Canon S400 shutter speed

[Mettleh3d]

Hi guys, I'm new here.

I was recently reading the canon s400 specs and i read that the shutter speed can range from 1/2000 to 15 seconds.

1) My question is: 1-15 sec exist, but how the hekk can i manually set it to 1/2000 for the those FAST FAST FAST action shots that only come by once?

It's disappointing coz i was at a hi school basketball game and I took the snap, and it came out blurry (flash disabled). However, when i turn flash on, the images are so much crisper. I'm hoping find a way to get those sharp, clean, images without the flash and a shaky hand. (<--- because a little unsteadiness is inevitable)

2) What is ISO speed? I have auto, 50, 100, 200, 400. i dont believe its shutter speed, because I've noticed that it still lags a bit at 400. Is it involved with light exposure?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, i'm a camera newb. Thanks a lot!

[benyl]

I have an S400 but I never use it because I also have a DRebel.

ISO is the film speed, or how sensitive to light the film is. The higher the number, the less light you need to expose the film.

Generally, you want to use ISO400 or higher for indoors.

I don't think there are any manual settings on the S400. I think that is the only drawback the camera has.

Sorry, I couldn't be of more help

[Tom W]

Hi guys, I'm new here.

I was recently reading the canon s400 specs and i read that the shutter speed can range from 1/2000 to 15 seconds.

1) My question is: 1-15 sec exist, but how the hekk can i manually set it to 1/2000 for the those FAST FAST FAST action shots that only come by once?

It's disappointing coz i was at a hi school basketball game and I took the snap, and it came out blurry (flash disabled). However, when i turn flash on, the images are so much crisper. I'm hoping find a way to get those sharp, clean, images without the flash and a shaky hand. (<--- because a little unsteadiness is inevitable)

2) What is ISO speed? I have auto, 50, 100, 200, 400. i dont believe its shutter speed, because I've noticed that it still lags a bit at 400. Is it involved with light exposure?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, i'm a camera newb. Thanks a lot!


The S-400 does not have manually adjustable shutter speeds, except in the "slow shutter" mode, which is primarily for night pictures. The actual shutter speed on the S-400 is a function of how much light you have available and how wide the aperture is. Indoors, you'll not see real fast shutter speeds because there isn't enough light available to expose a proper image on the sensor. And if you have flash set to "auto" or "red-eye", the camera will lock to 1/60 second shutter speed, which is really too slow for sports action. (also keep in mind that the flash on the S-400 and other small cameras has a pretty limited range and probably won't be effective even if you are courtside).

Now, as far as ISO, this is another adjustment that controls the camera's sensitivity to light. The S-400 has settings of Auto, 50, 100, 200, and 400. 400 is the most sensitive, but does produce some noise (or graininess) on the images. 200 is much cleaner, but only 1/2 as sensitive. 100 is generally considered "normal", as it compares with ISO 100 film (more or less). It will provide pretty clean images on the S-400. 50 is the least sensitive, but also produces the clearest images. Personally, I don't use 50 very often and usually use either 100 outside or 200 indoors.

Unfortunately, the less sensitive you set the ISO, the slower or longer the shutter must be open. Its a tradeoff between clean, grain-free images, and adequate light for exposure.

Realistically, unless the basketball court is very well lit, you aren't likely to get real nice action shots with the S-400 or any other non-SLR digital, since the smaller sensors can't be bumped up to a high-enough ISO sensitivity to allow faster shutter action.