s400/s410 low-light focus speed [Archive] - Canon Digital Photography Forums

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romantotale

25th of February 2004 (Wed), 11:04

I have the s300 now and I was planning to upgrade to a 4Mp model. My only complaint with the s300 is that focus on indoor low-light shooting is often very slow. I noticed the s410 has a "Quickshot" mode which isn't in the s400 menu--any idea if this actually helps? I don't care about the direct print option of the s410 and I was leaning towards getting the older model for cheaper, but if the focus speed is actually different, that would change things. How is the low-light focus speed of the s400--any different than the s300? What are the best settings point and shoot in low light?

khs8

25th of February 2004 (Wed), 17:04

I have used the s300 and it is much slower than s230/400/410. Besides the new ones are smaller and lighter. I don't know the answer to low light, but I take pictures indoors all the time with the flash on. I use manual mode (no AiAF), point the camera at the subject and centre the focus assist light on the subjects eye to avoid red eye, ie, press the shutter half way down and hold it there, and if everything ealse is good, continue to press the shutter down. The flash is only good for under 10 ft. and best in the 5 ft range.

jpmccormac

15th of April 2004 (Thu), 07:02

I noticed the s410 has a "Quickshot" mode which isn't in the s400 menu--any idea if this actually helps?

I'm looking at the S410 also and have been seeking the same info. I believe the Quickshot mode sets the focus distance to about 2 meters (@ 6 feet). This would permit fast shooting by eliminating AF hunting. In good light this will work okay because your aperture will be small enough that the depth of field will be somewhere between 2 feet and infinity. In low light the aperture chosen by the camera will be bigger (say f/2.8 max.) and the depth of field will be somewhat smaller. Since you can't set the aperture on the S410, only experimenting with the DOF in low light will prove whether Quickshot is a help. In low light you'd need to increase the ISO to 200 or 400 for hand held shooting without camera shake. Of course, this will result in more noise.