What to use and when

[ftlmo]

Hello i have owned a s30 camera for years and just upgraded to and s50 and was wondering some thing about a couple of settings i am not sure about.What is the (WHITE BALANCE) and what is it used for and when do i use that option. Also iso settings,and apeture setting.Ialways shot my s30 in the VIVID mode and when i was out doors i always used the DAY LIGHT setting mode.Now that weather is getting warmer i will be taking more pics with my s50 and want clean crisp pics,also when shooting in doors what is a good setting to put my S50 at for good quality pictures.Yes i know read the manual i do all the time and still don't under stand some setting i want to do more experimating whit this camera now,PLEASE HELP.


THANK YOU

[Jesper]

White balance: White light is not always white. If the sun is shining, you'll have really white light outside. But if you're indoors with artificial light, the artificial light is not really white but it's really yellowish, even though it looks white - your eyes (or your brain) compensate for it so that it looks white. A digital camera records the color of the light as it really is. That means that photos taken indoors (without flash) will look yellow. With the white balance setting on your camera, you tell the camera what kind of lighting you're shooting in, so that it can compensate. You can just leave it on "auto", which works most of the time - but not always. For special situations, you can set it to one of the predefined modes (sunny, cloudy, artifical light, etc.).

ISO, aperture, shutter speed: These are the basic variables that any photo camera (film or digital) works with. This is basic photographic knowledge. Buy a book about the basics of photography, it will explain the relation between these parameters.

"VIVID" is one of the effect settings on the S30. It will make the colors more saturated. That's nice for many subjects, but not for everything. For example, if you want to make portraits of people, you'll not want to use this setting, because you probably want more subtle skin tones - if you crank up the saturation too high, people will tend to look too yellow, orange or red.