Canon S5

[crazydadguy]

I have a question about the S5, does it accept cable releases? I have looked on line in several different places and have not been able to find any information on it.

 

[Amy]

I have been reading thru this book and messing with the controls I am a hands on learner first of all so I am struggling

I am trying to figure out the setting for when we go to our concert..this is sooo annoying.

I am not sure if the settings in the menu are were they should be or if they need to be adjusted? I am not sure I understand what they are talking about! Camera lingo in this book is over my head or something

I am a hands on learner or one of those if you do A,B,C = D

Anyone any tips ??

Steph - I answered this over on the S3/S5 thread.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Thanks for the corrections, but I was trying not to confuse the OP ... I didn't want to start throwing all of the technical stuff at them as they seem a little unsure.

Av and Tv are not "Scene" modes (like Night Snapshot or Sports), and because you "manually" set one of the parameters, I just lumped them all together.

Likewise, if I just said "set the largest aperture", I wasn't sure that the OP would know what I meant. 2.7 is the smallest *number* that the S3 can be set to... I guess I should have been clear that I meant "number" or "setting"....

 

[digman6]

Thanks for the corrections, but I was trying not to confuse the OP ... I didn't want to start throwing all of the technical stuff at them as they seem a little unsure.

Av and Tv are not "Scene" modes (like Night Snapshot or Sports), and because you "manually" set one of the parameters, I just lumped them all together.

Likewise, if I just said "set the largest aperture", I wasn't sure that the OP would know what I meant. 2.7 is the smallest *number* that the S3 can be set to... I guess I should have been clear that I meant "number" or "setting"....

Last night I figured out that the Av and Tv are not *scenes*.
It took me all day to figure that out!
After i figure it out I think -DUH!
I think I maybe making this harder then it is in some cases.
So 2.7 is the smallest on the S3 so when I do a concert shot I should have that at the lowest number is what I am getting, right???

Hey its all coming together by the end of the week I will have some of it down.

SO then if I have it on the lowest number which on my S5 is 2.7 what would the Av be at for a concert that is inside with alot of movement??

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Last night I figured out that the Av and Tv are not *scenes*.
It took me all day to figure that out!
After i figure it out I think -DUH!
I think I maybe making this harder then it is in some cases.

You probably are making it seem harder than it really is. Don't worry, there *are* a lot of settings, but you don't need to deal with ALL of them ALL the time.

So 2.7 is the smallest on the S3 so when I do a concert shot I should have that at the lowest number is what I am getting, right???

2.7 is the smallest number, therefore it's the largest aperture (the widest the lens can open to let in light). When in low light situations, you want to start with the largest aperture you can get.

SO then if I have it on the lowest number which on my S5 is 2.7 what would the Av be at for a concert that is inside with alot of movement??

2.7 would *be* the Av setting you want to use. 2.7 is, in effect, the "measure" of the size of the aperture you are selecting; from widest (2.7) to narrowest (8.0).

You could set it in two ways; in Av Mode (which is Aperture Priority; you set the aperture and the camera picks the 'best' shutter speed) or in M mode (which is Manual mode; where you have to pick *both* aperture and shutter speed).

In all of the "creative" modes (as Canon calls P, Av, Tv and M) you also have control over the ISO ... ISO is like the old film speed, and like film the higher the ISO the more sensitive the camera but the more noise (graininess) is introduced to your pictures. The S3/S5 is pretty good up to 400, but gets markedly noisier at 800 (and 1600) ... software like Noiseware is an absolute necessity if you are going to rescue an ISO1600 pic.

At a concert where the main subjects are going to be in bright spotlights while the rest of the stage is dark, you'll want to switch your metering from Evaluative (the default) to Spot (it's in the FUNC menu, accessed through the FUNC button beside the LCD). Evaluative metering is easily fooled by stage lighting and will cause the camera to pick unreasonably slow shutter speeds (in Av mode) ... spot metering avoids this problem by forcing the camera to "concentrate" on only calculating the exposure settings (the shutter speed in Av mode) based on the subject that's right in the center of the focus box.

You can see this effect here, in the last of my Sept. pictures (Indiana Jones) this picture was taken from the farthest row back. You can see that the background is pretty dark, but Indy and the idol are fairly-well exposed. If I'd used evaluative, the dark background would have thrown off the camera and the shutter speed would have been too slow to get this sharp of a pic (not that it's razor sharp, in any case).

As in the shot above, I've had the best luck shooting concerts (at Disney and other places) in Av mode (setting the largest aperture/smallest number) and Spot metering and ISO400 ... shifting up to ISO800 only when missing the shot entirely was worse than a grainy/noisy pic.

 

[digman6]

All I can say is WOW!!
thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!

I am really starting to get it now, I think

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

All I can say is WOW!!
thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!

I am really starting to get it now, I think

Glad to hear it! Don't forget to post a couple of pics on the S3/S5 family thread when you get back from the concert!

BTW, one thing I don't think I mentioned ... make sure to also set the camera into high-speed Continuous mode (the button on the top that switches from single-shot to timer to continuous) ... when you're shooting a concert, take more than one pic at a time as subject motion and camera shake are likely to mess up more than a few of your pictures.

Try to time your shots for when the performers are standing stillest; even in an energetic show for 'tweeners like HM, they'll stop dancing once in a while....

 

[tekmom]

I saw your thread on the Dis for families board and posted there, but at the HM concert last week I got really nice pics with my S2IS. I used scene mode nightime setting---no flash and zoomed in all the way. We were nosebleed too and my shots came out better than my friend's pics. She was alot closer but I had more zoom....and a better camera.

 

[Heva2015]

Hi

I see everyone is loving the Canon S5 on here...I was just wondering can you change the lenses on this or are they fixed?

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

I see everyone is loving the Canon S5 on here...I was just wondering can you change the lenses on this or are they fixed?

It is not a DSLR; you cannot *change* the lens it comes with.

You can, however, add teleconverters, wide-angle lenses, macro lenses and/or filters with a lens adapter ... Canon makes one, as does Lensmate. The Lensmate adapter is generally regarded as the best available; it's the kind I have for my S3 and it fits perfectly and is of the highest quality.

 

[MickeyMouseMomofSix]

Hi! I have the Canon S3 IS (got it in May 2007) and have yet to use it at WDW but am looking forward to in March! Now I see that they came out with a S5 IS. What are the major differences, if any, and is it worth me getting the newer one? Thanks!

 

[garate55]

Here are some differences.
I bought my wife an S3 for her birthday.

 

[MouseFaninQueue]

I know megapixels is one major difference, but what I am wondering is if there is sufficient changes other than megapixels to recommend an upgrade from an S2 to the S5?

I've had my S2 for a few years now and have really enjoyed it, but I have to admit that I am interested in upgrading to the S5, but would need some help justifying the cost to my wife (who is buying the Canon 720IS).

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ukcatfan]

I would not do it. The higher MPs it has causes higher noise at high ISOs. What are the features that you feel the S2 lacks compared to the S5? Also, unless the size/weight is just too large, a basic DSLR is not much more $ and will outperform the S5 any many ways. They also give you room to grow. Sure, you would not have the long focal length until you could justify a long zoom lens, but you would still have the S2 for that. I have a Pentax K100D and a Canon S2.

Kevin

 

[collcass]

I would not do it. The higher MPs it has causes higher noise at high ISOs. What are the features that you feel the S2 lacks compared to the S5? Also, unless the size/weight is just too large, a basic DSLR is not much more $ and will outperform the S5 any many ways. They also give you room to grow. Sure, you would not have the long focal length until you could justify a long zoom lens, but you would still have the S2 for that. I have a Pentax K100D and a Canon S2.

Kevin

That's the first thing I noticed on the review from dpreview. It has just about talked me out of upgrading to the S5.

That, along with best Buy having the Nikon D40 plus zoom lense packaged for $649 this week

 

[MouseFaninQueue]

Thank you for the feedback. I am planning on getting the Nikon D80 or the Canon Rebel Xti sometime in the future (way in the future), but was thinking of upgrading the S2 to the S5 because a) I like the higher MP b) was interested in the hot shoe c) the higher ISO would be nice as I beleive the 800 ISO of the S5 is better than the 400 ISO of the S2 and d) like the idea of the sports mode as the S2 doesn't have one.

But that will all have to wait. I just took my camera around town for some shooting and whenever I was using the zoom I was getting an E18 error, so I'll have to look into what that is and what was causing it first.

 

[Anewman]

I would buy the S5 if starting from scratch, but not upgrade worthy if you already have the S2 IMO.

 

[ukcatfan]

Thank you for the feedback. I am planning on getting the Nikon D80 or the Canon Rebel Xti sometime in the future (way in the future), but was thinking of upgrading the S2 to the S5 because a) I like the higher MP b) was interested in the hot shoe c) the higher ISO would be nice as I beleive the 800 ISO of the S5 is better than the 400 ISO of the S2 and d) like the idea of the sports mode as the S2 doesn't have one.

But that will all have to wait. I just took my camera around town for some shooting and whenever I was using the zoom I was getting an E18 error, so I'll have to look into what that is and what was causing it first.

a) just be aware that higher MPs = more noise at comparable ISOs
b) very nice feature, but consider the price of the flash
c) sorry, but that is not true; the examples look like 400 is about the same on both, but 800 on the S5 is almost unusable and 1600 is pretty much completely unusable
d) You can do this on your own with any camera that has manual controls

Kevin

 

[ukcatfan]

That, along with best Buy having the Nikon D40 plus zoom lense packaged for $649 this week

It looks like Buydig has an even better package for $90 less.

Kevin

 

[MouseFaninQueue]

Aaarrrggghhh.

E18 error is happening more frequently now on the S2. E-mail sent off to Canon to see if they have any information. Otherwise it is going to have to get sent off for repairs, and of course it is no longer under warranty.