Modern Vespa

I have a Panasonic DMC - Z550 Lumix camera that repeatedly messes up my night shots when I'm out with my scooter.

I get these star-bursts with the lights.
Any ideas?

Thanks, O.S.

What are your camera settings? Have you tried a flash?

Try opening up the aperture to a lower f: number, if that's possible with your camera. That should reduce the diffraction that causes the starbursts. Then increase the shutter speed to make the picture darker again.

OK, I will try to do this....but a question.
Why does my Samsung phone have "0" problems with night lights?
For instance......

And why doesn't the "intelligent auto" setting on the Lumix take as good a photo as my "pick it up and shoot" phone?!
Thanks, O.S.

It's to do with the physical shape of the lens aperture. If it's round you won't get the diffraction spikes*. You can easily make a fixed aperture round but one that needs to change will have a number of flat surfaces. You get a spike off of each one.

*A round aperture has an infinite number of spikes which are individually unnoticeable but add to just blur the image.

I've forgotten a lot from the time I had a manual film camera; hopefully this explanation will help.

Most of the time the "starburst" effect is desired, for artistic effect. To get this effect from bright spots at night the camera is "stopped down" to its smallest aperture. In your case you want to reduce the effect so you would "open" the lens. This allows more light into the camera, so you increase the shutter speed to compensate, reducing the exposure.

My guess is that your cameras were optimized each in their own way in order to give their "best" exposure in "normal" conditions. The "automatic" setting of your Lumix is probably set to give the best picture in daylight. Your phone camera probably has limited manual settings; it's set to what gives the best picture over a range of conditions. You're lucky to have the ability to manually adjust the Lumix to create some artistic effects. Try a slow shutter speed with a small aperture (higher f: number) sometime and see if you can "blur" a moving object.

You take great pictures, by the way!

Because late model smart phones are essentially high end cameras with added features such as Wi-Fi, GPS and even regular phone calling thrown in. The camera of my current phone has better lenses than some of my professional gear from years past.

Currently, if you like a pocketable and excellent camera, it makes sense to look at the smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Sony and so on. The higher end models are rather pricey, sometimes comparable to that of a top end Panasonic Lumix.

Another factor: cameras (the ones of smart phones included and aside from professional offerings) deliberately choose ways of processing, image quality etc. to appeal to certain market segments. It may well be, that Panasonic optimized your camera for different scenarios than night shots.

Didn't you already ask this a few years ago?

NSR: Need camera help

Check the manual for the Panasonic ZS50:

https://help.na.panasonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/DMCZS50_SQW0195_ENG.pdf

On page 118, there is a description of a "Creative Control" feature called "Star Filter". This is probably what you are seeing, though I am only guessing.

It would be worth perusing the manual a bit in order to figure out how to access and turn off that feature.

Ok, so I did have a vague feeling about this post.....
Guilty.
I figured....well, doesn't matter.

But thanks for your manual tip.
I did ask the net one time for answers to this issue....the explanations I found were....well, I need to get another teenager on a retainer.

But thanks for the manual tip. It was a used camera from ebay. No manual. Figured the "intelligent auto" button would see me right.
O.S.

I'm almost certain you have the "Star Filter" setting turned on. If you can figure out how to turn it off, you should be set. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with the camera.