just bought a canon sd1000, few questions

[xxsjxx1]

this is my first digital camera, im pretty familiar with the basics ive just never actually had my own. i was wondering if theres any way to get a battery gauge to come up kind of like on a cell phone, or does it just tell me when it is low?

also, i read alot of the reviews on this and they were really good. is it worth trying all the other photo modes and becoming familiar with them or does this camera pretty much take care of itself on ''auto'' and produce nice pictures. i had some trouble last night without flash, even when holding my arm completely still they were still slightly blurry.

[Photo-John]

Congratulations on the new camera. Please post a review for it when you get feel you've gotten to know it well.

The Canon SD-Series cameras all have a battery level indicator on the LCD. I think it only shows three levels, though. The current batch of compact cameras have very good battery life, though. If you just make sure to recharge the battery at regular intervals, I don't think you have to worry about it. I'm charging my SD950 IS battery about once a week. And I use it a lot.

Generally the auto setting will take care of things for you. But with the flash off, in low light, you are going to have to increase the ISO sensitivity if you don't want camera shake to ruin your photos. When you're going to take a picture, depress the shutter button halfway and you'll see the shutter speed and aperture displayed at the bottom of the LCD display. The minimum shutter speed you should be shooting with is probably 1/60th of a second. If the shutter speed is 1/15 or slower, you're going to have blurry photos.

Exploring the scene modes is definitely worthwhile as they give you some more creative control. The auto mode won't always do what you want it to. And it's digital - so there's no film to waste. There's no reason not to experiment!

[xxsjxx1]

thanks for all the help, is the battery meter that empty white square i see when i turn on the camera? because my screen goes blank shortly after.

also if i use auto ISO, will it take care of my low light shots? also i can adjust my iso but ot does it in numbers, not fractions like you said.