New camera: Canon S70

[Liquid Snake]

So yesterday I acquired a new camera, a Canon S70. Up until then I had been using a point-and-shoot Canon S400. The S70 was my first step into the world of, uh, "better cameras", I guess.

It's quite a change. Coming from a point-and-shoot camera, all the settings are confusing. I don't really understand a lot of the options available to me. Anyone have a quick tutorial about basic manual camera stuff like aperture, ISO etc?

Of course, everyone wants pictures. Here are a few I took today. I'm not a very good photographer, so don't expect to be amazed by any of these shots

http://users.megapathdsl.net/~liquidsnake00/IMG_0052s.JPG

The MetroTech Christmas tree near my school.

http://users.megapathdsl.net/~liquidsnake00/IMG_0054s.JPG

A silver reindeer.

http://users.megapathdsl.net/~liquidsnake00/IMG_0007s.JPG

My train station.

http://users.megapathdsl.net/~liquidsnake00/IMG_0036s.JPG

One of those darned New Technology trains. Hmm, where have I heard "New Technology" before?

http://users.megapathdsl.net/~liquidsnake00/IMG_0092s.JPG

The museum train out for a holiday run.

Enjoy.

[agallag]

Good choice. I have the S50, and I'm very pleased with it. As for settings tips, I'm not the one to ask. I usually leave mine set to Auto

[xortam]

Enjoy! Obviously I think you made a good choice since I'll be joining you soon with a S70 of my own (ordering one this morning).

[Lizzard[MPE]]

i love train station, train, and track pictures. excellent

[xortam]

My first digicam has arrived!

[Liquid Snake]

Cool. Hope you enjoy it!

Liz:
Yep, rail photography is one of my hobbies. Admittedly I'm not very good though.

Here's a picture I took today:

http://users.megapathdsl.net/~liquidsnake00/IMG_0163s.jpg

[xortam]

So what's the deal with the vertical lines when shooting bright lights? I've noticed this before with this camera and I had some terrible results when shooting some candlelight. I was shooting at 1/30 sec. and some near candles were fine while those a little further were all crowned with long vertical light streaks. I hope this isn't a defect with my camera and simply a setting I need to adjust. I haven't had a chance to check any user forums for this camera yet.

[az]

This sort of thing is a hardware problem, many cameras have this to one degree or another (don't ask me for any technical details, I think it's got something to do with the sensor photosites are arranged in a grid of line x row, and somehow current from a saturated cell jumps over. or something.) My Dimage 7i has this when shooting in its ultra-fast low res mode. Nothing I could do about it.

AZ

[xortam]

Originally posted by az
This sort of thing is a hardware problem, many cameras have this to one degree or another ...

So by "HW problem" I take it you're referring to this being a design/implementation issue rather than defective HW?!

[az]

Yes, that's what I meant, although there may of course be quality variations as well.

AZ

[gt40]

the 'auto' setting is a good start. you'll learn alot about composing your subject just experimenting.
once you get a good knack for that you will want to play with some of the more technical features of the camera.

Happy shooting!

[xortam]

Originally posted by gt40
the 'auto' setting is a good start. you'll learn alot about composing your subject just experimenting.
once you get a good knack for that you will want to play with some of the more technical features of the camera.

Happy shooting!

I use the 'auto' setting except when I know it won't handle the shot. AFA composition ... I've taken some photo classes so I at least know what you're supposed to do and not do for composition. I find that I usually can't do macro work without using manual focus but I haven't played too much with that yet. I've only had the bigger memory card a couple days now so I haven't had more than brief photo sessions until last night.

[VJ]

Originally posted by az
This sort of thing is a hardware problem, many cameras have this to one degree or another (don't ask me for any technical details, I think it's got something to do with the sensor photosites are arranged in a grid of line x row, and somehow current from a saturated cell jumps over. or something.)

It is a hardware problem, but I'm not sure the sensor photosite arrangement is to blame. The Fuji SuperCCD is arranged quite differently, yet the effect can also occur there.
I thought it was more a lens effect which occurs with smaller lenses (it doesn't seem to occur on DSLRs). Then again, the lens in you Dimage can hardly be considered small, so that seems to contradict this...

Either way, it is not an indication of the-pit-hardware.


Jörg

[az]

I am pretty sure it has something to do with the sensor. The Ultra High Speed mode of my dimage uses an electronic shutter and has this problem, while shooting in an ordinary mode it uses a standard mechanical shutter and doesn't show even a hint of the problem.

AZ

[VJ]

Thought about it and it does seem more likely... But it unclear why it also occures on the SuperCCD ( unless it occurs there not as a horizontal line, but at an angle!).


Jörg