Powershot S3 IS settings help

[caughtatfault]

Okay well about 6 months ago I got a Canon Powershot S3 IS and I'm basically a camera virgin (so I'm sorry if I sound stupid, or get annoying, in advance), but I would love to get into it, but I can't seem to get the right settings for my photographs. Lately I have been taking pictures of myself maybe 7-11 ft away, and the quality is always a bit... eh

and I want it WOW. My camera is set to program and under program the settings are...

exp - 0
tungsten (that is so I get the appropriate color of this overhead screen I use)
My colors off
BKT-off
flash - it's the flash right before the 1 on the left
Evaluative
640x480 30 fps
2816x2112 L
ISO HIGH AUTO

and its off macro of course
and

well
remember I'm a camera virgin so

don't judge me


Thank you

Aaron:D

[MusicallySilent]

Describe or post an example of poor quality, ISO on high auto will obviously cause the picture to look grainy or noisy.

Also your flash is set to under expose the image (if the marker is to the left of the center under flash), try putting ISO on auto non high and if the image is dark move the flash setup (power on the scale of -2 to +2 to the right and see if that helps)

I have a S3 IS so i know what you are talking about

[caughtatfault]

I can't send a picture, not where I'm at least (don't have one on this computer), but thank you

I think you are right
The problem was the picture being to grainy/noisy I tried all the iso's but I will try again tonight (when my hair looks better) ha ha

Thank you, I'll prob. reply again if I'm still having troubles

[MusicallySilent]

I would try Auto ISO and under flash move the setting far to the right +1 - +2 or so, also if that isnt bright enough, on the first setting move that setting to the right and that will add stops of light (longer shutter speed and larger aperture but it will make the image brighter without grain)

[coralnutz]

I usually shot all my pictures with my S3 at ISO 100. For some reason 80 looks funny to me most of the time, and 200 or higher gets noisy pretty fast. Good luck with your new camera, I love my S3. :)

[mes448]

When I first got my S3 I did a bunch of pic tests and came up with the following tips, which I saved mostly for myself, and have posted before, but they do allow a real nice pic most of the time with my S3, so here they are for you to pick or chose or ignore:

A few things you might try and see if you like. P mode is good.

Set ISO to stay at 100 with the ISO button near the LCD screen. ISO is like the old film speed, higher the number the more light it lets in, but the cost is grainy pics. So most people like to keep it low at 100 to avoid the grainy, speckled look digital pics get when you go over 100. If you must take pics in low light, you'll have to raise the ISO, but other than that, lower is better.

Go into the My Colors setting. Use the function button and scroll down three spaces. Do one click left and go to custom setting. Try Sharpness +1 or +2. Try saturation +1 or +2. Some people recommend dropping the contrast to -1 to help stop highlight blowout effect. And there are other settings there you may want to play with later.

Try setting the display to show the grid and the histogram. And when the histogram is showing while you are taking pictures, try to get it to look like a mountain range, not too high on the left or right. Keep the grid straight and try to put your picture subject into one of the sections of the grid where the lines cross.

Be sure your resolution is set to large/superfine. The setting is in the function screen a few things down from the my colors mentioned above.

And check that your shortcut button isn't changing your resolution if you accidently hit it. The shortcut button is set to change the resolution by default. Go into your menu and assign another function to the shortcut button so it doesn't reduce the resolution by accident