# Need help understanding SX150



## theserpent (Aug 8, 2012)

Got sx150 i cant understand how to use it.
:/


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## nac (Aug 8, 2012)

Read the manual... You will understand a lot..


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## arian29 (Aug 8, 2012)

nac said:


> Read the manual... You will understand a lot..


+1


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## RCuber (Aug 8, 2012)

lol.. I first thought this was posted by some new member.. until I saw the username . .dude.. read the manual


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## sling-shot (Aug 8, 2012)

In the beginning, just turn the dial to P and start shooting. Do not worry about anything else.

Once the initial rush is over, start with Reading The F***ing Manual.

Alternately, you can just press buttons methodically (if you press randomly like Mr Bean, then sh** will happen) and note what happens.

It is always good to learn by doing 
-SS.


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## theserpent (Aug 8, 2012)

RCuber said:


> lol.. I first thought this was posted by some new member.. until I saw the username . .dude.. read the manual



Lol!!!!...............

The camera is good!!
Clarity is awesome!
Using a 16 gb sandisk extreme( I guess class 10?) + 
Fujicell FHR-3UEX-AA (2800 mAh).

guys reading the manual din't help me clear my doubts i need tuts on AV,Manual Modes :/

...........


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## sujoyp (Aug 8, 2012)

aah i have always suggested my method but nobody liked it  see if it helps u

take a pic in auto mode....check the exif details in the screen....see whats wrong in the pic...if its underexposed think y ?? if too dark see whats the aperture camera have used...see the ISO ...y it took soo much ISO and what if u reduce the ISO.

Auto modes really help learning

I did something similar to this...and still do this thinking while taking pics...but dont take auto shots anymore


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## theserpent (Aug 8, 2012)

^^ Will try 

How do i take macros of ANTS,Mosquitoes etc.
I know how to enter macro etc etc


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## nac (Aug 8, 2012)

It's highly impossible (at least for me), for ants and mosquitoes to stay still until we click. Try to put your camera close to the subject, and focus should be in the subject else you will get the subject softer.


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## sujoyp (Aug 8, 2012)

do it the this way...check the macro focus distance with a pin or bolt....use flash and see the result....then try this on fly which is more stable then ant....and lastly try on and with some sugar or sugar water


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## theserpent (Aug 9, 2012)

Okay..Guys another thing i saw some pics in photography thread an all.So how do some pics come with background blurred without editing


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## tkin (Aug 9, 2012)

theserpent said:


> Okay..Guys another thing i saw some pics in photography thread an all.So how do some pics come with background blurred without editing


You won't get that in SX150, for that you need either DSLR(the proper way to do it), or a Sony P&S with background blurring effect support.


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## theserpent (Aug 9, 2012)

Okay thanks....i love the color pic feature set one color(Maybe make the whole pic b&w) and only one color maybe blue or red


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## marvelousprashant (Aug 9, 2012)

theserpent said:


> Okay..Guys another thing i saw some pics in photography thread an all.So how do some pics come with background blurred without editing



Full zoom + subject at 1m will give you that effect to some extent


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## sling-shot (Aug 9, 2012)

*www.youtube.com/watch?desktop_uri=/watch?v=OPPilj4A15o&v=OPPilj4A15o&gl=IN

There are also plenty of tutorials on the web elsewhere. Just search for "how to take bokeh pictures" with Google.

You may need to read and experiment a lot to get a good one


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## nac (Aug 9, 2012)

You can get that blur effect but not as good as DSLR. Just background need to be far behind the subject. Farther the better... And shoot at largest aperture.


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## sujoyp (Aug 9, 2012)

yaah its easy with bigger aperture lenses from close distance and can be done with zoom lens like prashant told you

bokeh with 50mm lens is superb
[url=*www.flickr.com/photos/34748095@N07/7745906380/][img]*farm8.staticflickr.com/7125/7745906380_c7e22090f0.jpg[/url] Smiling Girl by sujoyp, on Flickr[/IMG]


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## theserpent (Aug 9, 2012)

Guys i clicked some macros with and w/o flash.
So when i clicked with flash.The down part is almost totally white due to the flash


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## Dhirajthefreak (Aug 9, 2012)

theserpent said:


> ^^ Will try
> 
> How do i take macros of ANTS,Mosquitoes etc.
> I know how to enter macro etc etc



Don't take photos of mosquito better kill them


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## sujoyp (Aug 9, 2012)

try taking pics in daytime without flash...or use some kind of diffuser on ur flash so that u get soft light on insect...harsh light is useless from that distance


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## sling-shot (Aug 10, 2012)

It is possible to reduce the flash intensity too.

Also you have excellent zoom coupled with image stabilisation. You could make use of that too by staying a bit away from the subject and zooming in.


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## nac (Aug 10, 2012)

Staying away and zooming in is not giving good macros. Once started zooming, minimum focus distance suddenly increasing which makes us to take wider area than we want to take. If can crop the subject alone later, but you know the quality of the image after cropped.

It's only possible to use flash (at that close) when we have flash attached at the rim of the lens


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## theserpent (Aug 11, 2012)

Where did you take help from for you SX130


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## nac (Aug 11, 2012)

Where else... Here in this forum and the manual (In fact, I have read the whole manual even before buying). And of course from some websites... Right from searching for a camera, this forum and it's members helped a lot...


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## theserpent (Aug 11, 2012)

@nac..general shots done in Auto.Macro in P mode.
I can't understand the camera..how to change exposure etc etc


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## nac (Aug 11, 2012)

Good, you are trying in P mode. You will get some control over exposure in this mode. Just read this (just to understand), it will you to follow when you hear something like aperture, shutter speed, ISO and all...

Digital Photography Tips and Tutorials

The Basics of Exposure
Learning to Use Digital Camera Settings and Features


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## sujoyp (Aug 11, 2012)

dear theserpent ....u have 2 choice just like cricket ....either play like dhoni...his style looks more like a practice then any knowledge
or play like rahul dravid....the traditional way ..by reading a lot...and then try hands on

do something....there is no single way 

ask us what u didnt understand....put pics with settings and we will help


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## marvelousprashant (Aug 11, 2012)

@ serpent : 
There is a mode dial that has 4 important modes Auto, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual. Apart from that there is another dial that controls (clockwise from top) tracking/exposure/selection; flash; timer; and focus.

In Auto mode camera uses its brain, you do labour work by pressing shutter key

 In program mode, you get another option to change exposure and flash modes. The most imortant control in this mode is ISO which is set to Auto in Auto mode. For noise less images, you need to use the least possible ISO. Auto ISO is pretty high resulting in Noisy images. However if you set ISO 80 in dim light shutter speed may go very high in hand held blur.

In Shutter priority, and aperture priority, you can choose shutter speed or aperture value and camera adjusts the rest

In Manual, camera takes rest, you use your brain and do all the labour

In most of these modes in bottom right corner you should see a scale with 5 graduations. This helps you set the exposure. There is a pointer that moves when you change shutter or aperture value. When the pointer is in middle, it means your photo will be perfectly exposed. BEWARE that this scale does not give the right info when flash is on. You can disable flash then try playing with these settings.

*Try to visualize the difference between what output you are getting from the camera and what were you expecting... Like your pics in another thread are very dark but that can be made perfect by moving the camera an inch away from the flowers.. No settings required  So expect and shoot*


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## nac (Aug 12, 2012)

For a start...

Do not press the shutter all the way at once. Compose and press the shutter half way to let the camera lock AF (Auto focus). Then click the rest of the way to capture...

Why you should do this way?
Check pg. no. 22 in your manual and read this small article


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## theserpent (Aug 14, 2012)

Umm guys how is this?
*i48.tinypic.com/9vcmja.jpg


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## sujoyp (Aug 14, 2012)

is this a macro??
the drop looks to be in focus and background perfectly blurred...its a good attempt

what is the ISO in this picture


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## theserpent (Aug 14, 2012)

^^ I think it was 400 or 800 :/

And manual focus


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## sujoyp (Aug 14, 2012)

hmm 400 and 800 ISO also looks grainy


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## theserpent (Aug 14, 2012)

idk..what i used...i was jst trying out different stuff..Don't remeber as soon as i saw that effect i wanted i clicked it


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## sujoyp (Aug 14, 2012)

the effect came good...and background is nicely blurred


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## nac (Aug 14, 2012)

Nice blur... But the focus is little off (or the focus point is not on the drop)...


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## theserpent (Aug 15, 2012)

I don't know....I kept focusing .In Manual Focus


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## sujoyp (Aug 15, 2012)

its a good idea to use manual focus when taking macros


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## nac (Aug 15, 2012)

It's good idea to use MF when your camera is not locking AF. I always have this doubt whether the focus is at optimum or not when I use MF.


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## theserpent (Aug 15, 2012)

Please explain me what is auto focus tracking :/


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## nac (Aug 15, 2012)

I think AF tracking is not available in my cam... It means, AF constantly focus even when the subject is moving.


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## sujoyp (Aug 15, 2012)

yaah nac thats right...focus tracking is something u lock the focus and it try to keep the focus even if subject started moving


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## theserpent (Aug 15, 2012)

Ok guys! I went to the garden pointed my camera at an antorium.So,the bud had ants in it.But when i zoomed much more to the ants.It became totally blur.Please suggest me tips on how to deal with this

*i47.tinypic.com/nf05t0.jpg

*i50.tinypic.com/ms21pt.jpg


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## nac (Aug 15, 2012)

It means, it's out of focus...

There is something called minimum focus distance... In macro mode, you can focus as close as 1cm at wide angle and 1m at full zoom. In Normal mode, 5cm (I think) at wide and 1m at full zoom. When you zoom, just under the slide (zoom) in the screen you can see the minimum focusing distance.


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## sujoyp (Aug 15, 2012)

yes every camera lens have same issue serpent...

if in macro mode the working distance is from 1cm to 1meter just try half zoom that way u come close my 50cm and ant can be focussed ...just try like this...u will learn this soon


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## theserpent (Aug 15, 2012)

Okay  .Btw how are the pics


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## sujoyp (Aug 15, 2012)

1st one is in proper focus..and seems good
2nd one is completely out of focus...try try


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## marvelousprashant (Aug 15, 2012)

nac said:


> It's good idea to use MF when your camera is not locking AF. I always have this doubt whether the focus is at optimum or not when I use MF.



Under Settings there is safety MF that refines focus when shutter is half pressed. You can turn it on/off. It is pretty reliable and corrects upto 5cm as far as my personal experience goes


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## nac (Aug 15, 2012)

Sujoy,
2nd one is for us... Saying he is getting blurred when zoomed in (nice way of getting the image blurred  don't mind about aperture, DOF and all...

Prashant,
Yeah, I remember reading that in the manual. And I have tried once... I don't how this works... I thought it will refine and set at optimum (like AF, then we can call it auto focus in manual focus  ) but it doesn't.


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## theserpent (Sep 3, 2012)

whats the difference in pics in shutter speeds :/


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## sujoyp (Sep 4, 2012)

serpent if i understand u correctly u r asking what different shutter speed makes on a pic

if this is the question then answer is - shutter speed is the time for which the shutter of camera is open for capturing the image and light...the faster shutter speed will take very less amount of light coz the sensor will be open for light intake for very less time...and longer shutter speed like 1sec,2 sec will take more light soo that pic become brighter

a shutter speed should also be around of 2 times of focal length if u dont have stabilisation (not valid for focal length for 50mm and below) ex u are taking pic at 200mm and u dont have IS/VR in camera or lens then the shutter speed should be at least 1/400 to capture sharp shots


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## theserpent (Sep 4, 2012)

Ok..now im trying to click a pic of a drop of water falling down..But my click is not on the right time what do you suggest


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## sujoyp (Sep 4, 2012)

you need good shutter speed for that...but if its too dark then its better to use flash


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## theserpent (Sep 4, 2012)

sujoyp said:


> you need good shutter speed for that...but if its too dark then its better to use flash



How much should i keep the speed for that?
P.S check my sx150 review


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## sujoyp (Sep 4, 2012)

i think u need to keep shutter speed around 1/500 in daytime and if u r taking in dark use flash


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