I need help with my camera, Canon Powershot S5is

[MikeM75]

We bought this camera back in 08 so we could get some good pictures of everything associated with my daughter being born. I have used it a lot and usually get decent pictures but...

When we try to get good pictures of our ball python collection the pictures always seem to come out with less than desirable results. They come out fuzzy. I have tried several times on different settings and can not get anything to stay consistent.

My question is, what settings are recommended for taking pictures of our collection. How do you do it?

Any help would be extremely appreciated, I am wanting to update my website and of course show our collection to the different groups and of course this forum.

Thank you

[Hartman3216]

I have the Sony A37 which is pretty much the same. I've found some pretty good shots with the auto setting (where the camera analyses the shot and takes the best photo setting it thinks). Look into the setting that allows for a bit faster shutter speed to capture a snake that doesn't want to sit still for photos. You can also look into the SCN setting and in there you should be able to pick out portrait, scenery, and things like that to more so blur out the background and focus solely on the snake. I've found that works well for really up close shots like this



I think the best shots you can get are outside with a lot of natural light and not having to worry about angling off a ceiling light or lamp. This photo I took at the zoo yesterday has nothing to do with snakes but shows how natural light helps brighten your target.

[MikeM75]

When I get home I will have to play with the settings as you said. Thank you very much, I know I'm not a photographer but I sure do like taking pictures.

[Hartman3216]

No problem, the best way to figure out my best shots was to just play with all the settings and see which gave the best results. Also just because it may not look great on the small screen of the camera they may look better once you've uploaded them to your computer, BUT the opposite can also be true!

[reptileexperts]

Yeah the largest issue around poor images usually comes from 2-3 factors with 1 being slightly irrelavent due to the small sensor size of the your pocket canon.

1) Shutter speed. You need to achiece a shutter speed of at least 1/60 to get a clear image if you are shooting handheld, but even this will require a steady hand! For snakes that want to move around, you need at least a 1/200 to help freeze that motion. Using the onboard flash on your camera can help fix this, but this can yield unrealstic results (fixed via white balance adjustment) or harsh lighting (Fixed by placing a piece of paper over the flash and diffusing it, or by using an index card to angle the flash to direct the light.

2) ISO sensitivity. This is an issue that has to be corrected by adjusting 2-3 potential settings. Essentially ISO is the "film speed" rating for your sensor. The higher the number, the more sensitive it is to light thus allowing you to capture images in much darker settings (like indoors for instance). For these small sensored pocket cameras, they do not function very well above 100-200 ISO raiting, anything above that (400-800 being the max for most) and the image begins to look soft and these abberations start kicking in that distort your colors even more. So in order to keep ISO low you need to either Lower your shutter speed, increase your light available, or open your aperture (not as relevants since your F stop is generally not going to be as large an issue on pocket cameras).

3) Too deep or shallow of an F stop. Irrelevant for your situation but I wanted to complete the thought.

The take from all this is simply get more light on your sensor, verify you have a fast enough shutter and that your ISO is set to its lowest level to ensure that you get sharp images versus "noisy" images. Remember that in constant light - as your ISO goes up, your shutter speed goes up, as your ISO goes down, your shutter speed goes down.

Cheers

[MikeM75]

Thank you very much, I will snap test pictures tonight while I am feeding. A LOT of information but I think I have a great idea of what I need to do.

[SquamishSerpents]

A lot of people on here shoot with DSLR's and unfortunately your camera will not ever be able to take images that good, no matter what settings you use. Not your fault or the cameras fault - that's just the limitations that come with non-DSLR cameras.

Unfortunately there is no "one size fits all" answer for making photos of your snakes better, but there are some things that you can do that will, when combined hopefully give you a bit better results.

My suggestions are to bump up your ISO settings. Be advised that a higher ISO number may also make your images fuzzy due to producing "noise." Try an ISO of 400 and see how that works. If it looks fuzzy, especially in places where shadows are in your image, you may need to put this # back down.

Also, go somewhere with as much light as you possibly can. Take photos in natural daylight. And in your case you may actually benefit from having a light box with supplemental lighting. The only thing is if you are using light bulbs to light your shooting area, make sure they are all the same type, and the same "color." You know how light bulbs say "soft white" or "bright white" or whatever, make sure they all match or your white balance could get really screwed up.

And if you want your shots to be crisp, you definitely need a shutterspeed of AT LEAST 1/200, but 1/250 or even 1/300 are ideal for snakes. You may need to use your popup flash in this case, because a shutterspeed fast enough to freeze the motion also doesn't collect light for as long, leaving you with a darker image. Your popup flash will create ugly results, with harsh shadows, so I suggest a little DIY snoot:



DIY instructions here: http://content.photojojo.com/diy/diy...lash-diffuser/

Hopefully some or all of those tips help you a bit!

[bLlOoVoEd]

I have the same camera! Here are my tests pictures

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...out-the-camera

[SlitherinSisters]

It's possible you broke the gyroscope -the 'is' part I believe. It keeps the picture in focus even if you move the camera. I have a powershot about the same age and I just couldn't get clear pictures anymore. There is a return program with Canon that you can trade your old one in for a discounted refurbed camera. I wanted to, but they didn't have the camera I wanted in stock at the time. I got a PowerShot SX260 and love it!