Hi..New to this board but I have a Question..Anyone own a Canon Powershot-A540?

[Poohbear123]

I just received mine in the mail, comes with a few books to read, and I have so far loaded the Batteries and Memory Card...anyone have any fast tips they can share, without me reading the Books? I will be taking it to Disney on Sunday Aug. 5th-Aug. 9th need firework tips etc. Thanks!

 

[ukcatfan]

Here is the official fireworks tips thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1474329
The equipment sticky has some more links that might intrest you as well.

My best advice is to practice and practice some more and then get a tripod. Even a small tabletop one is better than nothing. Digital shots are free, there is no reason not to practice away. You are little too close to learn that much on manual modes, but it would not hurt to try to learn a little. One easy thing to start is the ISO. It is not adjustable in Auto, but is in P mode. Test and see how changing it allows for faster shutter speeds that help with lower light and to freeze action. The downside is that as you raise ISO, you also increase image noise. In your software, you will see a way to view the EXIF data. It is data that tells what all the settings were for a shot. Look at this for shots that worked as well as ones that did not. You will start to get a feel for what you need in terms of shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, etc.

Kevin

 

[Poohbear123]

Thanks Kevin for the tips. I changed the ISO to 400 is that OK? I have had some experience with Digital, my other Camera is a Sony...about 7 years old. I got tired of charging the battery it came with, and I like the Canon, its light and takes "regular" batteries. I live in North Dade East of the Dolphin Stadium.

 

[ukcatfan]

Thanks Kevin for the tips. I changed the ISO to 400 is that OK? I have had some experience with Digital, my other Camera is a Sony...about 7 years old. I got tired of charging the battery it came with, and I like the Canon, its light and takes "regular" batteries. I live in North Dade East of the Dolphin Stadium.

When you have enough light, keep it as low as possible. When the shutter speeds start getting to slow, that is when you would want to raise it. Once you get some experience, there will likely be situatons where you want a slow shutter speed, but for basic vacation photos, you want to keep it fast enough. Once it gets slower than ~1/60 second, your motion can cause the shot to blur. If the subject is moving and you are not really close look for around 1/250, but if you are closer or the subject is moving fast, you might need 1/500 to 1/1000. Upping the ISO helps do this. You can also adjust the aperture to do this, but I do not want to throw too much at you and that would get you in to the manual modes. If you are interested, the smaller aperture numbers mean that more light is let in because the hole is larger. That means that a faster shutter speed can be used.

Kevin

 

[Poohbear123]

Thanks again, read some of the book, and its getting to me slowly...I bought a Case for it and a mini tripod, so I am set so far.

 

[Jeanne B]

You should get an extra memory card if you haven't already, memory is cheap these days and the last thing you want to do on vacation is go in search of a memory card. Check my thread on the SanDisk 2GB Ultra from Radio Shack, great price at $19.99 (and even cheaper if you have Staples do their 110% price match guarantee).

 

[Poohbear123]

You should get an extra memory card if you haven't already, memory is cheap these days and the last thing you want to do on vacation is go in search of a memory card. Check my thread on the SanDisk 2GB Ultra from Radio Shack, great price at $19.99 (and even cheaper if you have Staples do their 110% price match guarantee).

Thanks, I picked up a 1GB one at Wal Mart for 16.88. It came with one too. Holds about a 1,000 pics.

 

[DisGal520]

You should get an extra memory card if you haven't already, memory is cheap these days and the last thing you want to do on vacation is go in search of a memory card. Check my thread on the SanDisk 2GB Ultra from Radio Shack, great price at $19.99 (and even cheaper if you have Staples do their 110% price match guarantee).

Staples has a 110% match price???? Do you need to bring the Radio Shack ad to them??? I usaully get the SD cards at Radio Shack when they run the 19.99 special, but this Staples thing sounds interesting.


DisGal