S45 bought - but

andy121663 · Nov 13, 2002

Hi

Having procrastinated and trawled the Forums for 6 weeks, I have finally purchased a S45. It is my first digital camera and I havn’t yet taken a picture as the battery is charging and I’ve not started reading the instructions (till my toddler is in bed.)

I hope I have done the right thing! – it looks bloody complicated and I literally know nothing about digital photography!

Andy

Breez · Nov 13, 2002

Congratz with your purchase

You've taken a step that i'm to afraid of, i'm strugling between the G3
and the S45, and i sure hope phil's review will make me decide

Anyway, i wish you a great time with your camera, be sure to post us some samples of your work

heywood said:
Hi
Having procrastinated and trawled the Forums for 6 weeks, I have
finally purchased a S45. It is my first digital camera and I
havn’t yet taken a picture as the battery is charging and
I’ve not started reading the instructions (till my toddler is
in bed.)

I hope I have done the right thing! – it looks bloody
complicated and I literally know nothing about digital photography!

Andy

--
Angels fallen to dust

yrhombus · Nov 13, 2002

I too have just bought one. If it's your first digital camera then you might find there is a lot to take in but you can use it as a point and shoot to start with and then get more adventurous as your confidence grows. My previous camera had next to no manual contol and yet I'm reasonably confident that getting used to the S45 should be OK... I think the only problem will be that of getting familiar with it all and remembering where all the settings are - apparently it's all a lot easier than Olympus cameras though!

Good luck.

Rick

heywood said:
Hi
Having procrastinated and trawled the Forums for 6 weeks, I have
finally purchased a S45. It is my first digital camera and I
havn’t yet taken a picture as the battery is charging and
I’ve not started reading the instructions (till my toddler is
in bed.)

I hope I have done the right thing! – it looks bloody
complicated and I literally know nothing about digital photography!

Andy

Dilman · Nov 13, 2002

yrhombus said:
...but you can use it as a
point and shoot to start with and then get more adventurous as your
confidence grows.
...apparently it's all a lot easier than Olympus cameras though!

So true so true. Have worked a bit with an Olympus 4040 and the menues are far from logical all the time.

Whereas I used my S30 for a month before I thought that a look in the manual might be handy.

Just set it to manual at first, and go from there.
Good luck!

--
Canon Powershot S30-owner.

Kukui · Nov 13, 2002

heywood said:
Hi
Having procrastinated and trawled the Forums for 6 weeks, I have
finally purchased a S45. It is my first digital camera and I
havn’t yet taken a picture as the battery is charging and
I’ve not started reading the instructions (till my toddler is
in bed.)

I hope I have done the right thing! – it looks bloody
complicated and I literally know nothing about digital photography!

Andy

John37158 · Nov 13, 2002

Heywood:

Put the battery in, load the compactflash, turn it on (just slide the cover open), turn the dial on top to "P", and point, half-press the shutter to lock the focus, and press all the way down when ready. It doesn't get any simpler than this little camera and the pics are great. I got mine a week ago and I can't believe the image quality and simplicity of this little camera. Even my wife is not intimidated.

Best, John

heywood said:
Hi
Having procrastinated and trawled the Forums for 6 weeks, I have
finally purchased a S45. It is my first digital camera and I
havn’t yet taken a picture as the battery is charging and
I’ve not started reading the instructions (till my toddler is
in bed.)

I hope I have done the right thing! – it looks bloody
complicated and I literally know nothing about digital photography!

Andy

Tony Montana · Nov 13, 2002

Wow I am soooo jealous!!!

I am also very interested in purchasing the S45 but torn between that and the S230.
Where did you all purchase yours from?

If you purchased from Europe or Japan is the warranty still good for the US or Canada?

John said:
Best, John

heywood said:

Hi
Having procrastinated and trawled the Forums for 6 weeks, I have
finally purchased a S45. It is my first digital camera and I
havn’t yet taken a picture as the battery is charging and
I’ve not started reading the instructions (till my toddler is
in bed.)

I hope I have done the right thing! – it looks bloody
complicated and I literally know nothing about digital photography!

Andy

Click to expand...

gary ng · Nov 13, 2002

echo. Had my S30 for almost a year and only recently checked the manual to find out how to set custom white balance. The interface is so intuitive.

Dilman said:
yrhombus said:

...but you can use it as a
point and shoot to start with and then get more adventurous as your
confidence grows.
...apparently it's all a lot easier than Olympus cameras though!

Click to expand...

So true so true. Have worked a bit with an Olympus 4040 and the
menues are far from logical all the time.
Whereas I used my S30 for a month before I thought that a look in
the manual might be handy.

Just set it to manual at first, and go from there.
Good luck!

--
Canon Powershot S30-owner.

James_with_C_5050 · Nov 14, 2002

I am interested in this S45, too. As right now I am in Copenhagen (on travel), I see S45 in a retail store here for 6,998 DKK (about $940 U.S.) which is too expensive but I understand I can get back about 20% of it as VAT/tax. Maybe at least I can check it out and see what language(s) (Danish and/or English) the camera, the manual/instruction and the DoomBrowserEX application have

James

Tony Montana said:
John said:

Best, John

heywood said:

Hi
Having procrastinated and trawled the Forums for 6 weeks, I have
finally purchased a S45. It is my first digital camera and I
havn’t yet taken a picture as the battery is charging and
I’ve not started reading the instructions (till my toddler is
in bed.)

I hope I have done the right thing! – it looks bloody
complicated and I literally know nothing about digital photography!

Andy

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

andy121663 · Nov 14, 2002

Hi

Thanks for your response. Having used the camera a few times I agree that using it as a ‘point & shoot’ in auto mode, it is simple enough.

However I have taken up digital photography to learn/develop a new interest & hobby so want a bit more than point & shoot – hence the reason I went for this camera (so I hopefully wont ‘outgrow’ it in a few months). However, as a complete newcomer to digital I find it quite daunting – not just learning and remembering all the new terms and functions but also discovering how to use the software.

I bought the camera at Jessops (pricematched to £433)

Having taken a few pictures I am now about to learn how to use said software and at this stage I have a few observations and questions

1 Is the Canon software included with the purchase any good? Or are there better and easier packages that I would be better learning to use?

2 The battery life seems poor – granted I have had the camera on and off for a couple of hours but was surprised to have to recharge so early. It will become a bind having to remove the battery to recharge.

3 My initial feeling is that the camera feels well made. How do they cram so much in?

To conclude. No, I doubt you will see any of my attempts at digital photography. I have enjoyed photography for many years, but only the rare ‘fluke’ seems as good as many of the pictures posted. However, I think you may see plenty more postings from me – usually starting with ‘help’ – and probably rather basic!

Cheers

Andy

SOL #82371 · Nov 14, 2002

takes time... when I got my first camera I was also like you, but now I don't even read the manual...

heywood said:
Hi
Having procrastinated and trawled the Forums for 6 weeks, I have
finally purchased a S45. It is my first digital camera and I
havn’t yet taken a picture as the battery is charging and
I’ve not started reading the instructions (till my toddler is
in bed.)

I hope I have done the right thing! – it looks bloody
complicated and I literally know nothing about digital photography!

Andy

Michael Lee112193 · Nov 14, 2002

You're right, set the camera on Auto, then just point and shoot. Then continue to read the manual about the other settings and experiment ie with the different Modes etc. and see if you prefer those results. Digitals have more combinations and permutations that the old acetate cameras. However you will be surprised at the versitility of the digital capbililities. Get an inexpensive and easy to use Processing software, like Serif PhotoPlus8 till you become familiar with All the Enhancing tricks. If you try Adobe's Photo Shop 7 straight away you could get quite discouraged, because there is just too much to learn to be able to manipulate the program. Its for Pro's or at least semi-pros.

Try studying the excellent Review of the S45 by Phil Askey in the review site. It could be rather technical in places, but it shows you that you have made a very good choice. For half the price of a Computer, the Camera firms are trying to give you your money's worth in electronics. Hence, all the complexities that go with it. At least, I have not heard of one crashing yet unless it has been dropped into the ocean without its waterproof casing. Happy studying of the manual, till you become that expert photographer. I will expect to see your galleries on this site before long.

SΘL said:
heywood said:

Hi
Having procrastinated and trawled the Forums for 6 weeks, I have
finally purchased a S45. It is my first digital camera and I
havn’t yet taken a picture as the battery is charging and
I’ve not started reading the instructions (till my toddler is
in bed.)

I hope I have done the right thing! – it looks bloody
complicated and I literally know nothing about digital photography!

Andy

Click to expand...

--
mbp

Dilman · Nov 14, 2002

heywood said:
1 Is the Canon software included with the purchase any good?

Dunno! Have had my camera almost a year. But haven't installed the software yet. I just transfer the pictures with my PCMCIA-adapter in my laptop, and use Paint Shop Pro for any casual editing needed. Works fine!
(Will be getting Photoshop soon though).

Dilman

--
Canon Powershot S30-owner.

James_with_C_5050 · Nov 15, 2002

How did you convert your shots in RAW from S30 to TIFF or JPEG format, then? Or perhaps YOUR S30 does not support the RAW format?

James

Dilman said:
heywood said:

1 Is the Canon software included with the purchase any good?

Click to expand...

Dunno! Have had my camera almost a year. But haven't installed the
software yet. I just transfer the pictures with my PCMCIA-adapter
in my laptop, and use Paint Shop Pro for any casual editing needed.
Works fine!
(Will be getting Photoshop soon though).

Dilman

--
Canon Powershot S30-owner.

Dilman · Nov 15, 2002

Ok! One good reason. I just haven't gotten to it yet

I have only taken a few test shots in RAW and have as yet not converted them or seen them since I transfered them from the camera. I have theym backed up on a CD together with some of my other photos.

I don't see the need to shoot in RAW for everyday shots. Especially as the Super Fine mode is so good. The major reason though, is that I've been meaning to reinstall everything on my computer for nearly a year now.

James with S30 said:
James

Dilman said:

Have had my camera almost a year. But haven't installed the
software yet.

Click to expand...

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S45 bought - but

andy121663

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