Canon S3

[tekmom]

Thanks for the replies! I'll try it before we leave and see how it goes.

 

[missliberty]

Both my mom and dad have the S2 and they cannot use anything bigger than a 2GB card. They both have taken great videos with their cameras though. I have an S3 and I can't see a huge dif between the two. You can download a copy of the user guide at the canon website.

usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=144&modelid=11368#DownloadDetailAct

 

[heartsy77]

We bought this camera in 2006 after our 1st trip to WDW. It has pretty much collected dust becauseure we can't figure out how to use it! The biggest problem is trying to take action shots ie- kids at sports etc. I have read the book and still can get it! HELP!

 

[VVFF]

We bought this camera in 2006 after our 1st trip to WDW. It has pretty much collected dust becauseure we can't figure out how to use it! The biggest problem is trying to take action shots ie- kids at sports etc. I have read the book and still can get it! HELP!

photos of sports need good lighting. If its indoors that's often hard. If outdoors, you'll be mostly limited to daytime shots.

If you want the best chance of getting the shot and don't mind a grainy shot find the ISO control on the camera and change it til it says either the highest number or "ISO HI".

 

[Frantasmic]

Are your sport shots dark? blurry? dark AND blurry?

Are you using a scene mode or are you in auto?

Does your venue allow flash?

 

[heartsy77]

Are your sport shots dark? blurry? dark AND blurry?

Are you using a scene mode or are you in auto?

Does your venue allow flash?

It is hard to remember because I never use it. If i remember correctly when I was taking pics at my girls dance rectail they were blurry. Granted it was dark but the stage was lighted where they were dancing. I think I tried to adjust the speed manually but again I really don't know how to do this.

 

[VVFF]

It is hard to remember because I never use it. If i remember correctly when I was taking pics at my girls dance rectail they were blurry. Granted it was dark but the stage was lighted where they were dancing. I think I tried to adjust the speed manually but again I really don't know how to do this.

A stage is going to be a very tough setting for a point and shoot camera. My best advice would be to find out if you can put your camera in spot metering mode. Center the lit stage in the frame and see how it goes. You will want to zoom out as far as possible and possibly even look into manually forcing the ISO speed higher. All this can be found in your manual.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

A stage is going to be a very tough setting for a point and shoot camera. My best advice would be to find out if you can put your camera in spot metering mode. Center the lit stage in the frame and see how it goes. You will want to zoom out as far as possible and possibly even look into manually forcing the ISO speed higher. All this can be found in your manual.

The S2 does have a spot metering mode.

The best chance you're going to have with your camera at an indoor dance recital is to turn on spot metering, switch to Av mode and set the aperture as wide as it will go (smallest number: either 2.7 or 3.5 depending on your zoom level -- zoom as little as possible to get the largest aperture). Set the ISO at 400. Using Av mode lets the camera pick the fastest shutter speed you can get based on the other settings.

When taking the picture, aim for the brightest spot on your subject you can, trying to get as much of it in the center of the 'target'. The background will be come out *very* dark, but there's a much better chance your subject will be correctly exposed and not motion blurred.

I can't remember if the S2 goes any higher than ISO400 ... if it has an ISO80, you can try that but expect very grainy photos you'll need to clean up with Noise-Reduction software (like Imagnomic's Noiseware). However, sometimes a grainy-but-not-blurry picture is better than no picture at all.

To truly take good photos of indoor events, you either need a powerful flash or a DSLR with a "fast" lens ... which is, unfortunately, quite a bit more expensive than an S2 or S3....

Canon's also got a new camera the, S90, that's supposed to be unusually good at low-light shots, but I've not seen any reviews of it. However, I've read that by manipulating the MP of the pictures it can hit something like ISO12800! Don't know what the picture quality will be, but that's something for a P&S!

 

[ThurlFan]

Action shots are possible. I have an S3 and got the following pictures indoors. I will ad a caveat that the floor was lit up bright enough for a TV broadcast which helped. I was in Manual mode and set the shutter speed to 1/125 and the aperture as wide as possible. I think I was using ISO 400 and I definitely cleaned them up with Noiseware. This was zoomed way in also (I was in the second level of seats).

I have had less luck in my neice's small college venues, but still have managed to get passable results at higher ISO and some post-processing to reduce noise and brlighten the image. It took some experimenting to figure out what would work best, so you will have to be willing to fiddle with settings to get the best result for your situation.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Another thing to consider is that noise is not the huge problem people sometimes make it out to be.

Even the noise of an ISO800 pic from my Powershot S3 fades to "barely noticeable" when displayed in either of the two places my photos usually get displayed: a 4x6 print or my 7" LCD desktop picture frame.

It's really only a problem when you're printing huge enlargements or viewing at 100% on a PC monitor.

Back in the mist of history, when we only had film, ALL high-speed film was grainy and that's the way we LIKED it!

 

[Frantasmic]

My own S5 works well at baseball games and hockey games, but doesn't work well in high school gyms and auditoriums. As you can tell, the good venues were fairly well lit or had a wonderful backdrop of white ice.

For dance recitals, etc. get as close as possible to the stage. Set your ISO to 400-800. Zoom as little as possible. Your white balance should be probably either shade or fluorescent light setting. Go to manual and set your shutter to 1/125 or 1/200 and set on the lowest aperture your camera will allow with the zoom you select.

then, clean up your photos for noise reduction

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I think I tried to adjust the speed manually but again I really don't know how to do this.

I know what you mean. I remember trying to do the depth of field assignment once and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to adjust the aperture on my S3. (Remember, Stitch? lol)

Here's how. You pick your Mode, such as Aperture, Shutter Priority or Manual. Then you can adjust the aperture and/or shutter to your desired settings by using the "roller ball" type thing on the back (that has the arrows), sorry don't remember the exact name for it. I also have the S2 and I will say it might be a little difficult to see the settings as the LCD screen is pretty small.

So if you want to open the aperture as wide as it will go, choose Aperture Priority, then arrow left on the roller ball until it won't go any further. (Someone's currently borrowed my S2 so I can't say what the max aperture is, but on the S3 it seems to be f/2.7 at the wide setting and f/3.5 zoomed out.) You can arrow to the right to make it smaller. Same goes for shutter speeds, etc.

The caveat here is that, even in the priority modes on these types of cameras, it may not be enough to get the types of shots you want consistently. But with practice, you can definitely get some. The combination of a moving subject and a moving camera makes it rather difficult to get good action shots - especially in low light. Using a tripod or monopod will help. As others have said, you will also need to up the ISO and use NR software later.

Good luck!

 

[juligrl]

I have an S3 so I'm not sure how it compares to the S2, but I have had some luck playing around with my settings and shooting in low-light situations. Stick around this board for a while and you'll be learning more than you ever thought you could about your camera in no time!

Not an award winning photo, but wonderful for my scrapbooking - f 3.2, 1/100 - ISO was probably 200. I haven't yet discovered the world of post-processing so 200's about the highest ISO I can go and still have a decent print.

f 3.5 1/100

 

[heartsy77]

I am going to try the camera tonight at my dd volleyball game I will post how they turn out.

 

[Keishag]

I am considering downgrading my S2 IS to the underwater capable D10. I can't afford to own both, although I wish I could. So I've got to make a choice. I do LOVE the pics that my S2 takes, but I don't use it as much just because it's not convenient. I feel like I'd get more pictures and love that the D10 has underwater capabilities. I usually only use it to take pics of my kids at things, so would this be a bad move? I'm not someone who stops to take shots of nature or anything like that.