S5IS Basic's

[01momogti]

Can someone please direct me to a website or give me some information on my Canon S5IS please? I need info on how to work all the manual controls, when to use them, and what effect i will get. I don't want to play around with the manual settings because the guy who sold me the camera said that it will stay like that if i mess with them. SO, I am disappointed in my night photo taking abilities, i want to be able to take pics like this

http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/12/84/22358412.jpg

http://www.photoshopessentials.com/images/photo-effects/waterfalls/image-motion-blur.jpg

[NOsquid]

Go to the local Barnes&Noble, grab Understanding Exposure by Petersen and go sit in one of their comfy chairs.

[JeffreyG]

In order to take shots such as you posted you need a couple of things.

1. You need a tripod. The blurred headlights and water look as they do because the photographer selected a long shutter speed. The camera must be stable (on a tripod) to shoot such a shot.

2. You need to learn how to use the camera manually. This is easier than many people think. Don't be intimidated. Read the book suggested above (it is a quick and easy read), read the manual that came with your camera and then take a lot of shots.

It's digital. Crap shots costs you nothing so shoot shoot shoot. And use manual and don't worry about what the camera settings will stay at. Once you read the manual this will be simple.

[dale500]

First of all the person who sold you the camera appears to know little about its operation. On page 36 of the advanced user manual are the instructions to reset the camera back to its original "out of the box" configuration. You can do this over and over while you are learning your camera.

The operation of the s5 is almost identical to the s2 and the s3 and there are websites upon websites filled with suggestions for operation and settings. A quick google search will turn up hundreds of hits. A search of this forum will also turn up plenty of info.

The best tip I have for you is on page 71 of the advanced user manual and it involves learning to move the main focus point around in the frame. If you shift the focus point when shooting it will virtually eliminate all focus issues with this camera. When you have two people standing next to each other you can focus directly on one of them instead of the background area between them.
This is also great for wildlife shots because you can focus on the animals eyes and get great in focus shots.

Try all the different settings and make your own notes as you go. Get a 2 gig SD card and just take lots of pictures. Eventually all the settings will become second nature and you can setup great shots with out thinking about it.

You can come close to the shots in your examples with a good tripod and some study. Understanding Exposure by Peterson is a great place to start.

Dale

S2, Rebel XT, and a bag full of rarely used stuff

[charlypp]

I have the S5 and I have played with all the setting. Read the advance guide over and over again and google search what you don't know. Take pictures at different settings and you will see what the difference is. That sales person needs some knowledge lessons. What the sense of having a camera with all these settings if you can't use them. Here is a picture I took at the butterfly place in Niagara Falls. Steady it on the ledge and used a slower shutter speed.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2413/2184674698_f32ea329c1.jpg

This is the info for it
Camera Model Name Canon PowerShot S5 IS
Shooting Date/Time 12/28/2007 2:23:53 PM
Shooting Mode Program AE
My Colors Mode Positive Film
Tv (Shutter Speed) 0.4
Av (Aperture Value) 2.7
Light Metering Evaluative
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 100
Lens 6.0 - 72.0 mm
Focal Length 6.0 mm
Digital Zoom None
IS Mode On
Image Size 2448x3264
Image Quality Superfine
Flash Off
White Balance Auto
AF Mode Continuous AF
Parameters Contrast Normal
Sharpness Normal
Saturation Normal
Color Space sRGB
File Size 3664 KB
Drive Mode Single-frame shooting

[Moltenice]

Still learning here as well. First post on this site but I thought I would share a bit of what I have learned.

Like mentioned, the only way to get night shots is a tripod and even then steady hands. Any movement smears light.
It's all in the aperture (size of camera eye) and shutter speed (Tv)... longer shutter speed allow more light to be captured and shown.
That photo you posted was nothing more then the lights burning their paths into the photo over time. Cool technique.

Here is a photo I took with my S5 of Downtown Los Angeles.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg273/I_Own_2008/Hollywood4.jpg
as you can see from my lack of quality, I'm still learning hahaha

[dale500]

If you use the self timer you can eliminate the shake caused by pressing the shutter for long exposures.

Dale

S2, Rebel XT, and a bag full of rarely used stuff




Still learning here as well. First post on this site but I thought I would share a bit of what I have learned.

Like mentioned, the only way to get night shots is a tripod and even then steady hands. Any movement smears light.
It's all in the aperture (size of camera eye) and shutter speed (Tv)... longer shutter speed allow more light to be captured and shown.
That photo you posted was nothing more then the lights burning their paths into the photo over time. Cool technique.

Here is a photo I took with my S5 of Downtown Los Angeles.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg273/I_Own_2008/Hollywood4.jpg
as you can see from my lack of quality, I'm still learning hahaha

[Papa_S5IS]

if you want, Sign up on www.S3users.com (http://www.S3users.com) a whole site devoted to the S3-S5 series,
As stated, its just experimentations, its a digital! if you dont like the pic delete it and shoot again! and you can always use some slight PP to finish off a shot
once you get confidence, work your way around the dial, P, Tv, Av, M and C
after doing multiple shots, you'll soon get the hang of it and take shots much quicker and sharper!
Playing around with Av and Tv ex.
Slow shutter speed With a Small Aperture
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m135/Lude_Papa/IMG_1173.jpg

Fast shutter speed With Wide Aperture
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m135/Lude_Papa/IMG_0710.jpg

[raymondb]

There is a relatively active flickr group specific to Canon S5IS, almost all members there use S5IS. May be you could have a look there or post your question there.

here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/canonpowershots5is/

[rachelsne]

I have the S3 (the model below yours) I read the manual and googled everything I didnt understand, my main source was this group on flikr: Great Information (http://www.flickr.com/groups/canonpowershots3is/) I started at the first post and read all the way through, here is a link to all the long exposure threads on the site (http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?w=73544361%40N00&q=long+exposure)

I hoped this helped a bit :)

[Moltenice]

Papa_S5IS- You took that second photo with the S5?

Can you tell me how to set a shot like that up, I have always wanted to try and capture something like that..

I really like that photo.
Dale, thanks for the tip... :( I never thought of using the timer... I cant believe I never tied the two together, instead I took about 20 shots to get maybe 2 without shake haha.. Thanks again.

[Papa_S5IS]

yeh, with the S5
pretty easy,FIRST i wacked it on a tripod, and selected M mode and focused on the nearest water jet, Set Tv:1/500 and Av:3.5 ISO:100, i also set my 430EX on 75deg bounce W/diffuser 1/8 power, AND 2 sec timer to eliminate trigger shake
NB no PP was done to the photo

[Bidyut.Das]

Good pictures!

Can any body plz help how to config all thsese DPI setting, shutter setting,
I am a new user of S5IS, i have taken lots of photos but all these cmae blur..
plz help me

thanks in advance

[DStanic]

This is the AAK whitepaper:
http://www.aakatz.com/whitepaper/

It's designed for the Sony H-series cameras, but those are the Sony-equivilant of the Canon S-series. So all you gotta do is figure out where the buttons are placed differently and its a great manual to learn how to use your camera! :)

[lush]

Slow shutter speed With a Small Aperture
Fast shutter speed With Wide Aperture
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m135/Lude_Papa/IMG_0710.jpg
very good