Canon S3

[S. C.]

Thanks, Heather! I'm going to buy it and get a book to help me through.

Any suggestions on which flash to buy? They have all sorts of price ranges.

Congrats on your new camera. Don't forget to post those pics for us.

www.S5users.com Is another great site to learn about your new camera. Lots of helpful people there. Just click on forums at the top.

 

[S. C.]

Nice pics, S.C., esp. the sunset shots! Really nice colors.

Thank You Amy.

There are 2 historic houses in my town, both built in the 1800's. One was so dilapidated it was slated to be demolished, but the historical society bought it, dismantled it and moved it next to the other. I haven't been there in years, so I decided to stop by and take some pix while I was out and about today. They're only open for tours on Sundays, so I wasn't able to go inside.

And of course....the outhouse!

I didn't quote all of the pics. All of your pics are great. Did you use a tripod while taking these?

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Amy: lovely pictures of those old houses. I really like the shuttered window and the composition of the flower pic is lovely. The bright yellow against the grey wood looks very nice!

 

[Amy]

I didn't quote all of the pics. All of your pics are great. Did you use a tripod while taking these?

Amy: lovely pictures of those old houses. I really like the shuttered window and the composition of the flower pic is lovely. The bright yellow against the grey wood looks very nice!

Thanks for the compliments, S.C. and Stitch! No, I didn't use a tripod, they're all hand-held, ISO100, used P mode. The shot of the flowers in the window - I used exposure compensation of +2/3. I'm trying to work on my composition and seeing things from diff. perspectives. It's amazing how just moving a foot or two will really improve a shot.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Took my S3 and my new Raynox DCR-1540PRO out for a couple of shots of the full moon, last night. I'm quite happy with the sharpness of my Raynox TC:

This one is also hand-held; I used ISO 80 and an aperture of 3.5 (for maximum light) and a shutter speed of 1/640.

 

[madge]

Thanks for the compliments, S.C. and Stitch! No, I didn't use a tripod, they're all hand-held, ISO100, used P mode. The shot of the flowers in the window - I used exposure compensation of +2/3. I'm trying to work on my composition and seeing things from diff. perspectives. It's amazing how just moving a foot or two will really improve a shot.

OK. In my class last night, we touched verrry briefly on exposure compensation. Because a lot of point & shoot cameras don't have it, the teacher didn't want to confuse anyone with information they may not be able to use.

Anyway. Can someone explain what it is, and why I'd use it... explain it to me like I'm in kindergarten? LOL

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Anyway. Can someone explain what it is, and why I'd use it... explain it to me like I'm in kindergarten? LOL

Exposure Compensation is a way to adjust the exposure -- towards overexposing (lighter) or underexposing (darker) -- when you're NOT using Manual mode (that is, when you're in P, Av or Tv modes -- it doesn't work in *any* of the scene modes that I know of). You access it through the FUNC button/menu; I think it's the first icon down the left side.

If you are trying to take a picture of a dark scene, you might want to overexpose it a little to bring out the details in the shadows; and nudging the EC in the positive direction will help. The camera will either slow the shutter speed a little or widen the aperture a little (or possibly both).

The reverse it true for negative EC ... you'd use it to darken a very bright scene. On very bright sunny days, I tend to set my S3's EC to -1/3 or -2/3 when I'm in P/Av/Tv modes ... IMO, the S3 tends to overexpose a little. A slightly underexposed bright picture will (generally) have nicer color saturation and you're less likely to get blown highlights (pure white areas) in your pics.

Once you set EC, it stays at that setting for the selected mode until you change it with the FUNC button/menu.

Without EC, the only way to take control of the camera's exposure settings is to go full Manual.

 

[Soupermom]

Can you answer my question from a few pages back?

1. I know I need to format my card every time I empty it, and I think we are supposed to pick "low"...can you tell me what the difference is between low and the regular setting?


Thanks!

 

[madge]

Exposure Compensation is a way to adjust the exposure -- towards overexposing (lighter) or underexposing (darker) -- when you're NOT using Manual mode (that is, when you're in P, Av or Tv modes -- it doesn't work in *any* of the scene modes that I know of). You access it through the FUNC button/menu; I think it's the first icon down the left side.

If you are trying to take a picture of a dark scene, you might want to overexpose it a little to bring out the details in the shadows; and nudging the EC in the positive direction will help. The camera will either slow the shutter speed a little or widen the aperture a little (or possibly both).

The reverse it true for negative EC ... you'd use it to darken a very bright scene. On very bright sunny days, I tend to set my S3's EC to -1/3 or -2/3 when I'm in P/Av/Tv modes ... IMO, the S3 tends to overexpose a little. A slightly underexposed bright picture will (generally) have nicer color saturation and you're less likely to get blown highlights (pure white areas) in your pics.

Once you set EC, it stays at that setting for the selected mode until you change it with the FUNC button/menu.

Without EC, the only way to take control of the camera's exposure settings is to go full Manual.

that's very helpful!! So, I'd want to underexpose pictures taken at the height of the midday sun, say.. at Future World? It seems so bright there in the middle of the day, you know?

Just another thing to learn in the next 10 days.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Can you answer my question from a few pages back?

1. I know I need to format my card every time I empty it, and I think we are supposed to pick "low"...can you tell me what the difference is between low and the regular setting?

Here's my understanding of it ... you *don't* need to reformat every time you empty it ... just deleting the pictures is good enough. You *should*, however, format a new card in the camera with the Low Level option checked.

When you format the card (as opposed to just erasing the files) *everything* on the card goes even files that aren't in the CANON\DCIM directory.

Low-level formatting does something to the file structure of the card that makes it "more efficient" for the camera to write files (probably something like defragging your HD) and you should do it when you think your card is not performing as well as it used to.

Reformatting can help keep a card in "optimum shape" but it's not something that you need to do very often.

that's very helpful!! So, I'd want to underexpose pictures taken at the height of the midday sun, say.. at Future World? It seems so bright there in the middle of the day, you know?

Yes, that's precisely when I set EC of -1/3 or -2/3. A lot of areas in DisneyWorld, especially those that have less trees, are prone to glare.

Though I didn't have too many sunny days on our last trip, I was still setting negative EC a lot (or using the equivalent Manual settings).

Even an overcast day in FL seems very bright compared to here in the northeast, with pure white skies and, of course, lots of blown highlights in the pics. In fact, I think some of the "bright" cloudy days were the toughest on my photography.

 

[madge]

Yes, that's precisely when I set EC of -1/3 or -2/3. A lot of areas in DisneyWorld, especially those that have less trees, are prone to glare.

Though I didn't have too many sunny days on our last trip, I was still setting negative EC a lot (or using the equivalent Manual settings).

Even an overcast day in FL seems very bright compared to here in the northeast, with pure white skies and, of course, lots of blown highlights in the pics. In fact, I think some of the "bright" cloudy days were the toughest on my photography.

well, let me ask you this, then... what about the feature that allows you to take 3 pictures at under, over, and the correct exposure? Do you every use that?

Between learning about what my camera can do and about photography at the same time is a little overwhelming, LOL!

 

[Soupermom]

Thanks LPZ Stitch! You are always SO helpful!

 

[S. C.]

Thanks for the compliments, S.C. and Stitch! No, I didn't use a tripod, they're all hand-held, ISO100, used P mode. The shot of the flowers in the window - I used exposure compensation of +2/3. I'm trying to work on my composition and seeing things from diff. perspectives. It's amazing how just moving a foot or two will really improve a shot.

WOW handheld...you have very steady hands your pics are sharp. Your doing a great job with the composition.

 

[denise5374]

I haben't been on this thread in a while. I was at WDW 8/17-8/25 and took 800+ pictures. I have to say I was disappointed in most of them, I think I played around too much with the settings ror was snapping to quickly but either way, I still ended up with a few good shots and alot of denet ones.

Here are a few:

I had slot of difficulty taking low light pics,as noticed in the dusk shot above. I know I am doing something wrong, I just don't know what.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

I was at WDW 8/17-8/25 and took 800+ pictures.

Hey, you were there when we were ... I wonder if we ran into each other and didn't know it! The weather was not cooperating for nice photo taking, was it? Especially Wed. and Thurs.!

The first three are pretty nice! I like the reflection of the flamingos in the water and the framing of the ToT with the lamppost and palm tree.

I had slot of difficulty taking low light pics,as noticed in the dusk shot above. I know I am doing something wrong, I just don't know what.

I don't think you're doing anything "wrong" ... the dusk shot (and the IASM one, too) isn't bad, but it does show some motion blur. When you're shooting at 1/25th and 1/6th of a second, there's not much you can do. The camera's IS (especially Continuous IS) helps, but it can only do so much. The best you can do is keep the aperture as wide as the S3 will go (2.8 for WA and 3.5 for Tele)....

I ran into the same problems. I found myself using ISO400 far more than I expected, knowing that I'd have to use Noiseware to smooth out the noise, just to get any sort of shutter speed. I was happy when I got 1/40th and still, a lot of pics have some motion blur.

The only way I found to (sometimes) counter it was to use Continuous mode and take more than one shot. Sometimes you just get lucky and you get a sharp pic....

 

[MissingMKE]

I've been lurking on the boards here for about a few weeks. After looking through numerous threads I think I have it narrowed down to these two cameras. I'm not ready to commit to dslr just yet, but I want something that will take decent low light pictures. Anybody have any input? I'm headed to DW at the end of the year and want to have enough time to practice with whichever model I opt for. Thanks!

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

If you plan to be mostly taking low-light pics of moving subjects at (fairly) close range, the F30 is most likely the better camera for you.

The S3 takes great pictures (I've just posted some S3 pics from my trip last week and a few are low-light and at the far end of the 432mm zoom; Indiana Jones and Nemo), but it does not have the high-ISO abilities of the Fuji SuperCCD sensor. The S3's excellent Image Stabilization (IS) helps a lot, but not if the subjects are moving....

 

[tyedye]

well, let me ask you this, then... what about the feature that allows you to take 3 pictures at under, over, and the correct exposure? Do you every use that?

My camera has that feature too and I am curious what others think about this feature and if they use it much if at all?

 

[Groucho]

They're really apples and oranges. The F30 is more comparable to Canon's 3x zoom pocket cameras - they're just slightly larger than the Elph cameras.

The S3 is a long-zoom camera - the usual decision is between the S3 (or any number of other virtually identical cameras from Sony, Panasonic, Kodak, etc which are usually overlooked around here) and the Fuji S6000, which sports a much larger sensor, as well as more advanced features like RAW mode, dedicated zoom and focus rings, etc.

Fuji also has more "standard" long-zoom models like the S700 and S8000, but they don't have the much larger sensors that contribute to the superior low-light performance. The new 8mp S8000 does have a slightly larger sensor and true IS, but the sensor is still a good bit smaller than the one in their F40 compact camera, which is also 8mp. Still, it is a larger sensor than the S5 and has true IS, so it might be very strong competition to the S5, but I don't think any real reviews have appeared yet for it.

 

[AshleyMWC]

I am headed down to Disney in 18 days - but who's counting- and I am looking for a couple tips. I haev only had my S3 for about 3 months so I am still learning about all that it does, and about photography in general. There are a couple rides/attractions that I would really like to get some pics of if I can- Spectromagic, Small World, various daytime parades, in particular. Does anyone have any specific tips for any settings? Thanks