details on what each shooting mode on sd line do??

[snoopy03801]

i searched, but did not find a really good description of what exactly Canon does for each one of their 'shooting modes'... from using my girlfriends 20D i know alot about manually setting up a camera, but would like to know more details on the specifics of how Canon sets an SD-line camera (i have a SD200 in my pocket) up when in each shooting mode....

specifically how does each mode:

- set f-stop
- set shutter speed
- set iso
- set exposure compensation
- set metering mode
- set white balance
- set color balance (if different from white balance)

i can kind of tell what they _might_ do in various modes (such as "Kids & Pets" will be set to spot metering, wide open apeture, high iso, ect)...

thanx in advance for your information!!!

rob

ps. going to get my 7th digital Canon today (an sd630) in the past four years... between my professional photographer girlfriend and myself we are doing our best to keep Canon in business!!! ;)

[DavidW]

The best thing to do is take lots of pictures in the various modes and check the EXIF data. It's worth putting the camera on a tripod and shooting the same scene on different modes.

I must admit that I don't tend to bother with the 'scene' modes. On my DSLR, they don't give me the full power of the camera anyway (they don't go beyond ISO 400, and don't allow me to shoot RAW - I use a mainly Av and M, with a smattering of Tv, P and A-DEP).


Our family camera is an Ixus 700 (SD 500). It tends to get left in M mode, which is not that Manual, really. I do sometimes set a custom white balance using a WhiBal. Maybe in some cases I'd get better results using some of the other modes, but if I'm going to do anything too unusual I tend to grab the DSLR anyway.



David

[Jon]

I wish they did document the settings for the various SCN modes somewhere.

[liza]

I honestly don't know. I've never used anything other than Av, Tv, and M. Does the Canon website address this question?

[snoopy03801]

I honestly don't know. I've never used anything other than Av, Tv, and M. Does the Canon website address this question?

not that i could find other than the brief descriptions they give in the user guides, which is why i have asked....

i did do the 'look at the exif data' for a variety of pics for my old SD200, but never did ferret out very well the actual differences in settings (especially say with the 'Kids & Pets' or 'Indoor' modes where i was looking for higher shutter speeds)...

i do believe they do a lot more white balance and other color correction type of things as well, but get fuzzy on what they might do with the 'Nighttime' and 'Portrait' modes that would not happen under 'Auto' and the like (for instance, focal length appears fixed, so it does not seem to be able to adjust to give a better depth of field if you have the light)....

anyway, just trying to get a better feel from a traditional photography point of view....

thanx!!

rob