Canon A470 PowerShot - Picture Blur

[MooseBoi]

Hey guys,
Ive owned my A470 for about a year and a half now, having it just as a camera to take pictures, im not serious about photography...but as ive begun using it a little more, ive found that unless flash is turned on, or the camera is COMPLETELY dead flat on a surface, it blurs the picture. As you can see, i dont know alot about this camera but from playing around with it, thats what ive found. Flash just really annoys me though because you dont even capture the real picture, you just get closest object and a practically black background which is really terrible. Also something else to note is that when flash isnt on, when i hold down the capture button half way, a red camera icon with lines around it appears in the bottom left of the screen on the camera. Im guessing this means the camera is shaking but even on a flat surface with it not even moving, this happens. Thanks in advance and i hope i can overcome this blur problem.
-Sammy

[JustShootin']

While I'm not familiar with your camera model, I can tell you that the camera shake warning doesn't mean the camera is shaking. It only means that the shutter speed is slow enough that you may get camera shake if you don't use a tripod. In low light without a tripod, especially if your camera doesn't have IS, you will most likely get blurry pictures. I would suggest using a tripod for low light and no flash. Of course, upping the ISO may help, but will bring on noise in compact cameras.

[MooseBoi]

thanks very much for the reply. Ive tried out what you said and its exactly right. In low light, i get the blur but with ample light, the icon doesnt appear. I may have to look into buying a tripod. Thanks again for the help!