Problem with shutter

[firu3000]

I have a Canon Powershot Sd900 and when i want to take slow shutter photos, for instance water, the screen goes on really white and i can only see a little of the content of the photo. On the otherhand when I take night photos with slow shutter it works ok.
Any help? :)

[lostdoggy]

For one thing there is no physical shutter in a Digi P&S camera.

You need to provide a little more info such as mode used to take the shot. If set to manual mode what is the Av & Tv values set. On most P&S there is a limitation as to how much Av is afforded to you and how slow Tv value is available. Because there is a limitation on Av the camera will over expose if Tv is set to slow which will result in a white image. Slow Tv will work during night time because the EV is lower and will not overexpose the image that daylight will.

[firu3000]

I've read the manual and everything, there's no place where I can adjust the Av and Tv Values so im not sure what to do. There's only a setting where I can change the shutter from 1" to 15".

[lostdoggy]

I'm sorry, my bad:

Tv=shutter speed
Av=Aperature
EV=Exposure Value

[lostdoggy]

How should I put this? For every scene or subject there is a range of exposure. With in that range of exposure there is an exposure value in which the camera sensor or film is capable of recording. If you go above or below this range then the sensor/film will not be exposed properly. In Full auto mode the camera will select the camera will select the Tv and Av and some cases the ISO for the given exposure value read from the camera's meter. But if you are setting the Tv & Av manually you need to have a fair ability to read the scene and give a reasonable value and adjust the Tv & Av for a given ISO. Then it gets more complicated....

[low orbit]

I have a Canon Powershot Sd900 and when i want to take slow shutter photos, for instance water, the screen goes on really white and i can only see a little of the content of the photo. On the otherhand when I take night photos with slow shutter it works ok.
Any help? :)

What's happening is you're letting too much light in and that's why you're getting a white screen. You need to close your aperture down - as far as it will go for a daylight scene. The lower the aperture, the lower the shutter speed you can use. Also, use as low an ISO as possible and exposure compensation if possible.

Hope that helps.

Cheers.

[firu3000]

Yes Thanks.

[Jon]

I'm afraid that the SD900 doesn't offer the controls you'd need to do long exposures in daylight. Your best bet would be to get a tripod and a neutral density filter (3 stops or more), go tho Camera M mode and select as low an ISO as you can, and take the picture while holding the ND filter over the tripod-mounted camera's lens.

[low orbit]

I'm afraid that the SD900 doesn't offer the controls you'd need to do long exposures in daylight. Your best bet would be to get a tripod and a neutral density filter (3 stops or more), go tho Camera M mode and select as low an ISO as you can, and take the picture while holding the ND filter over the tripod-mounted camera's lens.

Yeah I was thinking that after I'd posted, but you're ok as long as the exposures aren't too long. Cheers.