Canon S3

[Pea-n-Me]

Stitch, thanks for the AV tutorial. I wasn't sure how to change the aperture in AV mode. I did take these the other day for the DOF thread but didn't have my manual with me; it was the first time I had much luck using AV mode. I played with other settings as well but I wish I knew then I could adjust the aperture using the omni-button - I could have improved the bokeh with a wider aperture.

Man, there's always something new to learn with this camera!

Focal length: 37.8mm (35mm equivalent: 238mm)
Exposure time: 0.0025 s (1/400)
Aperture: f/3.5
Whitebalance: Auto
Metering Mode: matrix

Focal length: 32.2mm (35mm equivalent: 203mm)
Exposure time: 0.0016 s (1/640)
Aperture: f/3.5
Whitebalance: Auto
Metering Mode: matrix[/QUOTE]

Getting into manual mode: Manual mode can see very daunting, at first. But, you can ease your wait into it by using Av (or Tv) mode to see what settings the camera would pick and use those as a starting point.

Using Av mode, set a "middle" Av of 4.5, compose a picture and half-press the shutter. The S3 will show you, in white numbers at the bottom of the EVF/LCD what shutter speed it will use (let's say 1/1000 for a fairly bright day).

Now, switch to M on the dial and use the left-right axis of the omni-button to adjust the shutter speed to the same number the camera picked (1/1000 in my example). And the up-down axis of the omni-button to adjust the aperture to 4.5 ... you should see that the exposure you set was exactly the same as the camera and the scene should come out identical.

Now, you can change the settings to see what effect they have on your exposure. Reducing the shutter speed will darken the scene and increasing the speed with lighten the scene. Opening the aperture will lighten the scene (and narrow the DOF) and closing the aperture will darken the scene (and widen the DOF). As you make adjustments, you can always "ask" the camera what it thinks of your settings by half-pressing the shutter. A number (-2 to +2) will be displayed in the EVF/LCD ... this is the number of stops away from what the camera would pick (the "standard" exposure) and what you've set. If the number is displayed in red, you're more than 2 stops away.

Take a series of pictures of the same scene gradually decreasing the shutter speed and then increasing the shutter speed to see how light or dark -2 to +2 stops actually is. Try the same thing lowering and raising the aperture.

Remember, each change of a full stop (whether aperture, shutter speed, or ISO) halves (or doubles) the amount of light hitting the sensor. You can get exactly the same exposure with a combination of settings. See how many different ways you can achieve a 0 exposure difference by adjusting all three settings; for example -- if you raise the ISO from 100 to 400, how much adjusting of the aperture and shutter speed do you need to do to get back to 0?

This I will have to digest for a while, LOL. But I will print it up and keep it with my camera so next time I'm out I can give it a try. Anyone else in??

 

[LMarge]

This is not my "assignment" photo, because I'm still trying to get out to play! But I thought I'd share another photo from our trip. This was handheld,in light rain! (Anyone recall the storm the night of 9/20?) I loved the colors, but was disappointed with the blur in the windows - note to self *always use a tripod for fireworks, especially when wearing a poncho in strong winds!!*

 

[madge]

I've got a question ... hoping it's not a problem ...

This evening, my S3 sort of hung up, or froze, after I took a picture. I had to manually turn it off and restart it, changed the batteries & reset the settings to default for good measure (no real reason why, it just made me feel better doing it). It worked fine after that, although the camera doesn't seem to automatically power down as quickly as it did before. That might be my imagination, though. I'm not really sure how soon it powers off after non use.

I've not gotten it wet, dropped it, or banged it into anything other than normal use.

Does this sound like a temporary/normal glitch? Or should I be concerned?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I hope you're having a good time, Madge, and look forward to seeing your pictures when you get back!

Could it be that the cold and humidity are causing some quirks? I kind of felt that way when it took a while every morning for my lens to warm up coming from the air conditioned room into the humid outside air, then acted a little "off" at times, more so than it does at home. Sometimes it would seem to be on playback mode for no reason. Like you, I generally just turn it off when it acts strange and turn it back on and it's ok.

Hope it's ok and nothing major!

 

[Amy]

Hmmm.....that's a new one for me. Are you sure you didn't accidentally set some really long shutter speed? Once when I was doing some moon shots using manual mode in the dark, I kept trying diff. settings and one exposure was like 15 secs, and I thought the camera got hung up for some reason until I realized what I'd done.

Mine's acted funny right when the batteries were about to run out - the viewfinder looked all weird, but I don't recall it getting stuck like yours.

Sounds like you did all the rights things to "re-boot" it. Hope that's all it needed.

Have a great time and post lots of photos when you get back! I'll be heading to WDW myself in a little more than 7 weeks!

 

[madge]

those are both very good possible explanations - I can't remember if I had a change batteries notice before or after it happened. And as I said, it seems to be fine now, except it doesn't turn off as fast as (I think) it did before this happened. I've been very careful with this camera, and can't imagine what else would be happening

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Another thing just came to mind. When I took my camera skiing this past winter it wouldn't work at all. I realized later it was a problem with the batteries being too cold. Any chance it could be that your room is really cold (I know my DH likes the AC cranked up) and it's affecting the batteries? You could try keeping a fresh set warm in your pocket and when the camera warms up, put the new batteries in. Good luck!

 

[madge]

Another thing just came to mind. When I took my camera skiing this past winter it wouldn't work at all. I realized later it was a problem with the batteries being too cold. Any chance it could be that your room is really cold (I know my DH likes the AC cranked up) and it's affecting the batteries? You could try keeping a fresh set warm in your pocket and when the camera warms up, put the new batteries in. Good luck!

one thing I don't have to worry about this week is cold batteries, LOL. it is HOT. I keep a spare set in my bag, and we'd been out for a while.

I'm going to chalk it up to a glitch. And carry my film SLR camera with me, just to be safe

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Does this sound like a temporary/normal glitch? Or should I be concerned?

It should take about 1.5 seconds for your S3 to turn off (in record mode) ... if it's taking significantly longer than that, you might have a problem and should probably return it to the store when you get back for a replacement.

However, if the camera seems to be taking pictures normally, I wouldn't worry about how long it takes to turn off until after your vacation.

I've had a few odd occurrences with my S3, always when the batteries were just about to die. Make sure your batteries are fully charged each night you're at WDW!

I had a lot of condensation problems, too, when we were in WDW a couple of weeks ago and I constantly had to remember to let the camera warm up after walking around in the air conditioning or the lens would be all misty. I think the humidity was 100% every day were were there!

 

[virginiamama]

LOVE my S3 !!! But....

Of course I lost my lens cap. Anyone know what size push cap replacement will fit? I'm not ready to add a lens adapter yet.

Also, the letters peeled off of my neck strap. I was standing in the water at the Outer Banks and saw my "P" (not pee) float by on top of the water. So I had a "anon owershot" strap for a while. Eventually I went ahead and peeled the rest of the few remaining letters off. What should I look for in a replacement strap? I was thinking something a little wider might be more comfortable.

What about wrist straps versus neck straps. Any opinions?

Thanks ya'll!

 

[schaery]

Marge - I think it's a neat picture. A great advertisement for MNSSHP maybe.

Stitch - Thanks for all the lessons and assignments. I think I'm going to have a brainwreck any minute though. This is alot like math to me - which I barely passed in high school long years ago.

 

[isobar]

Ok, I have a question. I have the Panasonic Lumix FZ8 and I have noticed there is no thread with pictures from this camera. Would I be better trading up to the Canon S3IS? I take pictures of band contests as well as football games and an occasional trip to the mouse. The Canon is only about $50 more is it really that much better?

 

[LMarge]

Marge - I think it's a neat picture. A great advertisement for MNSSHP maybe.

Thank you!! It has a neat look - I just love the colors - most of my others were the white fireworks with the colored castle in the foreground - this was just a tad different!

 

[isobar]

Ok, I have a question. I have the Panasonic Lumix FZ8 and I have noticed there is no thread with pictures from this camera. Would I be better trading up to the Canon S3IS? I take pictures of band contests as well as football games and an occasional trip to the mouse. The Canon is only about $50 more is it really that much better?

bump

 

[madge]

It should take about 1.5 seconds for your S3 to turn off (in record mode) ... if it's taking significantly longer than that, you might have a problem and should probably return it to the store when you get back for a replacement.

However, if the camera seems to be taking pictures normally, I wouldn't worry about how long it takes to turn off until after your vacation.

Luckily, I brought the hard copy of my Short Courses book - and according to that, the camera is behaving normally. And it was perfect all day I did drag my film Rebel along, and had some fun taking pictures with it... especially after learning about settings at my photography class. I felt like a dork carrying 2 cameras around, though. LOL.

But, in the end, I think all is well with my S3. Thanks for all the tips!

PS. Would the memory card caused any of these issues? I went back to a different brand of card today, too. That's probably coincidental, though.

 

[melanie18]

I've been going through the other S3 thread and the photos look pretty amazing. I'm not sure if this camera is too complicated for me. I know nothing about shutter speed, aperture, etc.

So how great do your pics look that you took on the "auto" setting? Until I'm ready to really experiment with it, all I'm going to use is the auto setting! I want a camera with a really good zoom and think this may be the one.

 

[ukcatfan]

I can't show you anything b/c I honestly have never used it. I can give a little advice though. I suggest using P instead. Then the camera will pick the shutter and aperture, but allow you to pick the ISO and if the flash will be used. There is an auto ISO setting in P for when you want the camera to pick that as well. Then move on to learning aperture priority and shutter priority. Once you set that one thing on those modes, the camera can pick everything else. For example, if you know that you need a fast shutter speed because of fast action, pick shutter priority and use a shutter speed of something like 1/500. The camera can then set the aperture and ISO to make that work. It is not as complicated as it seems.

Kevin

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

I'll second what ucatfan is saying (and, similarly, as I don't shoot using Auto I don't have any to post).

With the Canon S3, one of the most important issues in getting the best pictures is to make sure that you're using the lowest possible ISO for the scene you're trying to photograph. Several of the Auto modes seems to arbitrarily set the ISO too high and get grainy pictures; Auto and Sports seem to be the biggest culprits here.

Using P mode, you really don't need to know anything more about aperture or shutter speed than you do to use Auto or a scene mode, except that you have full control over the ISO and can access the cool MyColors features.

Don't worry, it's not a very complicated camera to use ... unless you want it to be.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

PS. Would the memory card caused any of these issues? I went back to a different brand of card today, too. That's probably coincidental, though.

The only way it could have is if the memory card was so slow that it was still writing when you tried to turn the camera off ... it would have to clear the buffer before powering down. I doubt you've got a card that's that slow, however.

90% of the time, it's batteries that are causing problems; one failing NiMH AA out of a set of 4 that's not living up to the demands....

Glad to hear everything's OK and you've got good weather for taking pictures ... I mean, enjoying your vacation!

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

bump

Are you happy with the performance of your Panasonic FZ8?

If you are, there's really no reason to switch. The FZ8 is a good camera (based on the reviews that I've seen) with an excellent lens and a lot of great features, but it's biggest weakness is bad high ISO pics in low light. A quote from the DCRP review is, "If there's one word which sums up the FZ8's low light ISO performance, it would be 'yuck'."

However, that said, the S3 is no low-light star, either (though IMO better than the Panny).

Personally, I think the only place to go up from any of the bridge/superzoom cameras is to a DSLR. Once you've got an S3 or an S6000fd or H9 or FZ8 there's really not much point to jumping between brands. They all have their strengths and weaknesses and similar features....