S40 suggestions and initial setup

[BernieL59]

I have a S40 that I used on one dive in Cocos last year and being a newbie did not really know what the heck I was doing with WB etc. I am looking for some help on where to start with settings etc. Any input would be really appreciated.

Thanks,
Bernie

 

[alijtaylor]

I use an s50 which was the next model (you might want to search on s50 to see what advice you can find and translate it back to your camera).
My advice would be use it set on auto till you are comfortable that you are getting things sharply in focus, you may already be there. If it has macro focus use that for anything closer than about 1/2 metre - if the macro setting still gives good focus further away always use if on macro although if it is like the s50 everytime it powers down it will loose the macro setting. If you can't get things focused right you are either shooting too close without macro or you are probably suffering from camera shake and you need a faster shutter speed.

Once you have got focus sorted either go for manual or apeture priority and play around. Shoot a shot on auto and if you can see the settings when you review the shot start with the ones the camera has set and vary them from there.

Because I live where the vis generally sucks I usually use the internal flash so don't bother with white balance - but if you can shoot without flash and the camera can do manual white balance do a search on white balance and set it that way.

Use your manual to find out what settings are available on the s40 and then it doesn't matter much whether you have a canon or an Olympus or whatever, the advice on the boards about what settings give what results applies.

Good luck
Alison