Canon PowerShot S3 IS Digital Camera Logo
Posted on Oct 18, 2007

Canon power shot S3IS

I am unhappy with the photos i take in low light outdoor shots at night. I photograph Marching Band routines, the field lights are on but i am in the stands and i always have camera shake. I got a monopod but am still not happy. I raised the ISO, tried sport mode, the IS mode is set to continuous but photos are either blurry, grainy or both. Can you solve this or is it the camera? I do not use the digital zoom...way  too much noise.

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  • Posted on Oct 31, 2007
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Apparently this is not the camera for marching band stuff at night because I had this problem over the weekend!  I tried everything...

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Night Pictures

make this test .God bless you

When troubleshooting problems with your photographs, you need to be able to distinguish between problems created by the camera and problems created by the, ahem, photographer. Some things, like a finger over half of the shot or a totally out of focus picture of your own feet are not camera malfunctions. Fortunately, most of what appear to be "malfunctions" are things you can correct through settings. Blurry pictures usually result in pressing the shutter button down before the autofocus kicks in; half-tap the shutter to bring the camera into focus then press it all the way down to take a clear shot. Grainy photos are the result of a high ISO value and low light; use a tripod or, if necessary, the flash when taking pictures in low light. Different makes and models have different ways to warn you that the light is low: some display a shaking hand icon, others a red light. Look for this and adjust photo settings.
tip

Get more out of S4000

ISO
Set ISO Setting to FIXED RANGE and set the range to 80-400. The camera produces noise at HIGH ISO setting.
NIGHT SHOTS
Get a small Tripod and you can take wonderful night time shots of city-scapes. Use a tripod and set the camera White Balance to Incandes. Make sure the FLASH is Off Set the Exposure Comp. to -2. Set the self timer and then frame and press the shutter and back away. Some exposures can be 1 second long so a tripod is not optional. Small plastic Joby ones work. If you are holding the camera during the shot it will move with you. A self timer is used to take the photo after you are not touching it.

When you use the flash set the White Balance to Flash (Unless you are outside on a sunny day. then use daylight)

I do NOT recommend using Auto Flash. Set the flash to OFF or turn it to SINGLE BOLT for fill.

When you want to photograph people outside in the sun set the White Balance to Daylight. On sunny days use the Fill Flash (Single Bolt) to fill faces better. Yes good photographers use flash in the direct sun. When cloudy are in shade turn flash off. If the subject has a bright background get close to them and have the flash on.

This camera makes red eye. In most cases when you are taking a photo of people in low light, when the flash supplies most of the light, you will get horrible red eye. You have to edit these later to remove the red eye.
tip

Depth of field is the characteristic of how much of, or how deeply, the...

Depth of field is the characteristic of how much of, or how deeply, the photograph is in focus. If the main subject is in focus but the foreground and background are blurred, the photo is said to have a shallow depth of field. if most of the photo is in focus, including the foreground and background, the photo is said to have a wide depth of field.

Depth of field is controlled by the aperture setting:

- A wide aperture setting (indicated by a low f-stop number) will provide shallow depth of field, resulting in the main subject being in focus and the foreground and background being blurry. This setting is particularly useful when taking portraits or when using a macro lens.

- A narrow aperture setting (indicated by a higher f-stop number) will provide wider depth of field, resulting in the entire photo being in focus. This setting is particularly useful when taking landscape or wide-angle photographs.

The photographs below are examples of how the same subject will photograph using different aperture settings. Note that as the aperture closes, which will allow less light to reach the image sensor, the shutter speed gets faster to produce the appropriate exposure.



shajanrs.jpg

shajanrs_0.jpg

shajanrs_1.jpg

shajanrs_2.jpg

I think you have got a general idea about depth filed. If you have further questions, you can ask me directly. http://www.fixya.com/users/shajanrs






depth of field - what is depth field - how depth field affects picture - how to adjust depth field - DEPTH FIELD - depthfield - DEPTHFIELD
1helpful
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Why are the photos on my Canon Power Shot S3IS not

When my cameras start having a mind of their own there are three basic things I check:
1. How old is the battery? Or has the camera been sitting around for a while? Chances are your battery doesn't have the gusto in it anymore if you answered yes or maybe to one of these. And then the camera stars acting up.
2. Once you've started "researching and resetting" all the possible settings it is good to reset all settings to default settings. Your manual will guide you for this.
3. Last but not least, where you out in humid weather? lake? sea? ocean? boat? handled the camera after coming out of the pool with wet hands?
anything that would have allowed all that to seep into your camera?

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Canon power shot s3is, picture quality is not good, we have use flash every time. otherwise images are very blurred and dull. what change i have to made to my camera. any suggestions will help full for me

If you can are turning the flash off and on, you are no longer in the "Auto" mode. Rotate the top selector dial to select the green "Auto" position. This will enable the camera to automatically select the best aperture and shutter speed based on the available lighting. It will also decide whether it needs flash or not.

As you gain confidence in your abilities, experiment with the other settings on the dial. May I suggest first trying the "P" program setting. This is similar to auto, but will enable you to turn off the flash during low-light level shots. Still the camera will select the best aperture and shutter speed based on the lighting. But in very low lighting, you may have to keep the camera extra steady (such as with a tripod) to minimize camera shake as the picture is taken.
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Poor quality photographs

I think this is down to your choice of lens. If you have the kit lens, it is pretty poor unless in bright sunlight. You could try keeping the shutter open longer using AV+/- or increasing the ISO but this increases the chance of a blurry photo. Remember the sensor on the Canon is huge compared to the Kodak - so more light will need to enter the lens to expose it properly. This is why SLR lenses are huge compared to compact cameras.
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Night shots

Hey matty reps,
You are attempting one of the most challenging types of photography there is, because you are combing nighttime photography and action photography. If you want to stop the action you normally would be using the highest shutter speed possible, but since you are trying to take nighttime action photographs I would rely on a flash since the flash duration in essence becomes your shutter speed. I would definitely use a hotshoe mounted flash because the built in flash will most likely not be powerful enough for your needs. I would have the camera set to aperture priority so I could control the depth of field, because the smaller the aperture the larger depth of field you will have and the less likely your subject will be out of focus. If you are attempting natural light nighttime action photography you will definitely need a very fast film speed such as 3200 speed film which will provide significant loss of image quality. You will also need a very fast lens meaning a lens with an aperture of at least f2.8 or larger, and your camera in this scenario should be set to shutter priority so you can set the camera to the fastest shutter speed possible but this will present focusing issues. In both scenarios I would have the AF system set to continuous so the camera doesn't require you to achieve focus to be able to trip the shutter. As in all challenging photography situations more photos are better than less, because you should have more failed photos than successful. I hope this helps!

Sincerely,
Allan
Go Ahead. Use Us.

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Canon Digital Rebel XT Bulit-In Flash Strobes in Low Light

use more light:)
its very normal that it does that. it dosent get enough light so it cant focus. the only way it can autofocus is that it stobes the flash to adjust the focus automaticly. use an external flash like 580EX and u will get an focus asisten thru a red grid throne by the flash unit.
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Blurred football pictures

low light means the shutter stays open longer to capture the image.   Try changing exposure settings.
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