Soon to be Dad and new S30 owner with q's

[wahoo]

I just picked up an S30 to capture our first baby's birth and have a few questions:

1) anyone have tips/advice on what settings to use in the labor room? Just of the baby of couse!

2) What is the purpose of the whitish beam of light that projects from the camera in auto mode?

3) The camera seems to have trouble locking into focus, any tips/adice?

4) To sum it up, is full auto the best default mode or should I set it to Program and adjust some of the settings?

Thanks in advance!

[bigdave]

First of all, Congratulations! If you want to take some good photos of your little bundle of joy i'd say use the (P)rogram mode, or if excitement makes you shake a little, use the action setting (looks like a little running man) so your shots come out sharp. The white beam your referring to is probably the light that allows your camera to auto focus. Speaking of focus, you'll get best results by putting an area of high contrast in the center of the lcd preview screen. I think you'll take some great shots wahoo. Good luck.

[Maestro]

One thing to remember is that you should avoid using the flash at all costs.. So use Tv mode and set up for longer exposures to compensate for just using ambiant light. Set the white balance to manual as well, that way it reads the existing light and decides what the best white balance is for the room.