Just bought a canon powershot sx10 is and need help!

[adbourgoin]

I just bought the Canon powershot sx10 is tonight after having my old camera for 5 years (Boy have cameras changed) I pulled it out of the box and made myself comfy on the couch to read over the manual and "test" the camera out a little. I'm so lost! I have no idea where to start and every picture I take comes out horrible (granted its late and dark so not the best lighting coming from the lamp in my living room).

I'm going to take my daughter (Shes 2) to the park tomorrow and attempt to play around with the camera some more in much better light. Does any one have some tips for a clueless beginner?

Thanks in advance for the help! :)

[Jon]

Examples? At night you'll need high ISO settings which will be noisy, so look grainy. The flash has to be raised; it won't pop up for you.

What was your "old camera"; if we know where you're coming from we can direct you better. And sample pictures always help.

[mullhawk]

What I did most when I first got my camera, is threw it in M mode and took hundreds of pictures with different settings, and saw how each one affected the picture. Download something like Opanda so you can see your exif data on your computer, and see exactly what settings you were using for each picture.
Don't forget to check your ISO, F, and shutter speed every time you shoot, I don't mean every shot, because they won't change from the last shot, but sometimes I would go out for a day and forget to check my ISO and then would meter to like ISO 800 and when I got home all of my shots would be noisy as hell.
Also if you don't know what any of those mean read read read, and if you are familiar with all of those settings read anyway.
Post some pictures on this site and look for feedback, that will help you understand what you could have done differently, so you know to look for it next time. There are a lot of very helpful, and knowledgeable people on this site, and you came to the right place.
Lastly and to me most importantly enjoy your camera, and have fun with it :D

[adbourgoin]

My older camera was a Nikon coolpix point and shoot.

After playing around a little more I have noticed that the lcd makes the pictures very bright even when I have the brightness on as low as it will go. When I take a picture it washes out the whole thing, So I think I got a really bad shot but then wen I put it on the computer its not half bad.

I will try and get some pictures up this afternoon for some advice. Thanks!

[PhotoFranz]

I bought mine to simplify my photography. Read your manual and get a good idea of ALL of the scene modes. Then USE THEM! I find that the camera does a good job of doing what it says it will do. If I want to force it to a particular setting, say ISO 80, I shoot on "P" mode.

I find that the camera tends to blow out highlights in bright scenes. I am going to play with exposure compensation in the coming weeks.

[Jon]

Yeah - the camera's LCD is set up so you can see it reasonably well outdoors in the bright sun. Inside at night you'll almost be able to read by it. Set your display up to show the histogram (press the "Display" button a few times); your goal is to keep from running the histogram curve all the way to either end of the base line. Exposure Compensation will help with that.

[lensmen]

To make life easier for yourself on your debut, set it to AUTO or P, and fire away.

The SX10 handling may be different from your on nikon and may take a few tries to get the hang of things.

PF is right, read the manual, but who really can remember everything on Day 1 ?

So, go out there and have fun.

[tonyboy9]

I also just purchased an SX10, after owning an S2 IS for years.

My idea is to go through the entire Menu, and set up my preferences, before taking any shots. Any thoughts or suggestions on how to approach this without going completely nuts over all the bells and whistles?

I also think starting with the P setting, shooting at ISOs 80 to 200, and judging those results would be a good start.

[Jon]

Not really. Just set as much as possible like your S2 was set (or had as "only options") for starters; time enough later to alter your settings and habits.

[anothernewb]

I upgraded from an A610 to the sx10. I was satisfied with the camera as a whole - the zoom range was unreal to say the least - however there were 2 things that turned me off, which I felt were enough to return it.

The first being that it seemed to be a much more outdoors friendly camera than indoors. I took a bunch of shots in indoor and outdoor conditions, and I guess I felt that it really struggled in low light much more so than my A610 needing a longer shutter at any iso indoors.
The second being no real improvement in image quality, and some cases a little worse.

now I will take this all with a grain of salt as well - after doing some research - I found that the powershot 6xx series apparently had some far above the average image quality, and I was upgrading with the intent of improving the IQ to begin with so - I was likely a little biased.

That being said - had that been my first camera, or had I upgraded from a lesser model - then I would still have it. The long zoom is just super and pretty much untouchable in any other form. I was very impressed by the improvements to the full-auto settings. it really is a pretty smart point-and-shoot.

To get the best possible pictures indoors or in low light - I would avoid zooming in, leave it at as wide an angle as possible. Move your feet - not the lens. (yes I know it's defeating the whole purpose of a super zoom) I think the light reaching the sensor falls off pretty quick. The flip and rotate screen is one thing I will truly miss now that I moved to an SLR. I was able to capture a number of interesting pictures with my 610 simply because I was able to sue unusual camera angles without being a contortionist

I guess the best suggestion I can give (this seemed to work for me - and I am in no way an experienced person) Shoot in auto awhile, shoot all kinds of conditions - but take note of the settings the camera chooses - it's pretty smart. Once you get a feel for how the various relationships between ISO, aperture, and shutter speed interact - you will be able to make educated guesses when you want to be more creative, and you will learn to recognize when the camera's meter gets fooled in tough lighting situations - and correct them. The only other suggestion I will make is like any other learning process. try to only change one thing at a time - it's harder to get lost and frustrated that way.

[Fourchids]

This is my first post. Though, I have owned several Canon P and S (A520, A620, SD1100) cameras before, I am still a novice when it comes to photography.I am following this thread closely since I m about to receive my Canon SX10 IS in 3 days. I decided to buy this superzoon canon instead of the SLR more for convenience (less weight to carry around compared to SLR's) and after my experience visiting a wildlife refuge. I wanted to take close-up pictures of the birds and other animals but my A620, though it takes good pictures, could not take close-up pictures. Am excited to know of the existence of this forum. Thanks.

[deethomp]

will the old 277T speedlite work withe the sx10 is????

[Jon]

In manual mode, if you can set it to that. Only the EX-series SpeedLites will give you full E-TTL auto flash.