Canon S series Av mode performance or lack of?

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Interceptor121

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Taking the chance of a trip to St Lucia we have stressed some of the configuration options of the S95 to see how the camera would behave in Aperture priority

Not sure if any of you has noticed however if you shoot in Av the AUTO ISO option of the S90/95/100 offers multiple options for the ISO choice
First you can set the limits (max 400 is a sane limit underwater) but also has got a cryptic 'rate of change' setting that can be set to Slow, Standard, Fast
What does that mean? In theory the camera would try and choose a set of minimal shutter speed before changing the ISO
So on fast the camera should set speeds of at least 1/100 and then set the ISO accordingly, I say that because for underwater close focus wide angle with flash we look at 1/125 to 1/500
So once set an aperture of F5.6 with an inon UFL165 (that has infinite depth of field already at this aperture) I set the exposure compensation at 0,-1/3,-2/3,-1 and see what ISO were coming out
The camera turns out to be fairly pessimistic and ending up easily with ISO of 250/320 even with -1 exposure compensation
The resulting pictures are pleasant but despite the -1 really a bit too clear as the attached
20120606-IMG_2216_2.jpg

Setting the ISO fixed at 100 even with exposure compensation at -1 ends up with the camera selecting shutter speeds of 1/60 that are also not good at all for close focus wide angle

In essence shooting in Av with this camera unless we have a no strobe on a real wide angle natural light shot seems to be a total waste of time and even in that case you have to hope nothing is moving in your picture

I wonder if there is anything else that can be done to improve matters but I would conclude that shooting in Av mode is not satisfactory

Maybe someone else has got better experiences? I am trying to develop an easy way to shoot for people that don't want understand how to manage a complete manual exposure but the technology seems not to be helping!
 
Hi there,

I've been using the Canon S95 with INON's UFL-165-AD Lens for a while now and use it to write my columns in diving magazines. I was using the AV mode using manual white balance one day at Sipidan because my strobe flooded, and found that either an aperture of f5.6 or f8 to be very effective. I also used an ISO 100 to let the least light in possible as well as using the Vivid Mode to really bring out the blue background. I have found that these settings work consistently well. If you need any more help, just drop me a message.

Best of luck and look forward to hearing how you get on.

maria

PS I've even got a book to help you take lots of beautiful underwater photographs with your compact camera just like this. It goes through all of the different settings that your own camera has and covers lots of different techniques using add-on lenses, strobes and includes an in-depth look at composition. "Underwater Photography for Compact Camera Users" is available on Amazon very soon .....

Turtle with MWB, Sipidan.jpg
 

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Hi Maria and thanks for your reply
I indeed went through your book few years ago
I don't use the my colour settings on the S95 and also this option is not available when you shoot RAW. I tend to like the JPEG abilities of the camera but I tend to process the best shots in RAW in lightroom
With the settings you say every single canon compact I have had tries to settle on 1/60 I find this gives an exposure that does not please me particularly
To work out my setting and have nice blues I tend to shoot the water column and aim to a -2/3 starting from aperture F5.6 Shutter at 1/125 ISO100
Then I correct that compensating for the different shutter speed settings that I need and shoot a close focus wide angle in TTL
This would give me a result like this one
20120606-IMG_2271.jpg

F5.6/1/125/ISO125
However if I let the camera do that in Aperture Priority will either select 1/60 (resulting in motion blur) or in AutoISO go for ISo200 or higher

Something to do with the metering and how is done for sure

It was the same with my old powershot A570 as you can see here, nice colour in manual
IMG_2363 Turtle Eye at Sipadan.jpg
My expectation was that a newer camera such as the S95 would be usable in semi automatic mode so that I can train people to use the camera without going all the way down to manual and they can improve their chances to take more shots and not loosing the moment

But it would seem that without manipulating the camera behaviour in manual or using specific hacks the standard camera behaviour is just acceptable but not extremely exciting

Looking forward to meeting you in person on some UK shore dives...
 
Hi there,

Thanks for the reply, really lovely pictures, and I am sorry that you are struggling with AV mode. I absolutely love it and pretty much just leave the camera on this and simply decide which number I am going to use for each subject and then adjust the EV according to the light conditions and the ISO depending on whether it is a slow or a fast subject. All nice and easy with or without a flash .... I only use full manual mode if I'd like to create a black background to my subject.

I'm so pleased that my book helped you and keep up the great work. Look forward to seeing more pics and yes, would be really great to meet you at a UK dive site.

Have a great weekend,

maria
 
Pictures taken with S95, an INON UFL-165 AD fisheye Lens and either one strobe or two

I think this thread could continue forever:kiss2:! So if you have any questions, just let me know ... here is a picture taken with my Canon S95 with an INON UFL-165AD Fisheye Lens using one INON S-2000 strobe recently at the Liberty Wreck in Bali using Aperture Priority. ISO 100, f8 .... the turtle photo is taken using the same settings whilst in Sipidan, Malaysia with one more strobe.

There may be a few copies of my book at Backscatter which explains all of this in an easy-to-understand way using lots of colourful pictures to demonstrate different techniques. It will also be available through Amazon at the end of this month.

Happy snapping everyone :)


Diver with Orange Sponge, Liberty.jpgCanon S95, WA Lens, 2 strobes.jpg
 
It is not difficult to take pictures in aperture priority when the subjects are quite static or you have the occasional diver or a slow moving fish
With fish schooling and fast moving subject zooming in there is clear motion blur
I have now tested the camera on land and as far as I can see the aperture priority is not good enough the camera just loves to shoot at 1/60
Even if you change the exposure compensation

I will run some test in shutter priority mode as compact cameras have plenty of depth of field it is possible than even at wide aperture with a fisheye lens the set up is satisfactory
 
I guess it depends how fast the subject is moving, but these bump heads and the barracudas at Sipidan were moving pretty fast and the S95 did a great job ...

At the end of the day, everyone has their favourite settings and the important thing is to have fun and be happy with the end result ... :)
 

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Maria

It depends, when you spend £2000 on a set up you expect it to do well and you expect the technology to help you

I have been at Sipadan the barracudas are a far shot and move slowly the bump heads are a bit quicker the point is not to take a decent picture it is to get a set up that takes even better pictures

My conclusion is that the Canon S series in both Av and Tv mode take OK but not outstanding pictures as the way the camera does its metering and exposure calculation is very simple

In essence it goes for 1/focal length +1/3 f-stop in Av mode which means all wide shots come at 1/60
In Tv the camera goes to the widest possible aperture depending on the focal length so it will range between 2 for wide and 5.6 for macro
The pictures that you take with this set up are good at best for a small 6"x4" inch print or a 1080p screen saver. If you look at those on a better screen or try to print an A2 the motion blur or the lack of depth of field that the Av modes and Tv mode generate does show...

If I wanted a camera to take pictures at F2.2 or 1/60 I can tell you it was possible with my Ixus 65 7 years ago why bother spending more money for an S100 if the software behaves the same way?

I could take similar shots with my powershot A570 and once you print them in small format the shots look no different to those taken by a new S series in Av or Tv mode
Of course in manual there is a difference but frankly a powershot A570 in manual beats the Av or Tv shots of an S100 by far
 
Blimey ....

I never spent that much on my set-up ... promise ...

I used to shoot with the Canon Powershot A570 and loved it, but there is a difference with the quality of the images and I had the prints taken with my S95 blown up to exhibit at the Birmingham Dive Show last year to 30 x 20 inches on canvas and everyone loved them ...

Anyway, I'm going to sign off this thread here ... and would like to say thanks again for sharing all your knowledge ....

maria
 

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