SD870is settings for a bar/club

i just bought the canon sd870is and im pretty new to photography...i need some help with my settings for a night out on the town with a bunch of friends. what would be good for a bar/club ...some of the places are going to be dim lit and some are going to pretty bright...thanks in advance

You don't have an awful lot of settings on that. Camera M, high ISO, force flash and be within 4-11 ft. of whoever you're trying to photograph.

You have one of the least adjustable cameras for that purpose.

Use Portrait mode to keep the aperture open.

Use high ISO and slow-syc flash and keep an eye on the shutterspeed, which it should display on the LCD when it is under 1/60s or so. If it displays 1/15s or less, you better be holding it very still.


I have an SD550 and after 10k or so shots, I know it has lots of shortcomings.

Can I be cheeky ?

Same question .... but Canon A640 ... mainly because i've been asked to cover a prizegiving ceremony and my indoor results, even in a moderately lit pub-room have been very poor.

You? Asking the question? The mountain just came to Mohammed! :{)#

Well, unfortunately "moderately-lit" isn't good news. Get in fairly close, rely on flash, and lose the background. Get in a couple of sessions before the event trying out the exposure and flash settings if you can, but let the flash do the work. Maybe it's time to pick up a slave flash unit . . . After all, if it's an awards ceremony, it's the awards, not the setting, that matter.

LMAO - despite the good stuff I have managed with help and advice here, there's still a few area's I consider 'niggley' and I won't be happy till i've got it licked - anyway, you say..

.. like i'm actually good at this stuff hur hur hur ...

Thanks for the advice though Jon ... going DSLR later in the year too, considering the 400D - seems a pretty good mid-range jobber till I can save for a 1D. Just waiting for Jason Cole's DVD to arrive now, and I can take the next step into the world of boobie *cough* - I mean, err, hiring professional models... In the meantime, will see if I can get a small slave flash to help with the prizegiving doobrie. I assume ISO200, 1/100 and ƒ3.2 ? - will the curtain settings make a difference in this environemt ya recon ?

Will try n' get access mid afternoon and whip some test shots off.

The 870 has a pretty wimpy flash. I would invest in a Canon HF-DC1 slave flash unit (for under $100) and try to use bounce lighting (unless the ceilings are colored).