New camera came in!

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unionrdr

unionrdr

Homebrewer, author & air gun collector
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Well, the link gavinc provided panned out rather well. I got a Canon Powershot S2 IS for 70 bucks that just came in a lil bit ago. There'll be a lot more to learn using this one. The 4 AA batteries in the camera are still good & they even gave another 4-pack of AA's for it. The software disc loaded just fine, but computer tells me of " known compatibility issues". I'll have to figure that out as well. It's 5 megapixel like my old Vivitar 5150s, but way better. Even has stereo sound & sound for pics. I can even program my own color sets. Flip out viewer rotates, but it's kinda small. It's used for 70 bucks, but I don't see any scratches & everything works.
Somebody kept the 1GB SD card, but my old one had a 2GB card, so I'm using it. I played around with the zoom & such to take a couple initial pics...


Not to bad so far, & the autofocus works pretty quick.
 
You have missed focus on both of those, it can be a pain, but get those hands steady!

Locking your wrists and hold it against your body (while still looking through the lens), can help keep it still without a tri-pod.

As far as the software goes, you should just be able ot remove the SD and put that i your computer without going through the camera's software, which I feel is never as user freindly as just finding stuff on the SD.

Cheers
 
Glad it worked out for you.

I would trash the software that came with it. Never found those to be any use with any camera. Pop the card in the computer as before.

Those images do look a bit blurry. I guess there is a learning curve with any new piece of hardware.
 
I used the autofocus, but pushing the shutter button only halfway to focus first is really touchy. The software's ok so far, but I'll have to play around with it. It even has a video film studio in the software as well, so I now have two. I'll be using this camera for all my pics & videos. I like the stereo sound part. This one has a rotating viewfinder that I can turn around, snap back into place & use it to see what the lens does. Now if I could just find the old tripod I found & lost again...:drunk:
 
Focus! A serious comment: if those pictures look in focus to you, you need to check your glasses.


  • Put that thing in full auto mode.
  • In low-light conditions, you'll need to hold it steady. With lots of lite, exposure time is short and you can take a pic while jumping rope. So, get as much light on the subjects as you can.
  • I highly recommend NOT using the flash if you can avoid it. Flash washes out colors, leaves terrible glare in shiny / glass objects. There's usually an easy way to turn the flash off (look for a lightning bolt with a line through it).
  • Never take one picture. Take 3. Better chance that one of them will look fine. It's digital, it's free. Take 10. Why not?
 
unionrdr said:
I used the autofocus, but pushing the shutter button only halfway to focus first is really touchy. The software's ok so far, but I'll have to play around with it. It even has a video film studio in the software as well, so I now have two. I'll be using this camera for all my pics & videos. I like the stereo sound part. This one has a rotating viewfinder that I can turn around, snap back into place & use it to see what the lens does. Now if I could just find the old tripod I found & lost again...:drunk:
Click to expand...

You don't have to push halfway. Just push it all the way every time.

The only time you want to push halfway first is when you want to focus on something that's not in the center of the frame. In that case, point the camera at the subject, press shutter release halfway down (not it's focused), move the camera (it shouldn't change the focus), finish pressing.
 
They do look a hair out of focus to me. Color saturation looks better than the old one wound up. I had it in auto, & saw it focus after using the zoom function to frame the pics. I actually took four, just didn't show'em. It has an image stabilizer built in, but idk the details yet. And the flash is the flip up type. And the tripod will be for videos, mostly. This thing can even stitch panorama shots together. And I pushed it all the way on all four, since I couldn't do the halfway bit.
 
unionrdr said:
They do look a hair out of focus to me. Color saturation looks better than the old one wound up. I had it in auto, & saw it focus after using the zoom function to frame the pics. I actually took four, just didn't show'em. It has an image stabilizer built in, but idk the details yet. And the flash is the flip up type. And the tripod will be for videos, mostly. This thing can even stitch panorama shots together.
Click to expand...

OK, the problem probably wasn't focus. It's blurred from motion. Only use the zoom if on tripod or outdoors in a well-lit scene. Zoom seriously exacerbates the blur problem with handheld pics unless there's lots of light.

Take another pic with the zoom off and let's see. I'm not gonna be satisfied until I see a sharp pic from you Union. :mug:
 
I would definitely try the push halfway bit, it will greatly improve the focus on most pictures. Also, the extra viewfinder is nice, but it will really suck down battery juice.

Agreed on the included software. I really like Google Picasa for photo editing, even for my DSLR. It's a great free software. Lots of nice and easy to use post-processing functions
 
Ok, here's take two. I also reset the ISO to 400 & made sure the zoom was in normal position on the switch ring around the shutter button.




OK, let's see how these look? Thanks for the help, this like learning a new computer system to me...
 
Why are you messing with the ISO? Lower ISO numbers will improve the picture, but at the expense of exposure time, which is causing blur.

Those still aren't good Union. I'm sure the camera can take fine pictures, and I'm a bit surprised it doesn't do it right out of the box.

Are you in full Automatic mode?

auto.jpg
 
IS can only make up for so much, you need to pre-focus with the half click and hold it steady. Leave everything in auto mode, no need to change film speed or anything else, just put it on the green auto setting like shown above. The auto modes on these cameras is pretty good really.
 
I also have to look up PDF's on this thing. Gotta learn so much. Anyway, I changed the ISO setting, since this is supposed to be the digital version of film speed as I understand it? And I have it in full auto mode. I'll try reseting the iso, but that didn't seem to help much, idk?
 
What may appear as bright indoor light to your eyes may still not be enough for your camera to jump to a higher shutter speed. Look in the viewfinder when you compose. Does it show a number like 1/60, 1/30, etc.? Sometimes it's displayed as 60, 30, etc. That is your shutter speed in fractions of a second. With anything slower than 1/125 you really need to hold steady or use a tripod. Even holding the camera against a fixed object like a chair back or doorway will help steady things.
 
It is the same as standard film speed, but for this kind of shot, it won't affect much, especially in a well lit stationary picture. The time to really use that function would be at night, or low light action shots. It can be useful, but at the expense of quality. It will show a lot more "noise" or Red Green Blue dots on the image that are easier to see on dark images. I RARELY mess with it.

Your issues on this are all focus/movement related I believe, as long as you are in auto mode. They seem a little dark to me also. Try again using the "Tv" setting, or shutter speed priority. This will place shutter speed higher than all other aspects in the algorithms the auto modes use, giving you the best chance at a non-blurry shot.
 
MaxStout said:
What may appear as bright indoor light to your eyes may still not be enough for your camera to jump to a higher shutter speed. Look in the viewfinder when you compose. Does it show a number like 1/60, 1/30, etc.? Sometimes it's displayed as 60, 30, etc. That is your shutter speed in fractions of a second. With anything slower than 1/125 you really need to hold steady or use a tripod. Even holding the camera against a fixed object like a chair back or doorway will help steady things.
Click to expand...

Probably doesn't show shutter speed when in Auto Mode.
 
If using the screen and not the optical viewfinder, I think it might....been awhile since I used my canon point and shoot.
 
Much better! Try inside again, same settings. It is tougher because light is less abundant, meaning it needs to hold the shutter open longer to get enough light in to expose the "film".

Are you doing the half click? It should beep when it focuses. also looks like there are some lights that light up, per the manual page I posted.
 
I've had the S2 IS for many years. Use the 1/2 press to find your focal points - it can change the outcome drastically. It takes very good pictures when focus is working correctly. Get some quality rechargeable batteries because it eats them for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
 
Tried the TV setting inside & even managed to get the focus then shoot thing to work. But they're so dark, not much of the image can be seen. Gotta try auto mode inside & try to focus first?
 
unionrdr said:
OK, take four...I took these outside on the TV setting, which showed as 1/125 of a second...
Click to expand...

Tv is Shutter priority mode. That means that YOU select the shutter speed manually (not sure how, turn a dial or something). The camera will automatically set aperture, ISO, etc. So, that 1/125 was something that you could have adjusted there.

Av allows you to control the aperture, the camera will take care of shutter speed.
 
On the shutter speed readout: it is in the Exif file that goes with the image file. Almost all photo manipulating programs will display it. If your early shots show long shutter open times (longer than, say 1/30 sec) then the blur is most likely caused by shake.

Even those outdoor shots don't look that sharp to me (even though the effects of Unsharp Mask are pretty apparent). But what do you expect from a $70 point and shoot? The sensor is better than the glass (plastic).
 
passedpawn said:
Tv is Shutter priority mode. That means that YOU select the shutter speed manually (not sure how, turn a dial or something). The camera will automatically set aperture, ISO, etc. So, that 1/125 was something that you could have adjusted there.

Av allows you to control the aperture, the camera will take care of shutter speed.
Click to expand...

Sorry, been awhile since I used that mode, you are correct.
 
I just can't do the half push on the shutter button in auto mode. TV mode, about half the time. But I did figure out how to change shutter speed in TV mode. This thing is ultra motion sensitive. Idk about the image stabilizer?
 
ajdelange said:
Even those outdoor shots don't look that sharp to me (even though the effects of Unsharp Mask are pretty apparent). But what do you expect from a $70 point and shoot? The sensor is better than the glass (plastic).
Click to expand...

This is also a 10 yr old 5MP camera, technology has come pretty far since then.
 
No offense, but it really shouldn't be that hard to do the half press? I never take pictures without it, it most certainly has an affect on picture quality, even in point and shoots.

Read the manual on the IS section, it should say how to select different modes, but the default is on.
 
Yeah, I need to read more. Didn't think it was 10 years old, dammit. My Vivitar is about that old. I def have trouble with this half press stuff...idk?
 
I wasn't going to say anything in the other thread about other's suggestions, especially since you jumped on it so quickly, but a new point and shoot could be had for around $100. It will have less features in some ways, and less manual settings, but also have higher megapixels (Which can be very misleading, so isn't really a good indicator, but still) and some newer technology and features that can prove useful.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B5HE3IW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I don't even use my point and shoot anymore now that Smartphones can take such great photos. This was with my LG G3

Big Sur.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
christyle said:
This is also a 10 yr old 5MP camera, technology has come pretty far since then.
Click to expand...

Oh. In that case the plastic is probably better than the sensor. Remember that 5 MP really means 2.5 MP (there are 5M pixels but 5/2 are green, 5/4 blue and 5/4 red - 5M RGB pixels are put out but all are interpolated).
 
Thanks for mentioning it. This one is going to be tricky to get sharp pictures with my old hands/arthritis. My Canon FTb 35mm was easier to learn to use.
 
Any camera I've used in the digital age is a lot smarter than I am. This is what I do.

Select Auto

Turn On

Remove lens cap

Flash on or off. That is the sum total of any adjustments other than zoom I use.

If you're not happy with it send it back. It's specs and age should have been clearly outlined on the website. No worries with B&H

There are a ton more like it to be had. Probably even better and cheaper. This was just the first cannon I came across in a quick peek at B&H's used dept.
 
unionrdr said:
Thanks for mentioning it. This one is going to be tricky to get sharp pictures with my old hands/arthritis. My Canon FTb 35mm was easier to learn to use.
Click to expand...

Arthritis can make this difficult for sure, they are very small and delicate compared to older 35mms
 

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