SX100IS owner with some problems

[A.C Milan]

Hello everyone

i don't know if you remember but i've posted anothet thread a while back when i first bought the camera.

anyways, there are some issues i am dealing with with my camera and i don't know if it is serious and require returning it back to fix or not

1- i seriously think that the IS is not working at all, i must keep my hand very very steady and stable or else i'll get a blurry image, this is very annoying!
i tried the 3 different modes( shoot only,panning,continous) and all gave me the same result.
what do you think the problem is?is there a way to turn it off completely?if there is i def did it.

2- when i want to shoot fast object i obviously go to the Tv mode(shutter priority) and adjust the speed, the problem is that at night where there is strong ligth like in a stadium and i take pics using this mode, all of my pics are BLACK! very very dark! i thought the camera should take care of the aperture and all the other stuff except shutter speed when it is in Tv!
why are my images black?
but at daylight they are OK.


3-well this is a question not a problem, how can i take a picture like this one:

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/blog/wp-content/images/slow-shutter-speed-1-1.jpg
just slowing down the shutter speed will be enough?

anyway i love the camera, it takes good pictures but nothing is perfect i guess.
and sorry for my bad english, it's not my first language.

[Big Hands]

Hello everyone

i don't know if you remember but i've posted anothet thread a while back when i first bought the camera.

anyways, there are some issues i am dealing with with my camera and i don't know if it is serious and require returning it back to fix or not

1- i seriously think that the IS is not working at all, i must keep my hand very very steady and stable or else i'll get a blurry image, this is very annoying!
i tried the 3 different modes( shoot only,panning,continous) and all gave me the same result.
what do you think the problem is?is there a way to turn it off completely?if there is i def did it.

2- when i want to shoot fast object i obviously go to the Tv mode(shutter priority) and adjust the speed, the problem is that at night where there is strong ligth like in a stadium and i take pics using this mode, all of my pics are BLACK! very very dark! i thought the camera should take care of the aperture and all the other stuff except shutter speed when it is in Tv!
whay are my images black?
but at daylight they are OK.


3-well this is a question not a problem, how can i take a picture like this one:

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/blog/wp-content/images/slow-shutter-speed-1-1.jpg
just slowing down the shutter speed will be enough?

anyway i love the camera it takes good pictures but nothing is perfect i guess.
and sorry for my bad english, is not my first language.


1) It's hard to accurately and positively suggest what has gone wrong with your shots without seeing it and being able to access the EXIF information (post the pic with out cutting and pasting it into a new frame and it should be accessible).

You can get to the IS settings via the menu button and IS can be turned all the way off. You can also reset all the settings to default, via the 'menu', which should turn IS on to continuous. If the camera senses that your settings are not enough to eliminate blur from camera shake, it should give you the red warning icon blinking on the lcd when you half-press the shutter.

Your pic may be dark because the shutter speed is still too fast to get the shot given the max ISO and aperture range of the camera.

Again, I would need to see the pic and the settings used to suggest a solution.

2) If you are wanting to use this camera to take action shots in a stadium at night, forget about it. That is a challenge with my 20D with an $1,100 70-200 f/2.8L, let alone with a $250 SX100. It's just not going to happen. And the built in flash only gets out about ten feet with any effectiveness.

As for getting a shot like the picure posted, the EXIF info is not present so I can only guess at how it could be done, but I could see that being within the capability of the SX100. It could be handheld, but if it is, they may have employed some low power flash. I would use a tripod because the light looks to be lacking and probably either Manual or Tv. Then I (or the camera depending if I used Manual or Tv) would/could use the aperture settings to regulate getting enough light to properly expose the shot while getting just enough blur from the moving train. When panning, I usually use Tv rather than Manual because the light can change as you sweep the camera and it will automatically adjust when using Tv, but won't when using Manual. For this shot I would probably use manual, because the light isn't likely to change and then I have complete comtrol over the aperture too.

It's basically the opposite from panning, but you still use mostly the same settings strategy because you are wanting to imply the sensation of motion. However, in daylight panning, I usually have to resort to using a very small aperture so I don't overexpose the shot but still allow enough time to get the motion blur.

In this case, I could use a larger aperture with just enough DOF to get the girl/platform in focus, but still aloow the lowest ISO setting to reduce noise/grain as much as possible. If I can I always shoot at ISO 80 or 100, maybe 200 if I absolutely have to. Any higher that and noise will likely be present.

Don't worry about your english skills. You have communicated your issues just fine and your english skills are better than many here that use it as a first language.

Regards,
Jeff

[A.C Milan]

thanks big thanks to you big hands for your useful reply.

1- here is a pic i took just to show what i'm talking about regarding the IS :
btw i reset all the settings to default and the IS is not on OFF.
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/1809/img1483ah4.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1483ah4.jpg)


2- regarding the darkness in pics taken in the Tv mode, here are 4 pics from the same location in Tv mode the only difference between them is that i changed the shutter speed:

1/10 :
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/8931/img1470jx5.th.jpg (http://img339.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1470jx5.jpg)

1/100 :
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/6910/img1471vb2.th.jpg (http://img339.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1471vb2.jpg)

1/500 :
http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/5447/img1472tg2.th.jpg (http://img370.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1472tg2.jpg)

1/1000 :
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/5449/img1473uy2.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1473uy2.jpg)


as for the pic, just before 15 min ago i was out (at night) and was riding in my friend's car, i managed to shoot a palm tree in the street while other car's appeared moving, just like the pic,the problem it's very dark(shot it in Tv mode).

[slyone]

Try again and just for kicks set it to manual and open up your aperature(lowest possible number) set your SS and test...

[Jon]

thanks big thanks to you big hands for your useful reply.

1- here is a pic i took just to show what i'm talking about regarding the IS :
btw i reset all the settings to default and the IS is not on OFF.
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/1809/img1483ah4.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1483ah4.jpg)


2- regarding the darkness in pics taken in the Tv mode, here are 4 pics from the same location in Tv mode the only difference between them is that i changed the shutter speed:

1/10 :
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/8931/img1470jx5.th.jpg (http://img339.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1470jx5.jpg)

1/100 :
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/6910/img1471vb2.th.jpg (http://img339.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1471vb2.jpg)

1/500 :
http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/5447/img1472tg2.th.jpg (http://img370.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1472tg2.jpg)

1/1000 :
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/5449/img1473uy2.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1473uy2.jpg)


as for the pic, just before 15 min ago i was out (at night) and was riding in my friend's car, i managed to shoot a palm tree in the street while other car's appeared moving, just like the pic,the problem it's very dark(shot it in Tv mode).
Tv will only give you a decent exposure if there's enough light for the camera to set an available aperture that's within the lens' range. Your first shot (1/10 sec.) was at f/2.8. That's as wide as the lens can go, and you got a correct exposure. As you moved to a faster shutter speed, the camera would have needed to move to a faster aperture, but there weren't any, so you got underexposure. Moral: Tv (or Av, for that matter) won't always give you a perfect exposure; only when you've got enough light. For dark shots, though, try Av and wide open with a tripod. You've got a wider range of shutter speeds than you do apertures for controlling the amount of light.

And IS isn't going to guarantee that every pictre is shake-free. It's just going to mean that it'll be sharper than it would have been without the IS in use.

[A.C Milan]

slyone/

it's the same result, I've already tried it but thanks.

Jon/
that makes a lot of sense,because the "f2.8" becomes red when i shoot in fast speeds.

but i thought the aperture was how much light that will go to the lens and has nothing to do with speed?

[Big Hands]

Try to think of it this way: The three main things that dictate proper exposure are:

1) aperture size: the smaller the number, the larger the aperture opening, the larger the opening. When the more light enters the lens the sensor can record that light more quickly.

2) film speed or in the case of digital cameras, ISO setting: how quickly that sensor can react to or record 'light'

3) shutter speed: dictates how long the sensor will have to record the cumulative effect of the light that enters the lens.

Once your light starts to fall off, you have to adjust some combination of these three settings to maintain proper exposure. All three have distinctly different side effects and when you shoot in Manual, you have to decide what combination of all three will give you proper exposure and still record the frame the way you want it to.

When you shoot in Tv, you are setting shutter speed (and ISO) and letting the camera dictate aperture size as needed, but it can only open to it's limit and if the ISO is also slow (80 or 100) presumably to minimize grain and maximize image quality, you may still have darker shots. Something has to give. You'll either have to increase the ISO at the risk of grainier results or slow down the shutter speed at the risk of camera-shake induced blur.

There is no such thing as a free lunch so to speak.

[StarJack]

Not to hijack, but I have a similar question regarding the exposure of the SX100. These snap shots are the same ISO, the same aperture, and the same shutter speed. The only difference is Manual mode Vs. Program mode, so why the exposure difference?:confused:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/StarJack/IMG_0223.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/StarJack/IMG_0224.jpg

[Jon]

Looks like the flash didn't fire in the first on even though EXIF says it did. It does, however, show that the flash was in Manual mode for the first; what are your output settings there (pp 121-123 of the manual)?

[A.C Milan]

that's kinda obvious that the flash didn't go on.right?

[Jon]

Well, according to the EXIF:
Camera Make: Canon
Camera Model: Canon PowerShot SX100 IS
Image Date: 2008:08:16 04:10:37
Flash Used: Yes (Manual, red eye reduction mode)
Focal Length: 6.0mm
CCD Width: 5.71mm
Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO equiv: 200
White Balance: Auto
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure Mode: Manual

So did it go not at all, or set to a low burst? How about setting the flash to Auto or Always and try again.

[StarJack]

Yes, the flash fired in both pictures. One of the more unintuitive aspects of this camera is the variation of how one goes about setting things up, based on what mode the camera is in. For instance, you must be in Tv/Av mode for the MENU option to adjust the flash to even appear. In those modes, Flash Adjust is set to Auto, in any other mode, Flash Adjust simply does not appear.

So to make any flash setting one has to use the SET button in other modes, where you are presented with a standard EC window in Program mode, and an bar marked simply Flash Output with FULL on the right hand side in Manual mode. :confused:

So there is No Adjustment for AUTO or MANUAL from the MENU button in any mode but Av/Tv. So why it says it is in Manual Flash mode (when shooting from Manual mode on the dial), when the MENU option is in fact in AUTO mode (in Tv/Av) is a mystery to me.

Safety FE is ON in P/Av/Tv modes (which are the only modes that option is available in) and it obviously does not function in Manual mode.

I retook some shots in Manual mode adjusting the Flash output from it's default of 2 bars to the left, to the maximum flash output setting. There is no indication on the LCD that there is an exposure problem at ANY of the 3 settings. Although one notch from FULL appears to be the best choice, only trial and error would make you aware of this.

Default, two bars over

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/StarJack/IMG_0234.jpg

One bar to the right towards FULL

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/StarJack/IMG_0235.jpg

FULL setting

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/StarJack/IMG_0236.jpg

What's kind of funny is that I would have never been aware of this issue if I had not seen the OP's post as I almost always shoot in Tv/Av or P (when in standby mode so I can snag a snapshot quickly).

Unless you can show me the broad side of the barn I'm missing here, I have to conclude that Manual mode is pretty much useless on this camera if flash is required and the need to get the shot the first time is urgent.

I bought this camera for two reason rolled into one, I wanted as much reach as possible in as small a package as possible, with reach being the higher priority. Given those requirements, the price point, and the fact I was in a big hurry (long story) I'm satisfied with the camera overall. I've owned a G2 ( I miss that lil bugger) 20D and 40D, and I have to say SX100 IS is the least intuitive to learn of those mentioned. Funny how that works.

Anyway, A.C Milan I posted this in your thread because once I discovered the exposure issue after reading your post (thinking I might be able to help :rolleyes: ) I thought we might be seeing a similar issue, or missing something similar in the cameras setup, but I'm less inclined to believe so now. I probably should have started my own thread, my apologies for diverting attention away from your original post.

P.S. Many thanks for the comments and suggestions!

[Big Hands]

Were either of you shooting in "continuous" mode rather than "single shot"?

I have had times when it will squeeze off a second shot before the flash has recovered (with similar results to yours) and I can't recall the exact circumstances/settings when this can happen.

But that is likely what happened, the flash just didn't have time to fully recover. The SX100 (like many P&S cameras, especially those using two AA cells) takes a while for the cells to recover enough to fire off another flash.

[StarJack]

Hello BH, nope, single shot mode.

[Big Hands]

I've been trying to get mine to take a second shot before the flash recovers (as I seem to remember it doing at one time or another), but I can't seem to get it to do it...