New P&S Camera, questions included

[Kabob]

I had been wanting a good small digital camera for a while now. I don't have the time or drive to get into it seriously (so no DSLR's and such), I just want a decent camera that I can put in my pocket on trips, forget about, and pull it out when needed. I looked in Consumer Reports and found their top rated cheap(ish) sub-compact camera and for Christmas I asked for money to go towards it. Instead my dad, being the camera geek he is, went and researched P&S cameras on dpreview and he bought their top recommended sub-compact camera for me, a Canon Powershot SD790 IS.

Only problem is that it came with a 32 MB memory card which holds (literally) 7 pictures with the quality setting my dad chose (he had to pull it out and "set it up" for me...thanks dad ), so I bought a new memory card. I'll probably turn down the quality settings as well as my dad set it for as high as it can go.

So, questions since I'm new to Digital Cameras.

I purchased a SanDisk 8GB Extreme III SDHC card for the camera. I looked and the card is "speed class 6," does having a higher speed class make a difference when saving pictures on a camera? Normally I wouldn't have purchased a card that nice/expensive, but it got it really cheap and brand new on Ebay (about 1/4 of it's retail price). Will a card like that make any difference whatsoever over a cheaper Kingston or Transcend (I know nothing about Transcend, are they decent?) card?

Also, will lowering the resolution allow for faster follow up shots?

Another thing, the DP Review site says the camera I got takes great pictures at "lower ISO speeds." What is the ISO speed, how is it adjusted, and how does ajusting it effect the picture?

What is the CCD and how does the size make a difference? Also, what's the difference between having the image stabilization on the lens vs. on the CCD?

Thanks!

 

[abaez]

1. Other than compatibility issues and maybe transfer speed, there probably will be little difference in cards.

2. If it does, it'd be negligible.

3. In simple terms, ISO is how "sensitive" the camera is to light. Lower ISO speeds have less film "grain" in the photo, but need more light to have the picture expose correctly. Higher ISO's need less light, but have more "grain" the higher ISO you go (depending on the camera).

You'll have to read your manual on how to adjust the ISO. Some cameras have an "always take photos at ISO 100", others have a setting that says "pick the best ISO for me, but no photos over ISO 400" and so on.

4. CCD: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge-coupled_device Basically, bigger CCD, better photos and higher resolutions.

4a. Little difference, but IS on the lens is less useful than IS on the camera (imho). Having IS in the camera allows you to use any lens and have image stabilization, but not the other way around.

 

[twistedlogic]

Wow, a lot of questions. Have you tried asking dad since he picked it out?

Just a warning, you might want to double check your SanDisk card with SanDisk themselves to make sure it is genuine. There are many scammers on ebay selling fake cards.

As for will your card be faster, it all depends on the camera. By looking at the specs there is a maximum FPS of 1.3, so IMO the SD speed shouldn't matter. These Extreme III cards are built for DSLR with high FPS and high megapixels. What will matter is when you upload 1000 jpegs to your PC, then you will see a difference.

 

[Kabob]

1. IC, well, looks like I've got an overpowered SDHC card then.

2. Hrm, so then then the only reason to turn down the resolution would be to save space on the SD card?

4. What's a typical "big" size for a P&S CCD?

4a. Guess it's not as big of an issue for me then since I can't change lenses on my P&S

 

[996GT2]

Sorry to have to break this to you, but many of the memory cards for sale on eBay are counterfeit. I've had personal experience with this in the past, since I got a counterfeit SanDisk Ultra II that was SLOW and often corrupted pictures. Be careful and closely inspect the card you get to make sure it's not counterfeit.

Real or fake aside, no, a faster card makes no difference in a point and shoot camera. With a DSLR, it's good to have a faster card so that the buffer clears faster after continuous shooting, but your P&S is too slow to take advantage of a fast card anyway.

ISO is a measure of how sensitive the camera's sensor is to light. Most cameras start at ISO 50 or 100. At this ISO, the camera is not as sensitive to light, so you need to use a slower shutter speed to let enough light into the camera. As ISO doubles, so does the sensor's sensitivity to light. Given that the scene and every other variable remains constant, a picture taken at ISO 100, 1/125 sec shutter speed will have the same exposure as one taken at ISO 200, 1/250 or ISO 400, 1/500 sec. Therefore, high ISO is very handy in low light, or for shooting fast motion. Since most P&S cameras (yours included) have tiny sensors compared to DSLRs, the image gets very noisy (random colored dots and other artifacts) when used above ISO 400 or so. DSLRs, on the other hand, have sensors 10x larger, and so offers performance at ISO 1600 that rivals a P&S at ISO 400.

Since you have a Powershot SD790, the camera will take are of everything for you most of the time (I don't even think the SD790 has a full manual mode). So...just don't worry much about ISO and just take pictures.

CCD or Charge-Coupled Device is the technology used in the sensor. There are 2 main types: CCD and CMOS. While the technology does not really affect the picture quality, sensor size is VERY important, especially at higher ISO. Having a larger sensor means each pixel can be larger, therefore increasing high ISO performance. The Nikon D3, a camera with a huge full-frame sensor and only 12 megapixels, offers astounding ISO performance all the way up to ISO 6400 and 12,800.

Lens vs CCD based IS doesn't really affect anything. The advantage to lens based IS is that you get a stabilized image while composing the shot, and that IS can be tailored specifically for a particular lens. Don't worry about it since it doesn't really apply to P&S cameras that can't take interchangeable lenses anyway.

 

[Kabob]

Originally posted by: twistedlogic
Wow, a lot of questions. Have you tried asking dad since he picked it out?

Just a warning, you might want to double check your SanDisk card with SanDisk themselves to make sure it is genuine. There are many scammers on ebay selling fake cards.

As for will your card be faster, it all depends on the camera. By looking at the specs there is a maximum FPS of 1.3, so IMO the SD speed shouldn't matter. These Extreme III cards are built for DSLR with high FPS and high megapixels. What will matter is when you upload 1000 jpegs to your PC, then you will see a difference.

Yeah, but dad is still visiting the family and is far away from the internet

The card I bought was NIB and it was one of the few who's box/card on the box picture actually looks like the genuine article. I know it's not 100% but here's to hoping.

*edit*
Here's the auction...does UPC removed = fake? I was hoping it meant genuine item + rebate for him, which is fine with me.

Yeah, I thought I heard my dad mention that CCD size was more important than massive megapixels as he didn't think the picture from a high megapixel camera with a small CCD would look good, I didn't know what CCD was though so I was thuroughly confused.

Much thanks for the info 996 (GT3 is better ), twisted, and abaez!

 

[ElFenix]

ISO is actually the international organization for standardization.

the numbers are (supposed to be) the same as the old film speed numbers. you remember, 100 for outdoors, 800 for fast action.


the nice thing about the extreme iii card is when you copy off of it. depending on your card reader it could be much faster than standard cards, though all class 6 cards are pretty quick.

 

[bobdole369]

"I'll probably turn down the quality settings as well as my dad set it for as high as it can go."

bad move - flash memory is cheap - No reason to not have the quality as high as it can go.



"I purchased a SanDisk 8GB Extreme III SDHC card for the camera. I looked and the card is "speed class 6," does having a higher speed class make a difference when saving pictures on a camera?"

Nope, not in this grade of camera. If you go dSLR - and you want to shoot burst mode - such as 3-6FPS for an extended period (such as when at a sporting event and the team scores a goal and you want to get as many shots as possible).


"Also, will lowering the resolution allow for faster follow up shots? "
Not so you'd notice. point and shoots usually don't get used in the areas where it would make a difference. The image needs to be processed and that usually takes the same amount of time each picture.


"Hrm, so then then the only reason to turn down the resolution would be to save space on the SD card? "
As memory is so cheap I've yet to see a reason for this. As someone once told me - "you want a lot more terrible looking pictures?"


"Also, what's the difference between having the image stabilization on the lens vs. on the CCD? "

"how does the CCD size make a difference?"

35mm film cameras (like the camera your grandma used, or maybe the dude who shot your wedding) is focused on a square 24mmx36mm. Thus the name 35mm. Current generation digital slrs are "1.6x crop" or 14.8mmx22.2mm. If you do the math and you multiply by 1.6 you'll see why they are called that.

Most point and shoots are known as 1/1.8 or 1/2.5 - miniscule in comparison - 7x5mm or 5x4mm.

All this matters because in order to increase the "sensitivity" of a sensor- you must increase it's gain - i.e. turn it up. In doing so - that generates noise that the adjacent pixels see as little bits of color here and there. Turn your ISO up as high as it goes and you'll see the noise in any subject with a uniform color and texture. The larger the sensor - the more you can turn up ISO without creating that noise.

Also some folks believe that the larger the image sensor - the better quality the pictures.

Prior posters are dead on when they say more megapixels packed into a small sensor is a recipe for disaster.

iso 100 is good for bright outdoorsy scenes. 200 - cloudy days 400 - indoors and probably the highest you can go on that camera with acceptable images.

 

[ElFenix]

35mm film cameras (like the camera your grandma used, or maybe the dude who shot your wedding) is focused on a square 24mmx36mm. Thus the name 35mm

well, not quite right. 35 mm film is 35 mm wide, including the part beyond the sprocket holes. it was (and still is) used for movies. because it's arranged running vertically, a movie frame takes up a 24x18 space. thus, the original 35 mm cameras (the leica, designed by oscar barnack) were known as 'double frame.'

the 24x36 format isn't the only 35 mm format. the short-lived nikon I used a 24x32 frame, for instance. and of course there were the single frame, or half frame cameras, such as the olympus pen, that used 24x18. the pen series sold from 1959 through 1983.

 

[Kabob]

Got the SD card in, if it's not authentic then it's the best ripoff ever and he went through tremendous effort to make it looks so...it came in the box (which only had the UPC cut out, was still taped with the factory tape) and inside the plastic "cage of doom" that's impossible to open, had to take scissors to it. Has the CD w/drivers and instructions.

I don't notice a speed difference over the slower card, but I guess that's expected.

After using it a little more it almost looks like there's a dead pixel on the Camera LCD...should I send it back?

 

[bobdole369]

"almost looks like there's a dead pixel on the Camera LCD...should I send it back?"

You aren't likely to be able to get it replaced solely on that - dead pixels are a part of LCD's. However if it bothers you - perhaps you are still within the return period for holiday stuff?

 

[Kabob]

Should be within that period, but if it costs me $15 to ship it and such I dunno if it's worth it (actually, I'm not sure where he got it from...)

 

[Fardringle]

Does the dead pixel show up in photos? If so, it's a problem on the sensor and you should replace it. If it is only on the LCD, then it's just an annoyance and is up to you whether you want to replace the camera or not.