the camera is absolutely fine.
I know, for a novice it is better to use Auto Mode. But, I'm concerned if my camera is okay or not. It is a new purchase, so...hope you understand.
Steve P2014-03-18T08:09:25Z
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You cannot simply put the camera in Manual mode and expect to have a correct exposure with no intervention on your part. The shutter speed, aperture, and ISO have to be set MANUALLY for the correct exposure for the light conditions. Until your skill and knowledge level is up to par, you need to use the automatic or semi auto modes.
Read and study your camera owner's manual. If you are going to use Manual mode, you at least need to know how to read the light meter in the camera. It will indicate to you if you are over or under exposed for the scene.
This book would help you: http://www.amazon.com/BetterPhoto-Basics-Absolute-Beginners-Taking/dp/081740502X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279567421&sr=1-3
You are underexposing your image. It is taking a photo, but not enough light is reaching the sensor to make an image you can see.
Try this: go into the same dark room and set the camera to 1/30 for shutter speed, ISO 800, and the lowest aperture you can use (maybe f/3.5 or so). If you have a tripod, use it. If not, try and hold the camera as still as you can.
Then switch the shutter speed to 1/15, leaving everything else alone.
Keep taking photos with long and longer shutter speeds until you see the image, plus a few more. Which each change, the image should be brighter and brighter. At anything slower than 1/30, you are not going to be able to hold the camera steady, so expect the image to be shaky unless you use a tripod, but you will be able to see an image.
In manual mode, the camera is letting you choose the settings for the exposure.
In low light, you are cloearly not giving the camera enough light to record a usable image - it is too dark (underexposed).
There's nothing wrong with your camera - you just need to learn to use it in manual mode.
I suggest a basics photography course - learn about exposure parameters (ISO, aperture & shutter speed) - then you will understand why oyur pictures were black.
The reason your images are black is underexposure. Time to learn about the Exposure Triangle - ISO/Aperture/Shutter Speed. http://digital-photography-school.com/learning-exposure-in-digital-photography
We can't be of any more help because you neglected to tell us the make and model of your camera.