How useful is the manual control in S30

Hi,

I am comparing between S30 and new Ixus S330. I like to have manual controls but how good (or useful) are the manual settings in S30 ?

Shutter priorty and Aperture priority for example. Both are F2.7 and 2.8 at wide so I know I can't really take pictures with blurry background unless I use full zoom. So I think Aperture control in S30 may not be that useful.

I don't think I will shoot that many action shots so I am also not thrilled about having shutter priority control unless it really does what it supposed to do. How good are they ?

Please share your experience with me especially if you have tried both S30 and any of IXUS models.

Hyun

I have an S30.

Hyun Kim said:

Hi,

I am comparing between S30 and new Ixus S330. I like to have
manual controls but how good (or useful) are the manual settings in
S30 ?

Click to expand...

Very useful in general.

Hyun Kim said:

Shutter priorty and Aperture priority for example. Both are F2.7
and 2.8 at wide so I know I can't really take pictures with blurry
background unless I use full zoom. So I think Aperture control in
S30 may not be that useful.

Click to expand...

Well I've found the Aperture control to be quite nice, it blurs when you need it to, etc. It's useful.

Hyun Kim said:

I don't think I will shoot that many action shots so I am also not
thrilled about having shutter priority control unless it really
does what it supposed to do. How good are they ?

Click to expand...

I've used shutter priority mode quite a lot. And yes, it does what it is supposed to do. It's good.

Hyun Kim said:

Please share your experience with me especially if you have tried
both S30 and any of IXUS models.

Click to expand...

Haven't tried IXUS models, but I've read quite a lot about them. IXUS 330 does have selectable shutter speed, which is nice, but you can't control aperture - so all the blurring etc is left for the camera to decide. I'd love IXUS's size, but in my opinion it just lacks too much in amount of creative control. Still for some it is just what they are looking for, and for sure it is a good secondary or tertiary camera, you can carry it everywhere, even much more easily than an S30, which is quite easy to carry around on its own.

Hyun Kim said:

Hyun

Click to expand...

Oh, and http://www.dcresource.com has an IXUS 330 photo gallery (no review yet though) if you want to check it out. Of course it has an S30 gallery (and a review) too.

Thanks, Teppo for your experience and opinion.

Teppo Hytönen said:

Oh, and http://www.dcresource.com has an IXUS 330 photo gallery (no
review yet though) if you want to check it out. Of course it has an
S30 gallery (and a review) too.

Click to expand...

I just sold the S110 I had for a half year and bought an S30. I had decided I'd either buy a bigger camera such as G2 and hold onto the S110 for its size/convenience, or sell the S110 and get an S30 -- a compromise between size and power. I discovered the S30 isn't all that much larger than an S110, still "big pocket" siize, but it allows so much more control.

During the few days I had both, I did some comparison shoots, and the S30 was by far much sharper than the S110 (compared JPEG output on both). While I haven't shot much yet with the S30, some key advantages for me (besides sharpness which is most critical) are the ability to:

• take control when you need to
• time synch shots, e.g. shoot with flash AND slower shutter to compensate for weak flash (the "Vertigo" shot on my gallery could not have been shot with the S110 - the floor would have gone black)

(I actually used "Night Scene Mode" to do this for this noon shot, a way to quickly take the pic with slow synch and not worry if I had other custom settings in)

• lock in exposure or flash exposure (together or separate from locking in focus), i.e. meter in a different area for challenging light situations such as backlighting
• ability to set ISO 50 to 800 -- the latter while noisy will allow me to get an absolutely needed shot
• ability to shoot in RAW for those times when you really want to produce the best, such as planning to do enlargements (since I don't edit all shots, I normally shoot with JPEG to enable the camera to do basic processing)

If you're new to photography or want to get a shot quickly, you can begin with "dummy" mode. Then begin using Program and Av/Tv when you need it.

I liked the S110 a lot, but it is a point and shoot. This means you can get some pretty good shots when the conditions are just right. The S30 may look like a point and shoot, and can be one, but it does so much more -- gives more control for more challenging situations. To me, since the 28-105 zoom (35mm equivalency) is sufficient, the only key limitation compared to the G2 is no hot shoe or ability to use an external flash. But size won out, so I'll have to make do here.

FYI, I've just begun loading photos into my pbase gallery. The first 5 are shot with the S110, the rest with the S30.

Teppo Hytönen said:

Hyun Kim said:

Hi,

I am comparing between S30 and new Ixus S330. I like to have
manual controls but how good (or useful) are the manual settings in
S30 ?

Click to expand...

Very useful in general.

Teppo Hytönen said:

Shutter priorty and Aperture priority for example. Both are F2.7
and 2.8 at wide so I know I can't really take pictures with blurry
background unless I use full zoom. So I think Aperture control in
S30 may not be that useful.

Click to expand...

Well I've found the Aperture control to be quite nice, it blurs
when you need it to, etc. It's useful.

Teppo Hytönen said:

I don't think I will shoot that many action shots so I am also not
thrilled about having shutter priority control unless it really
does what it supposed to do. How good are they ?

Click to expand...

I've used shutter priority mode quite a lot. And yes, it does what
it is supposed to do. It's good.

Teppo Hytönen said:

Please share your experience with me especially if you have tried
both S30 and any of IXUS models.

Click to expand...

Haven't tried IXUS models, but I've read quite a lot about them.
IXUS 330 does have selectable shutter speed, which is nice, but you
can't control aperture - so all the blurring etc is left for the
camera to decide. I'd love IXUS's size, but in my opinion it just
lacks too much in amount of creative control. Still for some it is
just what they are looking for, and for sure it is a good secondary
or tertiary camera, you can carry it everywhere, even much more
easily than an S30, which is quite easy to carry around on its own.

Teppo Hytönen said:

Hyun

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--Dorenewww.pbase.com/dorene