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camera (s410) question: taking pics in low lighting conditions (e.g. concert)

V

vexingv

Golden Member
i'm going to the coldplay concert tomorrow and am going to bring my camera (tickets dont say "no cameras allowed" so i'm gonna b!tch to security if i get hassled..). i have a canon s410, its small and the flash doesnt travel far (and usually is just an annoyance for other ppl and the performers) at all esp. when i'm in 100 level seating.

i'm not looking for stellar shots. i've read that turning off the flash and adjusting the camera settings could produce better shots. though i dont quite understand how i can take a shot that way since it'll be blurred b/c of the trembling/shaking hands. i've also found that increaseing the iso speed on the camera to the max (400) helps. are there any other manual adjustments i should make? here are some that i can make:
- there's a setting for "long exposure mode"
- +/- exposure

thanks
 
ISO 400 will be incredibly noisy on a camera that small (it's still pretty bad even on my S1 IS), but there isn't a whole lot else you can do. Long exposure times (say, longer than 1/15 second) will most likely just produce a blurred image (edit: unless you can hold the camera exceptionally steady). You might play with the exposure +/- controls too; beyond that I can't think of much.
 
I have an S400 and have used it at concerts. Here is an example

Really your only option is to use ISO 400, and steady yourself, or use burst mode and hope one of the shots comes out sharp, or usable. I didn't have much light to work with, and I'm assuming with a big concert like you are going to there will be more. Letting the camera set the exposure by aiming at what you are photographing will help. It'll adjust for the light that is on the stage, not where you are.

Wait for times when the performer(s) stops and stays still. That'll increase you chances of getting something.

Otherwise, it's pray and spray. Use burst and hope for the best. (switch the cam over to high speed burst) and don't use the flash. turn it off.
 
Boost the EV to the max

DO NOT USE FLASH! If you flash, all you will get is a REddened stage that looks exceptionally ugly

If your camera allows manual adjust, decrease the shutter speed to 1/30 or 1/25
or 1/15 (depending on how well the photo turns out)

Also, if you can, increase the F stop to the max to allow more light into the sensor.

If you camera has no manual adjust, you are SOL and the only thing you can do is to increase the ISO
 
pyonir, do you use suggest using the "long stutter mode"? i can set shutter speeds from 1" to 15". or should i just use the exposure settings +/- 2? i like your suggest of "pray and spray" to hopefully get a decent shot. btw, those are some nice pics you have, i will of course not have the luxury of being so close.

yeah i dont have aperture controls. picked up this s410 to replace my a40 which had a lot of manual adjustments, but that thing was too large to pocket me and was starting to show its age.
thanks for all of the advice.
 
I've never used long shutter mode. That pic i posted had a shutter speed of 1/8th. I also didn't do anything with the exposure settings.
 
I only use ISO200 because 400 is intolerable. I have a G3 which deliverse better noise quality than the S series, but still I find 200 to be a bit grainy already. Your best bet is to you use a neck strap and brace your hands. Extend your hands as far as you can so you use the neckstrap as support as it is stretched against your neck.

Turn flash off. You need to use a slow shutter speed to capture the light. Don't drop below 1/8th because if you go any lower, you will get a blur (even if you keep it steady, the ppl are moving ons tage right)...
 
thinking about it again, having a long shutter speed negates the burst mode method and will probably make the pics blurry. maybe i'll play around with exposure compensation while the opening group is up.

thanks for all the advice.
 
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