Why so dark?

I see nothing wrong with my Adive, he/ she needs higher ISO and a higher Apertaure, And if he/ she couldn't acheive that, maybe they could try borrowing an SLR..Nothing wrong with that advice.

But you are suggesting that he/she can't obtain the desired results with their current equipment which is completely untrue...

whoaaaa! lefturn99 would be highly dissapointed to hear that sort of suggestion. plus i'm sure the original poster wanted to figure out how to make those shots work with his G-series cam, not a suggestion on a new camera he should invest in.

What ?I see nothing wrong? he would have to set his lens on 2.8 and have a faster ISO.... If he can't get a faster ISO then a better flash if he can get a flash on a p&s. And saying borrowing an SLR is completey different than buying an SLR...Notice the word Borrow* and get better results if he couldn't with his p&s. i also said might, meaning if he had to or didn't the results didn't come out the way he wanted to.. Might and HAD to are two different meanings. Had means go out And BUY a DSLR...Might means you have a chance of not liking the results becasuase of the benefits of a P&S may lack. .

Beleive it or not theirs a lot of people who move to DSLRs becasue of the quality of P&S.

I would think that using a 430EX at 10 feet the OP should have been able to get a properly illuminated subject, even if HSS was selected. It looks to me like either the flash metering was fooled by the reflections from the water or something was set wrong on the camera.

Being able to set a high ISO such as 1600 or 3200 with a DSLR and having a f/2.8 or faster lens would have allowed the user to shoot these images without flash at a reasonable shutterspeed. With flash, ISO 400 should be fine to expose the subject, however the background in a large room would fade to black.

Edit:

A couple of questions (since I don't have a G6):

1. Can you use HSS on the 430EX with the G6?
2. What is the highest shutterspeed that the G6 can be set to?

It alos would have been helpful if the OP would have provided the EXIF that I requested earlier. We probably could have sorted this out very quickly after he did.

I moved to dSLR because I needed faster lenses, better dynamic range, lower noise and higher ISOs. I take action shots indoors. I went to Canon because their entry-level dSLRs have excellent high ISO image quality.

Open up your aperture. At 10-15 feet you can easily get away with f/4 and still have the whole subject sharp, even at a moderate zoom. Remember, f/8 will cut your light literally to 1/4th of what you'd get at f/4, so if you don't need the extra depth of field, by all means move up a few stops.

I'm just wondering if you have handled a G6 before, or any G-series camera for that matter. These cameras, coupled with an EX - series flash are quite capable of taking those swimming shots. By the way, you can also achieve the same dark photos with a dSLR too.

This is an excellent thread with alot of great advice.

I have a few questions to add if I may.

Why would the flash need to be set to Hi Sync if you are shooting at only 1/125?

Why hasn't anyone suggested bumping up the flash output?

It seems most are saying that the 420EX "will do it's thing" but keep seeming to have to adjust the flash output very often my self. (I typically shoot in AV, but in this setting I agree that TV is the way to go)

My last question is something I have noticed when I view any pics on my 17om LCD iMac at home they are significantly brighter than my CRT at work. I have the "brightness" all the way up on the CRT. So which is giving me the real picture?

TIA

Joe

* There is no reason to turn on high speed sync at 1/125.

* Increasing the flash output likely wouldn't have helped since it's apparent that the flash didn't have enough power for the settings that were used.

* If you haven't calibrated them, then neither is giving you the real picture.

Todd

I was trying all of the metering options, and i think i ended up using spot metering most of the time.

1. Yes, the 430 Ex does have that option, but i'm still learning how to use it since i have only have had it for not too long.
2. The G6 can be set to 1/2000.

Sorry about not getting the EXIF. but i normally don't use PSE3 for resizing my photos for web use. I use Zoombrowser for it. Is there a way to optain the EXIF from there that you know about? If not, i'll try to get that info either tonight or tomorrow.

Ha! Right on, Bottombracket, that's the *real* point here.

"Borrow a dSLR" is about as useful advice in this situation as "Ask a professional photographer to take the photos for you" : )

Bb.

Thanks, guys and gals. I've been doing the keyboard equivalent of biting my lip. I understand you dSLR guys mean well, but from our point of view, you are Trolls. No different than a Nikon guy coming on your baord and trashing Canon. Just cut and paste this message "You can't do that with a P&S. Get a dSLR." There. I've saved you some time.

We are aware of the limitations of our camera but we are trying to maximize the performance of the camera we have.

Mnk, page 66 of the G6 manual.
"The fastest shutter speed for flash syncronization is 1/250 second. The camera automatically resets the shutter speed to 1/250 second if a faster shutter speed is selected."

I can't tell if this includes Tv and M or just Tv. This makes your EXIF information critical. If it shows 1/250 and flash fired, you should have a decent picture. If it shows 1/400 sec and flash fired, the shutter didn't syncronize with the flash.

Mnk, you remind me of myself before I took a photography class. I hammered the internet for at least a couple of hours a day for over a half a year trying to learn photography. I got some good pictures but many of them needed a lot of help and even more were junk. I was what we used to call "book smart". I took a photography class and it turned the world around. I still have much to learn, but at least most of my pix are usable. And now, when I mess up, I have an idea why. Anyway, I'm not that far ahead of you. I'm saying this to soften the next paragraph.

Your posts are frustrating. You have posted twice. The first time you used 1/2000 sec shutter speed. The second time you used f8 aperture. Both settings reduce the amount of light hitting the sensor and insure a dark picture. There are other issues, but first, especially on Manual, you have to balance available light, shutter speed, and aperture size. I drove race cars for many years and I have a habit of describing situations in race car terms. You are trying to make your car go around the turn faster than it can go. You will always crash. The dSLR guys are telling you to get a faster, more expensive car. We are trying to help you fine tune the suspension so the car you have will corner faster.

On Manual, you need to try settings, then half press to get a reading in the upper left corner of the LCD. If the reading is -2 or +2 and red, that means you are way out of specs and even with a flash it isn't going to work. If it shows underexposed, either open the aperture, slow the shutter speed, or raise the ISO unitl it is at least a white reading.

Since you are shooting moving objects, start with the aperture wide open and ISO 400. Then lower the shutter speed until the half press shows 0 exposure. Now you are exposed properly. You may have other problems, such as shallow depth of field and noise, but you have a starting point.

So are you saying that anyone who owns a DSLR is automatically labeled a troll because that's sure as heck what it sounds like. If so, you need to try being a little less judgmental.

And just FYI, many of us "DSLR guys" are also "G-series guys." Yes there are things that a DSLR can do that a P&S digital can't and in those situations you will see me tell it like it is. This is NOT one of those situations and I think my posts on this topic have been at least a little bit helpful...

Todd (DSLR "troll")

P. S. -- Lefturn, you have some great pics in your pbase gallery. Your pole shots are very cool.