Canon Powershot S5IS

[Marymouse2003]

Hi,
Purchased the mentioned digital camera the week of Christmas last year and NEVER used the thing. It actually scares me. I'm so very intimidated by the darn thing. I feel so old and extremely technology challenged. I know it's silly, but I can't get past the fear. I'm bringing the Canon with me, BUT I'm also bringing my Olympus film camera with me as well, with film. PLEASE, anyone have some encouraging words for me. The thing also takes movies which I'm excited about & I think I can get good fire work shots too, but I'm still terrified, mostly terrified of not having awesome photos of WDW. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Figaro]

It truly mostly takes fiddling with the camera and seeing what the results are. I made the jump from a Fuji point and shoot to a Canon Rebel...which is anything but...I have to adjust shutter, aperture, ISO, exposure compensations, etc, etc. Give the manual a read and then just go out and experiment with it. Take pictures of anything. I sat in my apartment and photographed everything from a skittle, to my wireless internet receiver (made a fun experiment with aperture), to the coasters on my coffee table, to the leaves of my plant. I've had it almost going on a year now and I'm still learning new things about it and trying new things. Disney is a nice stomping ground to try out things with cameras. There's TONS of things to photograph and millions of ways to photograph every one of those objects. You can leave the camera on auto which will essentially do everything for you, but sometimes you can achieve better results with manual settings. Don't be scared of it, pull it out, take it with you places and just fiddle and experiment. :) :thumbsup: :mickey:

[brian2000boston]

You have to go digital, and what a great place to start. I would play with it a bit at home. I would also make sure you have extra memory sticks with you,unless fo courser you are bringing your laptop to unload. The nice thing about digital is you do not have to be as picky and the video files will take space. We unfortunatley only had a 1GB SD card with us and that wouldnt even get us through the day and I was removing my pictures and movies nightly. I went and bought a 8GB SD card for under $20, sure wish I had that sooner!!!

[Marymouse2003]

Hi guys,
Thanks so much for the peptalk. I'm rushed for time b4 we leave on the 8th. Just something every day. You know how that goes, but I think I'll just take it with me everywhere I have to go this week and take pictures of what ever. Oh, I did get two 3G cards and about a mth ago Walmart had the 8G for $35.00 or so. I scooped one up. They told me it was for
High Def cameras, but I'm sure the Canon must have a way to format to the card. I just have to sit down AND READ!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks again! Mary

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

I have the Canon S3IS and while I really love it and take some amazing shots with it, I prefer the Nikon D60 or D90, which I am saving up for....

The Canon is great, but it doesn't give me the control I want. Also, if you use Sport setting, (the burst mode - great for fireworks and parades because of the short shutter speed) you can get some great shots....but they might be a little grainy at times because the camera is shooting so quickly that it won't focus as much as a standard setting.

[kakn7294]

I have a Canon PowerShot A620 and I love it! Many times, all it takes is a little practice to get great photos. I recommend that you take the time to play with it now - take it out of the box, set it all up, and take all kinds of pictures in every possible setting you can in the next few days just to see what it and you can do - you don't have to take pictures you intend to keep - they can easily be deleted later. Load whatever you take into your computer too to practice with the software. Many times, the software editing features make a bad picture look much better. You do not have to use the Canon software either - I use my old Kodak software.

[Marymouse2003]

Thanks again to all of you for the suggestions. I'm taking the camera with me all week. Sparrow, I printed out your reply so that I can ck out that setting. Hope you get that new camera you're saving for. Who knows, maybe Santa will bring you a surprise.
God bless,
Mary

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

Uh...Santa stopped bringing me presents years ago....and so did my parents, ironically.

I'll be saving for years probably, of which by then, the camera will be so old and out-dated. LOL.

As for the reply, I'm glad it helped. I also find that the larger the photo, the more blurred it will be and less details because of some of the pixels. I'm not a professional but I like taking photos and I try to pick up tips from the photographers I do know, both in and out of Disney.

[kakn7294]

Uh...Santa stopped bringing me presents years ago....and so did my parents, ironically.Jess, you don't get Christmas presents? That's AWFUL!!!