I'm really confused about my new A2000. Can any1 help me out?

[junglemike2]

Hello fellas. I'm new here. Looks like I found my way to a very nice community with a huge amount of knowledge.

First, I need to say right away that I'm more or less amateur camera user, in no way a professional. But I do have understanding about some very basic aspects like shutter speed or aperture,etc..

Here's my problem.
I always used Canon Power shot series from early days, and was pretty much satisfied with them.... well, until I bought A2000 ...
I used to have A75,A95,A610,and some others. All of them featured manual control at least to some extent. Mainly I'm talking about AV and TV options, as well as manual focus. Well, A2000 doesn't have any of those...

I must admit that I really didn't do my homework properly, when buying A200,Is I was 100% sure w/o checking that it has AV and TV options, I just couldn't imagine how such advanced (compared to A75) piece of hardware that has face recognition does not allow you to control shutter speed and aperture....

Anyway, what done is done. I'm here not to critique something, rather to find a solution to my problem. A2000 has all these presets, that I have no idea how they work and what they supposed to do. Here is a real situation: Suppose I want to shoot something moving fast (like a child running), and i'd rather have it not smeared out... my basic photography senses would tell me to choose very short shutter speed, and if there's not enough light-> Use flash, and if there's still not enought light - increase ISO, reduce optical zoom, etc.
Now, I've tried to shoot such simple scene with A2000, and it gets out bad, except when it's shiny bright day, so it automatically uses short shutter speed.I've tried literally all built-in presets, and when I half-press the button it shows me shutter speed it's going to use, and in all the presets it's too slow for fast moving object.
What should I do? How would I handle such simple scene? There are , of course many other situations, where I've no idea how to use this A2000, but that one is the simplest. Please point me into right direction. I'm not afraid to read relevan books and articles, if needed, and BTW, i've read a2000 manual completely, but it seems that it's written for somebody who sees camera for the first time in their life.

[Jon]

"Kids and Pets" won't do it? You might need to go to Camera M and boost the ISO setting then.

[JustShootin']

I sure hate to be the ole pessimist, but dang if it don't seem like you may have gotten the wrong camera for your needs! Is there still time to return it for one with a little more control?

[junglemike2]

"Kids and Pets" won't do it? You might need to go to Camera M and boost the ISO setting then.
If by Camera M you mean manual mode - it doesn't have one. In fact it doesn't have even semi-manual modes like AV and TV.


I sure hate to be the ole pessimist, but dang if it don't seem like you may have gotten the wrong camera for your needs! Is there still time to return it for one with a little more control?

That's exactly what I feel. But what's done is done. I cannot return it. I'll try to sell it and buy something else, but meanwhile i'm stuck with it.
Even though it's only automatic, i cannot believe it is *that* dumb, there must be some way to choose the short shutter speeds. On other cameras, there's "sport" preset, but not in this one.
Can't believe i've fell that deep.....

[Jon]

If by Camera M you mean manual mode - it doesn't have one. In fact it doesn't have even semi-manual modes like AV and TV.



That's exactly what I feel. But what's done is done. I cannot return it. I'll try to sell it and buy something else, but meanwhile i'm stuck with it.
Even though it's only automatic, i cannot believe it is *that* dumb, there must be some way to choose the short shutter speeds. On other cameras, there's "sport" preset, but not in this one.
Can't believe i've fell that deep.....Kids and Pets (p. 55) is the equivalent of Sports on other cameras. Camera M is what they called it on the SD series. On the A2000, I see it's called "P". You can vary a bunch of settings, but not (directly) shutter speed or aperture there.