Got my Ixus 400

[Littlenose]

Hi all,

New to the forum, I just got my Ixus 400, and have been happily snapping away for a couple of days now.

I've posted a few pics up on the website:-
www.mikeyscott.co.uk
I'm now wondering if anyone could provide me with a few tips on post processing my imageswith either paint shop pro, or photoshop.

I'm a complete novice, so take it easy on me please.

Mikey

[khs8]

I bought the S230 two weeks ago. I am still deciding if I should exchange it for the S400. I like the high pixels, and 3X zoom, but I am not happy with the lower resolution for video clips. Anyway, to answer your question, I have been playing with the software that Canon provided and found them to be adequate (especially for beginners). PhotoImpression 4 will let you do most of editing you need. VideoImpression 1.7 let you group clips together to make a movie, although I found that Virtualdub does a better job (a freeware). Zoombrower let you make slide presentations. Great softwares.

[Littlenose]

I'm very happy with the Ixus400, and although wondered about the reasoning behind Canon reducing hte movie resolution, I don't really see it as a drawback, as I only imagine using hte movies as seeing snippets of life in action, and nothing would be gained by the 640 res for my use.

Thanks for the pointers to using different software, but I was looking for a first few initial tips, but I think this was possibly popped in the wrong forum section.... guess I was too excited after just getting my new camera :-)

Mikey

[Santos007]

Very nice pics...excellent quality.
Post some more (please) :)

[mikebegley]

I just checked out some of your pictures, very nice. I don't know much about paint shop pro, but I use Photoshop. Photoshop is way more money but it is basically the universal tool used. You can find a lot more free actions created for it on the web. Adobe has a site where users upload their actions for downloading for free. In case you don't know what an action is: an action is basically a recording of steps you take to do something in photoshop. By recording them, you can then "replay" them on a new image or a batch of images. It saves a TON of time. Like I noticed one of your pictures had red eye. You can run an action to remove it instantly. I love it, but it is expensive.

I also have the S400, I got it about a two weeks ago. I have created a small gallery.

http://www.BDesign.MyPhotos.photoshare.co.nz

Hope I helped you out.

Mike

[Niru]

to Littlenose:

Nice shots !
the landscape, buildings etc. are in great quality but let me add that I've noticed that in the indoor pics there is a tendency to darkness..... do u see that too ? also in other pics that u had took??

to mikebegley: the same to you , for example the 'banana face' is quite dark behind the charming girl.. is ther a problem with the s400 in indoor pics ??

[mikebegley]

Niru,

No, that is the correct darkness for that room actually. But if you are taking a picture of someone far away indoors in a not so lit room, the flash is only good for something like 10 feet I believe.

In fact many point and shoot digital cameras are the same with that.

Mike

[Andrys]

Nice first pics !

But, as a Chinese, I was wondering what on earth that Chinese-derived portal was doing there ? Looks out of place!

Re Paintshop - a magnificent piece of software. Best I can say is experiment with it. It's very intuitive, unlike Photoshop 4. I never did try Photoshop 5 But at the price (under $100) Paintshop 8 is terrific !

There's said to be a good book out there which I may eventually buy to help me understand the advanced features I've never touched.