Hey guys & gals...newb here with a question!!!!!

[ShelpdoggSVT]

I have a powershot S400 that bought about a year ago and love this camera and all it does. I have taken more pictures in the last year than I have my whole life....(we won't go into the age thing)

Anyway.... I have read the manual and even did a search on this forum, but lately I seem to keep getting blurry pictures......like the lens(?) stays open longer than it should...I have to hold the camera VERY still to get a good shot at all. As you can tell.....not a camera buff. :D

Any ideas or thought as to what I could change in the settings to aviod this? What should be normal settings for indoor/outdoor use??
BTW ...it mostly does the blurry pics indoors...

thanks

dogg

[Jon]

Is your flash working correctly? Usually indoors it'll try to use flash. If you've turned off the flash, it'll lengthen the exposure to use the available light. One of the "arrow" buttons on the back has a flash icon on it - try cycling through the settings there until the flash icon shows up on the screen, too.

[ShelpdoggSVT]

That is when it happens!!! I have cycled through the different modes and still get a blur when I take pics indoors W/O a flash.

Is there a setting I should use for indoor pics with plenty of light???

If I use the flash indoors and there is enough light.....it seems to darken the picture.....not sure why.

thanks!!

dogg

[bresmith]

Don't know about your camera but on the A80 you can either manually change exposure or put it in night time exposure mode. This mode uses the flash (which gives light to the foreground) but also extends the exposure time a bit so that it picks up more light from the background. This way both the foreground and background look much more evenly exposed and you dont get a bright foreground and dark background. Of course one of the problems with this is that by extending the exposure time, any movement you make will cause your photos to become blurry. My advice is to use a tripod or at least steady the camera as much as possible by supporting yourself against a wall or table etc.

[Jon]

If you're getting a blur, there isn't "plenty of light". You have a feature called "Flash Exposure Compensation". You may want to adjust that for 1/3 to 2/3 stops more exposure to lighten things up (I assume you're going based on print results, not on the camera's LCD display).