g11 poor pics

Just skimming through the exif data on the blurry pics I can see right away the problem was simply shutter speed. The blurry pics ranged from 1/15 sec. to 1/60 sec. which is causing problems for you because it's too slow. The better pics were 1/160 sec. or higher on the shutter. You need to shoot manual and when using a flash set the shutter at 1/250 sec. and leave it there if your shooting moving people or objects. Always keep the aperture as wide as possible and adjust your ISO accordingly to get the proper exposure. If you wind up having to use ISO's that are just to high for your taste, then bump your shutter speed down, but be careful because you see here what happens when it gets too slow ( 1/160th would be my absolute limit unless the subjects were posing very still for me). Shoot in RAW and adjust your white balance in post production...easy to do.

Well most of the bad one's (there are good ones) have focusing issues or camera shake. Remember to wait for the camera to double beep and have a green box to insure it has focus lock. Are you just jamming down the shutter button? I think your technique needs improvement. IS (image stabilization) is good but it's not going to perform miracles. 1/15 Tv you need a tripod with IS off

As mentioned do not use auto. I think it's inaccurate. The lighting looks good enough for ISO 400 or 800. That's my take.....

A tripod still won't help much when shooting people moving around when your at 1/15th sec. The flash will freeze motion but your still going to need to keep the shutter speeds up like I mentioned.

I would say its a combination of too slow a shutter speed and focus not locked. Wait for the box to turn green before you shoot.

To me it seems that the indoor pictures are poor due to improper usage of flash capabilities as well as simple bad focus and incorrect white balance. You have to know the limitations of your environment and how to maximize the output while knowing the limitations of the G11. The G11 has a relatively slow lens and does not give good results at ISO higher than 400. In your case for the church setting, I would either try a "second curtain" sync on the flash to get the ambiance, and ALWAYS use RAW so you can fix WB on your computer. If so you would probably have to use ISO 400 and remember to keep your hand steady even after the flash goes off. Otherwise you can simply try to forget about capturing the surroundings and take a straight flash shot (would make the surroundings dark). I regularly take night shots with the G11 on second curtain sync with good results with the simple G11 flash, but usually I try to steady my hand on a wall or other solid object. I will try to post a picture I took a couple of days ago with the G11 to illustrate that.

Edit: I have added a pic I took a few days ago just to see the limitations of second sync with the built-in flash. Obviously it is not a 580 EXII, but you can get decent results if you know the limitations.

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nice pic btw. what is a "second curtain"?

I should probably pick up a copy of "Digitial Photography for Dummies" or something of the like if I am going to take pictures from hereon not using the AUTO mode anymore.

gm134lex wrote in post #10685224
nice pic btw. what is a "second curtain"?

I should probably pick up a copy of "Digitial Photography for Dummies" or something of the like if I am going to take pictures from hereon not using the AUTO mode anymore.

no just read lots and live on this forum for a few weeks.

gm134lex wrote in post #10685224
nice pic btw. what is a "second curtain"?

I should probably pick up a copy of "Digitial Photography for Dummies" or something of the like if I am going to take pictures from hereon not using the AUTO mode anymore.

Nup, just read this https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=414088 and get your hands on a copy of the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Petersen.

Then practice, practice, practice.
All it costs is time.
Digital photos are just a series of 1's and 0's - 1's and 0's are free.

gm134lex wrote in post #10685224
nice pic btw. what is a "second curtain"?

I should probably pick up a copy of "Digitial Photography for Dummies" or something of the like if I am going to take pictures from hereon not using the AUTO mode anymore.

Second Curtain is the flash setup that has a star on top of a person on the flash setup choices. What it does is basically try to match the flash with the surroundings so that you get the ambiance of the surroundings. So the flash fires and then the shutter curtain follows and thus to be able to capture the surroundings in a dark environment the camera will have a long exposure. Thus you have to remember that when you take a picture and try not to move after the flash fires until you hear the shutter close. The flash will sort of "fix" your main photo target and the added shutter open time will gather the surroundings. On many occasions people like the effect of movement in the background, and in this photo it was quite windy so some of the leaves on trees were moving and thus slightly blurry.

The point is that even with the tiny little flash on the G11 you can get relatively decent results, and since on many occasions you will not be lugging a large flash with you that is the only option you will have. If this picture was taken on a first curtain synch, the subject would be well lit and the background would be pitch black. Sometimes it is nice to show the the night lighting of the surroundings as it gives a better feel of the moment.

As for using AUTO mode ... really there is absolutely no reason to use that as there are other "AUTO" modes that are much better. While I personally prefer Manual, on many occasions I will use Av and Tv which are what I would consider advanced auto modes. One of them you choose when shutter speed is a priority and the other when aperature is a priority. Now when you add the ability to increase ISO to 400 or so and have the image also in RAW, and then understand how to maximize your flash results by using second curtain, then you will have dramatically increased your flexibility in taking good pictures in low light. In the end it is all about practice and taking pictures testing different setups. The more pictures you take testing parameters, the better your results will be. The G11 has some really advanced features that put this camera in a league by itself. For example I just recently realized what a powerful feature the MF (manual focus) is for taking macro pictures ... I mean all this time I was using a 100mm macro lens on a DSLR when I could have gotten excellent results by just learning this one feature on the G11.

The mode that has a "star on top of a person" is actually only Slow Sync Flash.

Basically, it is a longer than normal shutter speed with flash going off at some point in the exposure. Note that Slow Sync Flash can be either first or second curtain depending on how you have your camera set up.

It is first curtain by default unless you choose to set it to second curtain from the flash menu.

This page has a good illustration of the difference.

http://www.shortcourse​s.com/guide/guide2-28.html

See the section under flash modes and how you can change the effect depending on whether you choose first or second curtain flash.

Can I suggest using the AUTO mode on the ISO and using SCN instead of auto? You can then turn the dial to suit the photo that you wish to take...the aquarium mode is great for taking shots through glass ...and the camera will automatically adjust the ISO so that indoor shots will look good as well as outdoor ones. You really need to have a "play" and the more you use it, the more your pictures will come out sharp every time. The G11 are superb cameras....just look at the quality of photos submitted to the speed challenges every week !!!

Also I suggest getting the book : Canon Powershot G10/G11 From Snapshots to Great Shots by Jeff Carlson (US$ 24.99).....invaluable.

mrshobden wrote in post #10686639
Can I suggest using the AUTO mode on the ISO and using SCN instead of auto? You can then turn the dial to suit the photo that you wish to take...the aquarium mode is great for taking shots through glass ...and the camera will automatically adjust the ISO so that indoor shots will look good as well as outdoor ones. You really need to have a "play" and the more you use it, the more your pictures will come out sharp every time. The G11 are superb cameras....just look at the quality of photos submitted to the speed challenges every week !!!

Also I suggest getting the book : Canon Powershot G10/G11 From Snapshots to Great Shots by Jeff Carlson (US$ 24.99).....invaluable.

Good advice! and thanks for the link.

Photography for me is about images and memories. There's a place for using the technology in cameras and there's a place for using the "smarts" that are built in. I've enjoyed photogaphy for a long time. Bought my Nikon F2 new when it first came out.
Learning about photogaphy is good too. If you use the automatic settings in the camera you can display the settings that the camera has chosen and learn from those.
When I started I was happy if I got a few good photos from a roll of 36 exposure film. Things got better after I learned more about light and more about film. Equipment is much smarter now.It really is much better. We still need to know about light; now we need to know about white balance, not film.
You have an incredible camera. Each of the G series has been at the top for cameras of their time. Canon listens, and the next G will be even better.
Give the camera the time it needs to focus, and read the light. Take your time and the quality of your images will improve.
Keep asking questions here; show your good stuff and your not-so-good.
Have fun!

mrshobden wrote in post #10686639
Also I suggest getting the book : Canon Powershot G10/G11 From Snapshots to Great Shots by Jeff Carlson (US$ 24.99).....invaluable.

That was a good tip Linda, thx! Ordered it immediately and it should be in tomorrow. Looks like a very nice book to me.

As mentioned, the blury pics are due to slow shutter speeds.. What is happening is because you are on auto, the camera's meter is adjusting for the available light and choosing a shutter speed too slow for hand holding..

What I recommend to do is use your G11 when using flash is to set your G11 to manual mode.. Set a shutterspeed of around 60th second.. Never ever use auto ISO.. Set the ISO manually depending on the lighting conditions.. For the flash shots in the church, I'd use 200 ISO and an aperture of around f/4..

The yellowish tint in the images is due to the camera picking up the tungsten lighting in the church.. With a faster shutter speed this should disappear..

everyone thanks so far for the help.

Going again to another church tomorrow to take some more internal pics. I will follow the guidelines that you guys have suggested, but I have two questions:

1. Does the exposure dial have to be messed with if I'll be using the big flash in manual mode? (I will adjust shutter speed accordingly)

2. Seeing that the camera has different scene modes (and that the weather here tomorrow will be nice and sunny), should I just leave the camera in "landscape" mode to take outside shots of the church, headstones, trees, etc?

thanks again for all your help!!!!!!!