Weird blurriness in shots.

[CJ Paul]

I just got a Canon PowerShot S400. This is the first camera I've ever personnally owned period; digital or otherwise. I learned basic principles of photography on my mom's Canon T-70 years ago so I have some basic knowledge of things like film ISO speeds, aperture and exposure settings.

It does not appear that you can have complete manual control over all of these things with the PowerShot S400 because the only menu accessable options related to this are "ISO" and Exposure compensation.

But on the subjec at hand, I was trying to take some pictures of our living room and I was actually shooting from an upstairs hallway trying to get a good shot of the whole room, so a flash wasnt going to really fill enough to get the effect I wanted, plus I wanted it to look naturally lit. So I switch to manual mode, and bump the ISO up (I think I tried both 200 and 400) and force the flash off. The only thing is, when I take these shots, they are blury. Like I am not holding the camera still enough. If I switch back to auto but turn the flash off, the shots arent blury, but they are too dark.

So, what is the relationship between ISO and exposure compensation? I'm assuming that when I turn the flash off, just upping the ISO isnt enough for the camera to get a good exposure, so its leaving the shutter open longer and making my shots blury.

If I was manually setting this type of shot up with a regular camera, and didnt want to shoot with a tripod, I would use a higher ISO film (higher ISO reacts to light faster so you can use a quicker shutter speed and the film still gets properly exposed, right?) and a bigger aperature, but a quick shutter speed. However, since it appears that I dont have direct control over shutter speed and aperature, what am I to do?

[Jamie]

I have a similar problem with my S45.

I never use the flash (I hate flash photography).

I am constantly battling with blurryness.

If I use programmable mode, I can specify a high film speed, but not a fast shutter, and it's still pretty blurry.

If I use the predefined "fast moving objects" mode, it automatically selects the fastest shutter speed possible - but it always keeps the film speed quite low, and that control is locked out in that mode.

I'm never sure what modes to use. The manual is very detailed about a lot of useless things, but it seems to be severly lacking when it comes to explaining which modes to use for which circumstances. And it doesn't give any basic tips on getting the best possible shots without a flash. They seem to expect you to use the flash all the time.

But I don't want a big, bright, artificial light from the direction of the camera in all my photos. It's horrible.

[CJ Paul]

Of course the simple answer is that we need a more expensive camera. I just think its sad that at this point we dont have better digital cameras affordable to the consumer. I mean how hard would it be to implement fully manually controlable ISO, shutter speed and aperature?

[PeterS45]

My Powershot S45 has got the full manual control of shutter, aperture and ISO-rate, but that will never compensate for low-light. So if you don't want to use the flash, get a tripod.

[daveh]

CJ Paul wrote: I mean how hard would it be to implement fully manually controlable ISO, shutter speed and aperature?

I got started in "serious" photography back in the 1960s-70s and back then you have to pay about $400-500 extra for a camera with that new autoexposure technology. It was around the mid 80s that I started to notice that manufacturers were now charging extra for manual. Apparently it's a marketing question more than a technical one.

[CJ Paul]

Well, its not mystery why it happened that way. For the average Joe, getting good pictures period was probably a challenge when manual only cameras were around. Then as auto-focus/auto-exposure cameras came about, the average Joe discovered they could get better pictures. Well, the person who was an enthusiast/expert was already getting great pictures so why switch. And over time, as prices somewhat settled, you end up with people who cant get good results without auto-everything buying point and shoot cameras and people that want the flexibility have to pay more for, technically, a lack of features.

[Wildman]

I think your camera has automatic apature (Av) and automatic shutter speed (Tv) control settings as well as Program AE (P). You should be able to find a setting among these that will work for you without going into full manual (M) mode. In any case, using a tripod will help. If you have a remote shutter release, this will minimize wiggling the camera.

Upping the ISO setting is another option, but higher values introduce noise...

Play around with the settings... you can get all the exposure information (EXIF) and compare the results.

I'm going to buy a big external flash... photography is really "painting with light". More light is good.

[daveh]

CJ Paul wrote:
Well, its not mystery why it happened that way.

Hmm I guess I was preaching to the choir ;)

[Tom W]

Wildman,

Actually, the S400 as well as the S230 have only program mode, except for "slow shutter" mode where there is some manual control. You have control for flash and exposure compensation, but no aperture or shutter priority available like on the S45.

I have an S400 as well (and I had an S230 prior to this). My best advice for indoor non-flash shots it to get one of those mini-tripods. They are pretty cheap and you can set up on any table or chair and get a good slow-shutter picture without flash.

Note also that you may be able to get a decent picture, despite what Canon says about flash range, if you set the camera to 400 ISO and use the flash. Though the flash range may not make it to the corners, there often is still enough flash+ambient light to fill in the distant corners with adequate exposure. Give it a try - its free!