Just bought a Canon Power Shot SD800 IS, any opinions

[VickynMickey]

I wanted something lightweight and able to put in my purse. Also wanted something that worked well for night time shots, the sales person said the ISO was good on this camera. After looking around purchased a Canon PowerShot SD800 IS, I just started playing around with the different settings! Has anyone here used this camera and have good tips for great pictures. I love the color accent where you can pick a specific color and pull into the picture. I can't wait to use it on our upcoming trip in March!

 

[DisneyGirlie]

Hi!

I'm glad you're enjoying it!
does it seem to get nice low light shots?

 

[DueyDooDah]

Sounds like you made a good purchase. I have been studying the different options available and am looking at either the SD800 IS or the S3 IS. It depends which features my DW values the most, small and versitile or larger (still not a dSLR) with extra zoom (also macro, but that's for me ). Either way, they get great reviews at Steve's Digicam site. I don't think you'll be sorry.

 

[VickynMickey]

I am having problems getting use to the settings and such on the camera. I don't want professional pictures but I want crisp clear pictures and this one I took this morning is very grainy. I am not sure what I am doing wrong but I am getting very disqusted with the camera. But I know its me

 

[VickynMickey]

Hi!

I'm glad you're enjoying it!
does it seem to get nice low light shots?

I haven't taken very many low light shots with the camera yet. But one of the main reasons I purchased the camera is because of its 1600 ISO capability and that its compact. Part of me is wishing I would have gone with the Canon S3 like I wanted but the size is what got me too go with the SD PowerShot. I am just a little frustrated but I am sure I will get use too the camera and love it. I am thinking of taking a class at the local college to get better aquainted with the settings. Here are a few more pics I took with the camera:

This one taken in low light:

 

[DueyDooDah]

It looks like the camera is using a very high ISO. I assume you are using the Auto setting.

Try one, or both, of these: 1) Set the mode to Sports, or one of the night modes and if you can still manually adjust the ISO, set it to 100 or 200, or 2) set the mode to Av, adjust your apeture to 8, and set your ISO to 100 or 200 (the lower the better) and place the camera on a tripod and try again. The second option will give you better control over the desired outcome and is easier than it sounds. Just write my suggestion down, take your Advanced booklet with you and use it to make the settings.

I hope this helps, not hinders.

 

[VickynMickey]

the camera doesn't have sports mode and when I put it on night shot it doesn't adjust the ISO. I did have the camera on the highest ISO mode 1600 and didn't even know it. Like I said I am still learning. The sunrise picture was taken at the spur of the moment without a tripod(I do have one). What is the Av mode? and where do you adjust the apeture!!!! Thanks for all your help!!!

 

[DueyDooDah]

I did have the camera on the highest ISO mode 1600 and didn't even know it.

I do that too, when I change settings. I try to leave it at ISO 100 all the time, but there are situations where I need to change it.

What is the Av mode? Thanks for all your help!!!

It's called Aperture Priority mode. What it means is that you get to set how big you want the hole in the lens to be during a shot. The camera then adjusts how long it is open, automatically.

"Why would you do this?", you ask. To control the part of the picture that the camera keeps in focus (called depth of field, but that's irrelevant right now). This helps give you different moods to the image. It's fun to play with, but because you have a point & shoot camera (I have a dSLR), you won't see alot of difference in setting changes. But, you can try to see a difference by doing the following:

Take a picture of something close, like a flower, with a cluttered background, like a stand of trees at least 20-50ft or more away. Set the camera on your tripod, set the mode to Av and the aperture to the smallest number on the dial. Take a picture of the flower. Now take the same picture but change the aperture to about the middle of the range. Then take one more with the largest number. You should see a big difference in the background.

Just know this. The more you know about this stuff, the more you will want to do with your camera. The more you want to do with your camera, the more you'll find you can't do without an upgrade. The more upgrades you get, the more you'll need a new camera. The more camera you get, the more upgrades you'll need. The cycle never ends!

 

[VickynMickey]

I am not finding Av mode on my camera at all. Not in the book or on the camera. On my dial I have a Auto, Manual, special scene mode and video
Wow, I am new at this!!!!
Do I have a Av mode on my camera

 

[DueyDooDah]

I am not finding Av mode on my camera at all. Not in the book or on the camera. On my dial I have a Auto, Manual, special scene mode and video
Wow, I am new at this!!!!
Do I have a Av mode on my camera

OMG. I am so sorry. I opened the wrong manual (I had the S3 manual open). You do not have an Av mode. And the closest you have to the sports mode seems to be the Kids & Pets mode and you have one Night mode. I'm afraid you'll have to try each mode out to see which mode is the best for each situation. I really am sorry for giving you information you cannot use. I did not mean to add to the confusion of owning a new camera. Please forgive me.

 

[VickynMickey]

Ok, answer this for me. Is aperture the same as shutter speed or exp time +/- or am I very very lost

 

[JR6ooo4]

Here are a few more pics I took with the camera:
This one taken in low light:

These are Nice!!!!

as for the noisy snow sunrise... I have a rebel XT ($800) and a $500 and $600 lens and every once in a while I will get a shot like that, lots of noise. How many did you take, are they all like that?

Mikeeee

 

[VickynMickey]

I took about 24 shots of the sunrise, not adjusting the settings on the camera. So the ISO was at 1600 all 24 pictures. I am going to try it again this week sometime, with the tripod and playing with the different setting on the camera. i think I can get this!(I sure hope )

 

[ukcatfan]

Ok, answer this for me. Is aperture the same as shutter speed or exp time +/- or am I very very lost

Aperture is the size of the hole and shutter speed is how long the hole is open. The +/- is likely exposure compensation. It basically tells the camera that the settings it picked are wrong and to bump them +/- by that amount of exposure stops.

A good book is Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.

Kevin

 

[VickynMickey]

I don't think my camera has the capability of switching the aperture
I guess all I can do know is just take it out and play with the different settings. I hope I can catch on too this before we leave for WDW in 34 days.

 

[ukcatfan]

I don't think my camera has the capability of switching the aperture
I guess all I can do know is just take it out and play with the different settings. I hope I can catch on too this before we leave for WDW in 34 days.

If it has a full manual mode, then it can. Sometimes the setting "manual" is not a true manual mode. Read up on your camera to see if the manual mode allows it to change.

 

[Cheeky in TN]

I have that same camera and have been extremely please with it. When you are shooting 1600 iso, do you have it in the manual mode? I think that is the only one that allows manually changing the ISO. The camera in auto will only use auto or Hi iso, can not set the actual ISO number.

On the snow pic, were you zoomed out?

i have both the Sd800 and a Rebel Xti. For just random shots, both cameras take great pictures and detail. The Rebel works better when I need to control how the picutre is to look and in lower light situations (although the SD800 is the best P&S camera i have owned for low light).

Here are some pics from the SD800.

Aladin ride, no way I was going to try to shoot this with the Rebel (holding camera out to the side to get them in the front.)

 

[allie5]

I have this camera and have experienced a few of the same problems.

It does tend to default to high ISO number, so if taking night shots and you want less noise, crank it down to 800 or so and use a tripod or steady yourself on a railing or something.

Its a great little point n shoot compact, but doesnt have a huge range of manual settings - only really exposure, however Ive had some good results with it (I also have a Kodak P850 which I use for more complex shots in manual mode if I need to).

Here are some recent low light pix with my 800 (I did post a couple for a lady who was thinking of buying one in another thread, so apologies if you have seen them before).

This one was taken in complete darkness at Disneyland Resort Paris...

 

[ukcatfan]

I wanted something lightweight and able to put in my purse. Also wanted something that worked well for night time shots, the sales person said the ISO was good on this camera. After looking around purchased a Canon PowerShot SD800 IS, I just started playing around with the different settings! Has anyone here used this camera and have good tips for great pictures. I love the color accent where you can pick a specific color and pull into the picture. I can't wait to use it on our upcoming trip in March!

If you are really not happy with your camera and can still return it, you might want to consider something in the Canon "A" series. They are a little larger and heavier than the "SD" series, but they offer many more manual settings. There is also the "S" series that has the large zoom, but they are even larger and heavier than the "A" series. If you really want good low light and high ISO performance, unfortunately you have to go up to a DSLR. That does not sound like what you are after though.

Kevin

 

[DisneyGirlie]

With all these great example photos posted just recently, I am seriously considering this camera!
I'm just torn between this and the S3.
I don't know yet, but I suppose i'll have to figure it out soon!