Some tips and useful information for A40 user

[malkw]

Below are some tips and information that I have collected from different sources when I was using my Canon A40.
Hope this is useful to all current A40 user and produce more good photo shots with this wonderful camera.


nite shots tips on A40
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
when doing nite shots on A40, the P AE mode work well if the subject is fairly close to you eg 5~50meter.

When using Manual mode, i find that F11 works well with finer results vs F4.8. But when in the F11 mode, exposure time required is 8 seconds or more.. depending on how far the subject and how brightly lit it is.

To select this mode, in case some of us missed it. When in Manual mode, press the [display] button to select the Fx.x, most of the time, you can only chose between 2 model.


The lowest shutter speed which can be used without a tripod and not blur
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
General rule-of-thumb... lowest shutter speed to use for handheld shot should be approximately the reciprocal of your lens focal length.

1/20th for 20mm focal length
1/50th (1/60th or 1/40th) for 50mm focal length
1/100th for 100mm focal length
1/200th for 200mm focal length


The secret was a set of P settings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Settings:

White balance: cloudy (also got a good one with daylight)
photo effect: vivid
exp. comp - 2/3
AF off
AF beam off
some with macro, one with snapshot
ISO auto
compression: SUPER FINE
1600 x 1200

Got some amazing shutter speeds 1/1000 and 1/640.

A -2/3 to -1 exposure comp. is generally a good rule of thumb in bright sunlight. But, if taken mid-day the light you get tends to makes for bad pictures no matter what you do.

vivid mode might help to increase the contrast, and higher contrast might aid in making shots appear sharper.

Some mentioning that 1024x768 size might look sharper than 1600x1200



Effects of f-stop
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
low f-stop (eg 2.4)
+ 1. less exposure time
- 2. In night shots, bright subjects tends especially lights tend to lose the details after a long exposure. eg signboards
- or + 3. Subjects will be foucs and sharp, but the background will be blurer. In street photography, this can make subject "standout" from the background. But in landscape, it might result in a shot which look softer.

high f-stop
+ 1. darker picture (useful in bright condition, eg under mid day sun to prevent over exposure)
+ 2. opp of low f-stop point 3
- 3. needs a longer time to achive a brighter picture (night shots). solve the problem of low f-stop point 2.



The A40 zoom focal lengths are as follows:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A40 -------- Equivalent 35mm
5.4 --------- 35
6.6 --------- 43
7.8 --------- 51
9.4 --------- 61
11.3 ------- 73
13.4 ------- 87
16.2 ------ 105


The aperture range of the A40
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For all our A40 owners here is a list (and attached spreadsheet)of the zoom and associated aperture settings for each of the seven available zoom steps. The maximum & minimum aperture settings are 3 f/stops apart so if you switch from one aperture to the other then the shutter speed will need to be changed by a factor of 4 to maintain the same EV.

code:--Step Zoom (35mm) Min Max
-----------------------------------
0 -- 5.4mm (35mm) f/2.8, f/8
1 -- 6.6mm (43mm) f/3.2, f/9
2 -- 7.8mm (51mm) f/3.5, f/10
3 -- 8.2mm (53mm) f/3.5, f/10
4 - 11.3mm (73mm) f/4, f/11
5 - 13.4mm (87mm) f/4.5, f/13
6 - 16.2mm (105mm) f/4.8, f/14

Notes:
1) 3 full f-stops difference between the maximum and
minimum aperture settings.
2) Only 2 aperture settings are available at each
zoom setting.


Macro mode focussing tips
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You might want to use manual mode with the smallest f-stop (f/14) and a tripod


AIAF On or Off?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you use the single focus point at least you have some control over where the Camera is going to focus. With AiAF the Camera decides the focus point depending on what it has detected in one or more of the three squares, so you can't be sure what you are going to get.


How to take portraits with A40
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. set camera to aperture priority mode and open the aperture to widest (small aperture value).
2. zoom in as much as your lens allow (in this case it's 105mm on your A40).
3. stand as close to your model as you can without losing focus.
4. choose a place for the model with the background as far as it can be.


What settings for low light for A40
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
higher ISO , say 200 ..
if larger shutter speed .. ..


soft focus
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have found an undocumented ‘feature’ of the Canon A40 camera. Canon has introduced the worlds first built-in soft focus portrait lens in a digital camera. At the 13mm zoom setting, which is equivalent to a 85mm lens on a 35mm camera, the Canon A40 produces a pleasing soft focus that can be use for portraits or ‘dreamy’ landscape photography. Apparently Canon has chosen not to promote this ‘feature,’ fearing a uproar form those who have purchased more expensive cameras that lack this ‘feature.’

Additional softening can be added in the manual mode by using the Low Sharpening effect in the Photo Effects menu and using the lens wide open at F/4.5.



Make 3 Megapixel Pictures With Your A40!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is unbelievable but, you can make high quality pictures with a resolution of 2048x1536 or even 2272x1704 (4 megapixel!) with your 2 Megapixel PowerShot A40.

Firstly, you should take a 1600x1200 picture in the superfine mode of your A40. Then, you open this picture with Paintshop Pro 7.0 or a similar program (Photoshop) and resize (menu Image/Resize) it to 2048x1536 or 2272x1704 and save this new picture. Important: You should use the bicubic resample mode because it makes an interpolation between neighbor pixels of your image. You can check the unbelievable increase in quality, if you zoom into the original picture and compare it with the new picture. You will see that the quality is much better.

You will see the improved quality of your pictures also if you print them. I printed the same picture with the size of 15x20 cm with a resolution of 1600x1200 and 2048x1536 and everybody I showed these pics sees immediately the improved quality!!!

Important: You should always use the fine or better the super fine mode of your camera, because, if you print or watch bigger pictures on your screen which have been taken in the normal mode you will see artefacts due to the jpeg-compression

[plainsman]

thanks malkw for sharing

[lefei]

thanks for sharing with us

[art2d2]

Good Work !

[plainsman]

i do recall there being a a40 photo gallery some time ago on this forum. maybe we should start a new one and show some of the photos taken on this camera on a continous basis, so people who are interested in this camera can see and judge for themselves.

also, the photos taken probably should encompass the more average photo, so that those who are not really good at photography and still want to take some decent pictures when they go holiday, have bbq with friends, celebrate national day etc. can see if this camera will be able to fit their use.

i think it is a really good camera for the photography hobbyist, cost-wise, feature-wise and pretty good performance.

[BlueAngel]

wow some good tips here


maybe some other A40 users can share more tips about that camera to newbies .......

and somemore mods could make that sticky ......

[pker88]

anyone know why most of canon digicam
like around below 1K
the pics is not soo sharp?
i compare alot of canon pics lor
looks blur to me

[ajneo]

Thanks Malkw

[Newbie123]

Quote: Originally posted by pker88 anyone know why most of canon digicam like around below 1K the pics is not soo sharp? i compare alot of canon pics lor looks blur to me

Hi, do a UnSharp Mask (Commonly known as USM here) and you will find that the pics becomes alot sharper.

[imaginary_number]

Quote: Originally posted by pker88 anyone know why most of canon digicam like around below 1K the pics is not soo sharp? i compare alot of canon pics lor looks blur to me

Actually, this applies to most digicams. You'll actually need to sharpen it yourself. You can see this thread for an example:

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthrea...0&pagenumber=1

[Lindy]

thankx for the info malk!

[Infernus]

excellent job, malkw
ur tips surely help....esp for newbies like me....
thanx a million!!

thanks for the tips they have been a great help to me. thank you very much.

[Pred2]

thanks for the tips! i have this cam for about a month now and still can't get to have any nice shots i see from some A40 users.

I also have problems with the camera especially taking close up photos,pictures tend to be blur for close up pics..
Anyone met this problem or anyone knows the solution..will really appreciate if someone can help..thankz.

[pker88]

btw wat is the P and F11 mode u mentioned?
not manual mode?

btw malkw do u have a albume to share
i would like see more a40 ppls albumes lor
hehe

btw malkw do u find your a40 pics is not soo sharp if compare to tother 2.1mp digicam?

[xmen1977]

Quote: Originally posted by malkw nite shots tips on A40 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ when doing nite shots on A40, the P AE mode work well if the subject is fairly close to you eg 5~50meter.

er 50m-close range?

[pker88]

hmm i also would like to have a look at more better shot from a40 owners too

before i get a a40
else i would perfer to get a fujilfim

[Beattitude]