Unfortunately I have not had any chance to play with my camera yet. So it will premier on my vacation starting Tuesday. I will of course experiment and play around with settings for the fun of it. But I need some recommendations for good base settings in different situations.
So what mode/settings do you recommend when shooting in low light? Indoors? Outdoor landscapes and city photos?
Hi Joakim
I hope you enjoy your new camera and get the best possible results using it.
For low light in the outside, I presume do you mean without using flash, you can try different options:
- Premium Auto Pro (Pro is the variant particular from the High Speed cameras, adding HS (High Speed) multi image for individual shots, be sure to have HS on, when Premium Auto is selected). in low light situations, the scene can be detected as "low light" or Anti Shake, depending on the light level. If you don't want flash, remember to turning it off (to Auto, for general use)... or keeping it down ;-)
Best Shot:
- HS Night Shot: It's the 2nd option of the BS menu in the ZR400, not sure in the ZR850. For lower light levels, the best mode for near total dark scenes, allows focusing in those situations because of boosting the screen brightness. Better option when there's no direct source lights t on the picture frame. Maximum image resolution is reduced to 10 Mpx.
-HDR. Good alternative for night shots when there's some light sources in the frame. Better result when there's more light points in the shot taken.
-HS Night Scene, the old Night Scene, useful for night shots with sufficient available light.
Indoors:
Similar options than above. But for subjects not standing still, or if light is dim, the best option is to use the flash (Flash -> Auto and open, of course).
Landscapes, city: I prefer HDR for that. Better results when sun bright and there's contrast between shadows and highlights. If there's still daylight but not much (mainly if it's very cloudy), you can try with Aperture Priority with the higher aperture (lower f number), or Premium Auto. Low light comments can apply too. Important: Flash off, except for close shots in low light.
Remember the Multi SR Zoom to capture distant details.
One thing I know I will be doing is to take wrist shoots of my G-Shock watches against a background( I usually take that kind of photos to post on Facebook and watch forum WatchUseek since I am a G-Shock watch collector). So I wonder is there a setting where I can get a sharp focus on the watch on my wrist as well as on the scenery in the background?
Casio has exactly the feature that you are looking for:
* All-In-Focus Macro. In the Best Shot mode (for EX-ZR400 and probably other models, it's found in the mode dial option called "Focus Control", that includes too the "Blurred Background" feature). Not sure if any comparable camera of other brands have this feature.
If you haven't do it yet, get the manual here
http://support.casio.com/en/manual/manuallist.php?cid=001
--
José Antonio
