New to Photography/S90

[Quizers]

Hi guys, i just got myself a Canon S90.

After using it for awhile, i realize i got some difficulties with taking of some pics at some area.

It will be good if you professionals can help me out here

1. For night pictures, it's hard for me to capture candid photo without flash, so is there no choice, but to use flash? :dunno:

2. I usually use P mode, however, i am unsure of the ideal ISO and Exposure compensation to put, anyway to teach me how to gauge?

3. Using of flash, there's slow syn flash and just flash, but i am not sure which to use too..

4. If taking picture of someone against bright background, i use Spot mode, it's still kinda dark, is there other settings?

5. Anyone know where to get nice wrist strap for camera?

That's all for now, haha, sorry for not doing research myself, but i will like to get some quick answer instead of long essays. ;p

TIA!

 

[lonarciso]

welcome to the club!

 

[cleonbus]

Hi guys, i just got myself a Canon S90.

After using it for awhile, i realize i got some difficulties with taking of some pics at some area.

It will be good if you professionals can help me out here

1. For night pictures, it's hard for me to capture candid photo without flash, so is there no choice, but to use flash? :dunno:

2. I usually use P mode, however, i am unsure of the ideal ISO and Exposure compensation to put, anyway to teach me how to gauge?

3. Using of flash, there's slow syn flash and just flash, but i am not sure which to use too..

4. If taking picture of someone against bright background, i use Spot mode, it's still kinda dark, is there other settings?

5. Anyone know where to get nice wrist strap for camera?

That's all for now, haha, sorry for not doing research myself, but i will like to get some quick answer instead of long essays. ;p

TIA!

1)Use tripod?

2/3/4)I don't know...

5)Shops that sells Handphone straps might have

Last but not least........Welcome to CS

 

[Quizers]

I think using tripod to catch pictures of people moving seems impossible too??

Thanks for the welcome, hope to see more help over here!

 

[driveanegg]

I am not a pro.... pardon the nooby replies...

1. Up the ISO to max, open aperture to max, put focal length to the lowest... it will give the fastest possible shutter speed without flash. As to whether it is good enough to take CANDID pictures, it will depend on how much more ambient light there is.

2. Ideal ISO or exposure compensation for what purpose ??
Correct exposure depends on the intended effect which depends on ISO / aperture / shutter speed. Read up "understanding exposure" by bryan peterson (i think). Can be found for free at a nearby library.

In simple terms, if the result is too bright, dial down the exposure compensation, too dark up the exposure compensation

3. Never used a flash for a long time... i usually just leave to the default setting. Some expert in it may want to comment ....

4. Spot meter for the background. Using that exposure reading, take the picture with fill flash. Amount of flash used depends on personal taste...

5. Dont know about wrist strap ;p

Have fun shooting with the S90... i want one also....

 

[soons]

I will highly recommend you to read your user manual that comes with your camera to know more about your camera and how it works. Some functions like slow sync fill flash, aperture pirority etc are explain in the user manual.
Also, u might want to join canon's free camera training workshop... I believe powershot S90 is included.

Congrats on your purchase and shoot more`!

 

[horizon_grazer]

Warm welcome !

 

[aspenx]

5. Straps from Artisan&Artist are verrrry nice.

I think you can buy them locally here.

 

[aloyyolaaloy]

1. For night pictures, it's hard for me to capture candid photo without flash, so is there no choice, but to use flash? :dunno:

shoot at your widest angle cause that's where your lens is the brightest, bump up the iso too.. that should help

2. I usually use P mode, however, i am unsure of the ideal ISO and Exposure compensation to put, anyway to teach me how to gauge?

iso is the guage for film speed.. iso 100 are usually used during bright afternoons or mostly shot under "studio" conditions, exposure comp applies during auto modes such as shutter speed priorty, aperture priorty, program modes, etc.. basically they are used to tweak the cam auto settings to the desired exposure setting since auto modes are quite dumb.. eg. bright/white bg would usually lead to your cam thinking that the scene is too bright and hence give you and under-exposed picture, there you'll need to increase you exposure compensation to like +1 or so to get a desired outcome

3. Using of flash, there's slow syn flash and just flash, but i am not sure which to use too..
you mean 2nd curtain sync flash... just wiki it... its gonna be damn long it i explain the theory. basically its the outcome of how you use you flash with long shutter speeds, it is usually used to show movement.

4. If taking picture of someone against bright background, i use Spot mode, it's still kinda dark, is there other settings?
exposure comp, M mode, throw some light at your someone

That's all for now, haha, sorry for not doing research myself, but i will like to get some quick answer instead of long essays. ;p
im sorry to say this but you'll might not get the desired outcome you want by not learning the basics

 

[Quizers]

I am not a pro.... pardon the nooby replies...

1. Up the ISO to max, open aperture to max, put focal length to the lowest... it will give the fastest possible shutter speed without flash. As to whether it is good enough to take CANDID pictures, it will depend on how much more ambient light there is.

2. Ideal ISO or exposure compensation for what purpose ??
Correct exposure depends on the intended effect which depends on ISO / aperture / shutter speed. Read up "understanding exposure" by bryan peterson (i think). Can be found for free at a nearby library.

In simple terms, if the result is too bright, dial down the exposure compensation, too dark up the exposure compensation

3. Never used a flash for a long time... i usually just leave to the default setting. Some expert in it may want to comment ....

4. Spot meter for the background. Using that exposure reading, take the picture with fill flash. Amount of flash used depends on personal taste...

5. Dont know about wrist strap ;p

Have fun shooting with the S90... i want one also....

Thanks alot!! Will try some out

Can i know what is fill flash?

I will highly recommend you to read your user manual that comes with your camera to know more about your camera and how it works. Some functions like slow sync fill flash, aperture pirority etc are explain in the user manual.
Also, u might want to join canon's free camera training workshop... I believe powershot S90 is included.

Congrats on your purchase and shoot more`!

I read it on the day of purchase, but some are pretty complicated. Waiting for good dates to join the training workshop

Thanks!

5. Straps from Artisan&Artist are verrrry nice.

I think you can buy them locally here.

I think they are too expensive!! Thanks too!

1. For night pictures, it's hard for me to capture candid photo without flash, so is there no choice, but to use flash? :dunno:

shoot at your widest angle cause that's where your lens is the brightest, bump up the iso too.. that should help

2. I usually use P mode, however, i am unsure of the ideal ISO and Exposure compensation to put, anyway to teach me how to gauge?

iso is the guage for film speed.. iso 100 are usually used during bright afternoons or mostly shot under "studio" conditions, exposure comp applies during auto modes such as shutter speed priorty, aperture priorty, program modes, etc.. basically they are used to tweak the cam auto settings to the desired exposure setting since auto modes are quite dumb.. eg. bright/white bg would usually lead to your cam thinking that the scene is too bright and hence give you and under-exposed picture, there you'll need to increase you exposure compensation to like +1 or so to get a desired outcome

3. Using of flash, there's slow syn flash and just flash, but i am not sure which to use too..
you mean 2nd curtain sync flash... just wiki it... its gonna be damn long it i explain the theory. basically its the outcome of how you use you flash with long shutter speeds, it is usually used to show movement.

4. If taking picture of someone against bright background, i use Spot mode, it's still kinda dark, is there other settings?
exposure comp, M mode, throw some light at your someone

That's all for now, haha, sorry for not doing research myself, but i will like to get some quick answer instead of long essays. ;p
im sorry to say this but you'll might not get the desired outcome you want by not learning the basics

Hahah, thanks for the guide! Can i know how to throw some light at the person against bright background?? Flash in the morning?

I did quite a lot research too, but still, its pretty boring, will be great if you have simple articles that Newbi like me can learn alot from!

Lastly, thanks alot!!

 

[aspenx]

...

Can i know what is fill flash?

...

Hahah, thanks for the guide! Can i know how to throw some light at the person against bright background?? Flash in the morning?

I did quite a lot research too, but still, its pretty boring, will be great if you have simple articles that Newbi like me can learn alot from!

Lastly, thanks alot!!

Fill flash = light that... fills up the shadows that will otherwise be too dark without the flash.

Back-lighting situations are very common. You should NOT be using spot-metering unless you are very clear about how the camera works.

There is a thread on how how to use flash in such a situation here: http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5939844

 

[aloyyolaaloy]

Hahah, thanks for the guide! Can i know how to throw some light at the person against bright background?? Flash in the morning?

I did quite a lot research too, but still, its pretty boring, will be great if you have simple articles that Newbi like me can learn alot from!

Lastly, thanks alot!!

you can get a cheap reflector. the output is usually much more natural than regular flashes.
buy some photo mags.. it helps

 

[startrails]

Thanks alot!! Will try some out

Can i know what is fill flash?



I read it on the day of purchase, but some are pretty complicated. Waiting for good dates to join the training workshop

Thanks!



I think they are too expensive!! Thanks too!



Hahah, thanks for the guide! Can i know how to throw some light at the person against bright background?? Flash in the morning?

I did quite a lot research too, but still, its pretty boring, will be great if you have simple articles that Newbi like me can learn alot from!

Lastly, thanks alot!!

I own an S90 also.. the flash output is not really fantastic but still ok. my gf taught me a neat trick for harsh, direct flash. you can stick some sort of tape, like sotch tape over the on the flash so it diffuses the flash.. she tried it with her 1000D and it looks more natural than direct flash.. yup

for me, i keep the flash @ -1 EV.. if anything can always bump up in PS..

 

[kriegsketten]

I own an S90 also.. the flash output is not really fantastic but still ok. my gf taught me a neat trick for harsh, direct flash. you can stick some sort of tape, like sotch tape over the on the flash so it diffuses the flash.. she tried it with her 1000D and it looks more natural than direct flash.. yup

for me, i keep the flash @ -1 EV.. if anything can always bump up in PS..

Now, be careful with that coz the flash on S90 doesn't pop up like normal DSLRs, it slides up. And most of the time it slides up and down on its own in auto mode (when the situation calls for it). If done wrongly, you could jam the flash? Also, some poor quality scotch-tapes leave sticky and messy residues after pulling it away. Think about if you plan to sell away the camera in the future?

With regards to strong backgrounds (to your Qn 4), I believe the Camera has something that calls Smart Auto? This feature is found in fully Automatic mode, maybe you can try if it works? In the S90 product booklet (available at CSC), the Smart Auto specifically caters to this issue (eliminates backlighting issue - sunlight problem, etc) among the 22 specific scenes that it detects. It also detects whether you have a blue sky or not, a moving person or not when taking in such a scene. Read the part on Smart Auto in the instruction manual.

 

[nathaniel]

Hi guys, i just got myself a Canon S90.

After using it for awhile, i realize i got some difficulties with taking of some pics at some area.

It will be good if you professionals can help me out here

1. For night pictures, it's hard for me to capture candid photo without flash, so is there no choice, but to use flash? :dunno:

2. I usually use P mode, however, i am unsure of the ideal ISO and Exposure compensation to put, anyway to teach me how to gauge?

3. Using of flash, there's slow syn flash and just flash, but i am not sure which to use too..

4. If taking picture of someone against bright background, i use Spot mode, it's still kinda dark, is there other settings?

5. Anyone know where to get nice wrist strap for camera?

That's all for now, haha, sorry for not doing research myself, but i will like to get some quick answer instead of long essays. ;p

TIA!

1. What I usually do is to shoot at f/2.0 ISO 800-3200. If that's not enough, will turn on the flash (lowering the flash intensity by 1-2 EV, like the suggestion by another person in this thread, if the flash changes the colours too much). Another option I sometime use is to shoot at maybe -1EV, preferably in RAW, and adjust back the brightness during post-processing.

2. For night shots, you could use shutter-priority mode. A rough guide might be to set the shutter to the 1/30s if the focal length is f=30mm, 1/50 if the focal length is f=50mm, etc.

3. Use slow-sync if your subject stays still, otherwise use the normal flash mode.

4. I usually bump up the EV, shoot RAW and/or use the i-Contrast (I set my shortcut button to i-Contrast). If you're shooting in RAW, you'll have more room to make adjustments for underexposure during post-processing. Increasing the EV might cause overexposure in some areas, so avoid this if the background is important.

 

[nathaniel]

1. What I usually do is to shoot at f/2.0 ISO 800-3200. If that's not enough, will turn on the flash (lowering the flash intensity by 1-2 EV, like the suggestion by another person in this thread, if the flash changes the colours too much). Another option I sometime use is to shoot at maybe -1EV, preferably in RAW, and adjust back the brightness during post-processing.

2. For night shots, you could use shutter-priority mode. A rough guide might be to set the shutter to the 1/30s if the focal length is f=30mm, 1/50 if the focal length is f=50mm, etc.

3. Use slow-sync if your subject stays still, otherwise use the normal flash mode.

4. I usually bump up the EV, shoot RAW and/or use the i-Contrast (I set my shortcut button to i-Contrast). If you're shooting in RAW, you'll have more room to make adjustments for underexposure during post-processing. Increasing the EV might cause overexposure in some areas, so avoid this if the background is important.

Forgot to add... yes I'm an S90 user...