New to photography (Canon Powershot S500)

[JustDontDie]

Hello everyone. I just received a Canon Powershot S500 5 megapixel camera for christmas. It's my first camera and I've never really even thought about or considered photography until recently. I know nothing about it or even really how to work my camera too well. My first question is how do I get my pictures in an uncompressed top quality when transferring from my camera? Also, is there a setting on the camera to change the quality of the pictures? Any other tips or pointers would be great. Thanks!

[JustDontDie]

Here's a quick picture I took. I didn't do anything to it, just transferred it straight from camera to computer. I did make it smaller though. Is that basically the best looking that that picture can be with the camera I have, or is there something I don't know?

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-6/743300/couch.jpg

[frznoasys]

The image is very dark and would've came out a lot better had a flash been used.

Here is probably what the image would've looked like if you would've used a flash.

I also sharpened it up a bit on paintshop pro 8 as well to bring out some of the blurriness that was in it.

go here for the improved picture:

http://www.pbase.com/frznoasys/image/38011131

[JustDontDie]

That's cool how its brighter but some of the trees and parts of the picture look real blurry and blocky... :shrugs:

[frznoasys]

Ok, I understand a little bit of what your saying, perhaps you don't want it as sharp, but I did that because it brought more detail into your picture which made it nicer in my opinion. I made two more examples to show you


In this picture I adjusted the contrast and brightened it up...nothing more

http://www.pbase.com/frznoasys/image/38012027

In this second picture, again I adjusted the contrast and sharpened it slightly. I think it looks much better. See for yourself

http://www.pbase.com/frznoasys/image/38012029

notice how the grass and everything just "POPS" out at you in that second picture.

[frznoasys]

Ok, sorry I'm just having a little fun with your picture. This will be the last one I do, unless you want something else.

Here is a sharpened bw version, again I adjusted the constrast here as well.

http://www.pbase.com/frznoasys/image/38012231

[Littlenose]

Hi, don't give up on your pics just yet, i've been using the ixus400 [s400] for the last 2 years, and thought it was great.
The image qualities you're talking about, that all comes down to the setting ont he camera when you caprture the shot... i always used the top settings for resolution and compression... and was nearly always in the "Manual" mode... if you've any direct questions, then please ask. I've taken the liberty of attaching a pic i took with teh ixus to show you what is capable.

[frznoasys]

Its almost hard to believe an S400 took that pic. I'd imagine if it were sharpened just a hair, you'd be hardpressed to tell the difference between that one and a DSLR that most everyone uses to takes those sorts of shots. On a different note, however, JustDontDie, I had to take those pics off of my PBASE account since I only get 10mb because I'm not a payed member.

I'm pretty sure you got to see most of them, however, and could understand what I was talking about.

Again, nice pic Littlenose!

[JustDontDie]

Hi, don't give up on your pics just yet, i've been using the ixus400 [s400] for the last 2 years, and thought it was great.
The image qualities you're talking about, that all comes down to the setting ont he camera when you caprture the shot... i always used the top settings for resolution and compression... and was nearly always in the "Manual" mode... if you've any direct questions, then please ask. I've taken the liberty of attaching a pic i took with teh ixus to show you what is capable. Thanks, I'm just not sure how to switch my settings on my camera too well. I know how to get to the resolution, but is the smaller resolution (smaller numbrs) better or higher better?

[Littlenose]

On that side of things, image size 2272x1704 (L) with the superfine setting will give you the highest resolution with the best quality pictures from the camera side in terms of the image size... from there, the ISO setting, exposure level and the white balance will alter the image "effects"

.... the rest is almost up to you to find suitable material ;-)

oh, and read the manual if you get chance, it is useful for pointers on the exposure and focus locking [which i found i _had_ to do for the pic of the bike]

[JustDontDie]

Alright. Thanks a ton!