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taking good photos with a regular camera - Page 2

post #16 of 21
4/26/11 at 5:09am
It is just a humble Canon Ixus 870 IS - bought by a friend quite awhile ago. This might be a bit too much, but does anyone have suggestions for this specific model (or digital cameras of similar range)? So far, this is what I've got - zoom at (what your eyes see), natural and indirect lighting, camera level without tilting. I'm clueless when it comes to optical/digital zoom (how to determine), ISO, aperture, shutterspeed etc. Its basically to take fit pictures for balance, style and other aspects without 'distortions' so what you see in the pictures is what it is (for example - it would be difficult to determine jacket length when picture is taken with 'fish-eye' distortion). No high quality photoshoot portraits are ever going to be produced with this camera I think. Hopefully this will be a guide for others who post pictures here on SF asking for comments as well. Thanks!
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post #17 of 21
4/26/11 at 5:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jack220 View Post
I'm clueless when it comes to optical/digital zoom (how to determine), ISO, aperture, shutterspeed etc.
It's in the specs: 4x optical zoom, starting with 28mm. If you zoom just under halfway, you get 50mm. Set it up to 50mm, make sure the camera isn't tilted and see if you have enough room to get yourself in the pic. Most compacts aren't very good with ISO values higher than 200; I'd stick to that (or if you have enough light: 100) and take some test pics—automatic, but with flash off. You could show the results here, if you want.
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post #18 of 21
4/26/11 at 6:34am
Ok, noob question here - how do I set it to zoom just halfway / 50mm? Do I just try to zoom in, so what I see on the LCD screen is roughly the same size as what I would see with my own eyes? I adjusted the ISO to 100 on the settings.
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post #19 of 21
4/26/11 at 7:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jack220 View Post
Ok, noob question here - how do I set it to zoom just halfway / 50mm? Do I just try to zoom in, so what I see on the LCD screen is roughly the same size as what I would see with my own eyes? I adjusted the ISO to 100 on the settings.
Yes, zoom in. There's probably a scale (some lines) on the lens itself; try to get it halfway. If you take a test shot, you can see the exact focal point in your EXIF data. Or post the pic here; we can probably read it.
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post #20 of 21
4/26/11 at 7:29am
Ok, here is a test shot (not resized option on postimage.org). Couldn't use SF's image uploader because size is 2.4mb).

http://postimage.org/image/19sevs7ac/

There is no scale on the lens itself.

I've seen how the lens zooms in and out - there are 'two moving parts' - the inner and outer 'lens'.

When zooming in - the outer part will 'move in' / become shorter, and at a certain point, it will then move back out - all the while the pic on the LCD screen is becoming larger ie zooming in. The overall 'length' of the inner and outer part is the same - it will move in then out - therefore compounding my problem of actually determining the mid-point / 50mm etc...
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post #21 of 21
4/26/11 at 7:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jack220 View Post
Ok, here is a test shot (not resized option on postimage.org). Couldn't use SF's image uploader because size is 2.4mb).

http://postimage.org/image/19sevs7ac/

There is no scale on the lens itself.

I've seen how the lens zooms in and out - there are 'two moving parts' - the inner and outer 'lens'.

When zooming in - the outer part will 'move in' / become shorter, and at a certain point, it will then move back out - all the while the pic on the LCD screen is becoming larger ie zooming in. The overall 'length' of the inner and outer part is the same - it will move in then out - therefore compounding my problem of actually determining the mid-point / 50mm etc...

Well, you came very close:

Make: Canon
Model: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 870 IS
FocalLength: 9.4 mm
FocalLength35efl: 9.4 mm (35 mm equivalent: 51.7 mm)
ExposureTime: 1/60"
Aperture: F3.5
ISO: 800
Flash: Off, Did not fire


The problem is: it seems you don't have much light to play with. The automatic setting changed the ISO to 800 to get a reasonable shutter speed (1/60) with the diaphragm fully open (F3.5). With a tripod (or another kind of support) You could use a faster shutter speed and decrease the ISO. You would have to stand still though, if you were in the pic, otherwise you won't get it sharp.
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