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S30/S40 choice

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Joel D

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After playing with my S40 for some time now, I'm finally starting to get properly lit indoor shots.

I find that ISO 200 gives me realistic pictures. When I tried ISO 400, they seemed too bright (funny, you would think the camera would adjust the aperature opening, or the flash intensity to give the same results for the two ISO settings.)

Anyway, now that I'm getting a feel for the use of the ISO settings, I'm starting to wonder if the gain in "detail", of the 4mp s40, is a good trade-off versus the "noise" advantage of the S30 - not to forget the gain of the ISO 800 setting.

Can anyone please tell me:

1) if there is appreciably more noise in the S40 at 200/400 ISO. Is it worth the added detail? (More important of the two questions, for me)

2) What type of conditions do you think you would use the ISO 800 setting. --Thank you,
Joel
 
ISO 200 is very nice on the S30, hardly any noise at all. ISO 400 has some noise, but it looks a lot like film grain and does not detract from the image, in my opinion. I use ISO 800 only for brightly lit outdoor shots; the noise at this sensitivity totally kills indoor photos due to limited shadow detail.

I've never used an S40.
Joel D said:
After playing with my S40 for some time now, I'm finally starting
to get properly lit indoor shots.

I find that ISO 200 gives me realistic pictures. When I tried ISO
400, they seemed too bright (funny, you would think the camera
would adjust the aperature opening, or the flash intensity to give
the same results for the two ISO settings.)

Anyway, now that I'm getting a feel for the use of the ISO
settings, I'm starting to wonder if the gain in "detail", of the
4mp s40, is a good trade-off versus the "noise" advantage of the
S30 - not to forget the gain of the ISO 800 setting.

Can anyone please tell me:
1) if there is appreciably more noise in the S40 at 200/400 ISO.
Is it worth the added detail? (More important of the two questions,
for me)

2) What type of conditions do you think you would use the ISO 800
setting.
--
Thank you,
Joel
Click to expand...
 
Thank you for your input.

Interesting, I never really thought of ISO 800 for bright outdoor use. Are you using it for action type shots, because you can use fast times. If so, how is it doing?
Mojo said:
I've never used an S40.
Joel D said:
After playing with my S40 for some time now, I'm finally starting
to get properly lit indoor shots.

I find that ISO 200 gives me realistic pictures. When I tried ISO
400, they seemed too bright (funny, you would think the camera
would adjust the aperature opening, or the flash intensity to give
the same results for the two ISO settings.)

Anyway, now that I'm getting a feel for the use of the ISO
settings, I'm starting to wonder if the gain in "detail", of the
4mp s40, is a good trade-off versus the "noise" advantage of the
S30 - not to forget the gain of the ISO 800 setting.

Can anyone please tell me:
1) if there is appreciably more noise in the S40 at 200/400 ISO.
Is it worth the added detail? (More important of the two questions,
for me)

2) What type of conditions do you think you would use the ISO 800
setting.
--
Thank you,
Joel
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--Joel
 
Works great for freezing action.
Joel D said:
Interesting, I never really thought of ISO 800 for bright outdoor
use. Are you using it for action type shots, because you can use
fast times. If so, how is it doing?
Mojo said:
I've never used an S40.
Joel D said:
After playing with my S40 for some time now, I'm finally starting
to get properly lit indoor shots.

I find that ISO 200 gives me realistic pictures. When I tried ISO
400, they seemed too bright (funny, you would think the camera
would adjust the aperature opening, or the flash intensity to give
the same results for the two ISO settings.)

Anyway, now that I'm getting a feel for the use of the ISO
settings, I'm starting to wonder if the gain in "detail", of the
4mp s40, is a good trade-off versus the "noise" advantage of the
S30 - not to forget the gain of the ISO 800 setting.

Can anyone please tell me:
1) if there is appreciably more noise in the S40 at 200/400 ISO.
Is it worth the added detail? (More important of the two questions,
for me)

2) What type of conditions do you think you would use the ISO 800
setting.
--
Thank you,
Joel
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
Joel
Click to expand...
 
I too was disappointed with my S30 indoor flash shots. Near subjects got blown out while farther subjects are too dark. Using ISO 200 seems to produce more pleasing pictures but still too dark for my taste. A weird thing happened when I used exposure compensation +1, +2 in conjunction with ISO-200: the pictures got increasingly darker (also visible in the histograms). Either I don't understand photography or Canon screwed up big time its S30-firmware.
Joel D said:
After playing with my S40 for some time now, I'm finally starting
to get properly lit indoor shots.

I find that ISO 200 gives me realistic pictures. When I tried ISO
400, they seemed too bright (funny, you would think the camera
would adjust the aperature opening, or the flash intensity to give
the same results for the two ISO settings.)

Anyway, now that I'm getting a feel for the use of the ISO
settings, I'm starting to wonder if the gain in "detail", of the
4mp s40, is a good trade-off versus the "noise" advantage of the
S30 - not to forget the gain of the ISO 800 setting.

Can anyone please tell me:
1) if there is appreciably more noise in the S40 at 200/400 ISO.
Is it worth the added detail? (More important of the two questions,
for me)

2) What type of conditions do you think you would use the ISO 800
setting.
--
Thank you,
Joel
Click to expand...
 
There's nothing wrong with the S30's flash or indoor exposure. Simply knock down the flash to -1 or so for subjects 3-4 feet away. Raise it for subjects further away. For close-ups, I use a flash compensation of -1.75 or -2. Play with it and you'll acquire an eye for what sort of flash setting to use. In my experience with the S30, exposure compensation is simply not necessary, provided the correct metering mode is used.
Aguru said:
Joel D said:
After playing with my S40 for some time now, I'm finally starting
to get properly lit indoor shots.

I find that ISO 200 gives me realistic pictures. When I tried ISO
400, they seemed too bright (funny, you would think the camera
would adjust the aperature opening, or the flash intensity to give
the same results for the two ISO settings.)

Anyway, now that I'm getting a feel for the use of the ISO
settings, I'm starting to wonder if the gain in "detail", of the
4mp s40, is a good trade-off versus the "noise" advantage of the
S30 - not to forget the gain of the ISO 800 setting.

Can anyone please tell me:
1) if there is appreciably more noise in the S40 at 200/400 ISO.
Is it worth the added detail? (More important of the two questions,
for me)

2) What type of conditions do you think you would use the ISO 800
setting.
--
Thank you,
Joel
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Adjustment of flash exposure is OK for inanimate objects, but for correct skin tone, the pictures still need Photo Shop. I suppose it's a universal problem with all cameras built-in flash.
Mojo said:
There's nothing wrong with the S30's flash or indoor exposure.
Simply knock down the flash to -1 or so for subjects 3-4 feet away.
Raise it for subjects further away. For close-ups, I use a flash
compensation of -1.75 or -2. Play with it and you'll acquire an
eye for what sort of flash setting to use. In my experience with
the S30, exposure compensation is simply not necessary, provided
the correct metering mode is used.
Click to expand...
 
Too bad the S30 doesn't have a hotshoe... though I guess that a compact camera would be kinda unwieldy with a 550ex on top :)
Aguru said:
Mojo said:
There's nothing wrong with the S30's flash or indoor exposure.
Simply knock down the flash to -1 or so for subjects 3-4 feet away.
Raise it for subjects further away. For close-ups, I use a flash
compensation of -1.75 or -2. Play with it and you'll acquire an
eye for what sort of flash setting to use. In my experience with
the S30, exposure compensation is simply not necessary, provided
the correct metering mode is used.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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