Help with my Canon Powershot SX-110 IS

[bcart12]

So I've had this camera for a few months and take it to a lot of concerts in order to get personal photos. I went with this because it's compact and not many of the shows I got to allow you to bring in a camera. I also like to take photos without using the flash as to not bother the band or the people around me.

I've been testing various modes and settings trying to get the best possible photos but I still haven't come across the best settings.

Does anyone have any advice for me?

[SmartWombat]

First of all, post some examples for us to see !
And tell us why you think they're not best, what you want out of the pictures.
Then we can give some specific advice.

It's likely that you will have to turn up the ISO setting a lot if you're not using the flash.
That means you may not like the noisy, grainy, result.

If you don't turn up the ISO, then motion blur will be prominent.
That's the price you pay for using low ISO that gives less noise.

TANSTAAFL.

[bcart12]

Here are some examples of what I would like all my shots to look like:











I'm going through my photos and trying to look at the settings and see if i can figure out why some turnout decent and some are just horrible.

As most people I just want the photos to be clear and look real. I hate grainy photos.

Do you think it would be better to keep the camera on manual and just change the ISO as the light changes, or is Auto ISO my best option? Sorry I am by no means a professional or claim to know much about cameras.

Also, is it good to have the ISO setting on Panning, Shoot Only or Continuous for this type of photography?

[EOSThree]

Sorry to say, it's going to be difficult to get clean grain free photos out of an SX-110. The sensor is just too small to be able to gather the light per pixel needed for that kind of photography. The small sensor has a lot of very very small pixels crammed on it and those small pixels get very noisy when the ISO is upped.

The best type of camera for low light no flash photography is a full frame DSLR. I have a 5D and I am amazed how high I can set the ISO and still have relatively clean low light photos. Same venue same show with my G9(small sensor)and I had grain everywhere.

I don't know what's going on here, but I have edited this one twice and every time I change the text the photos swap for some reason, I'll make it easier on the finicky server: The one with the Beer in the hand is from the G9 with the small sensor, the one without the beer is with the 5D with the large sensor.

[SmartWombat]

Also, is it good to have the ISO setting on Panning, Shoot Only or Continuous for this type of photography?

I think that's a typing error, Panning, Shoot or Continuous apply to the IS (image stabiliser).
Problem is, your subject is moving and the IS can't compensate for nodding heads, hands strumming etc.
Shoot Only uses the least battery, Continuous allows you to see the effect, but uses more battery power.

Your shots that work all have one thing in common, bright stage lights.
I'd like to see some shots that didn't work, to see what the conditions are.
I'm guessing that there just isn't enough light for your camera.

[EOSThree]

I understand the need for a small camera getting into a lot of venues. Are all of those yours above? The top two are excellent, the bottom 3 look like what I'd expect from an SX-110. Like Wombat said, very bright lighting is the key to decent photos with your camera. Most smaller venues have really poor lighting, and it's really hard to have enough light without cranking up the ISO. Compact cameras just don't have the sensor size to be able to crank up the ISO much without getting a lot of noise(grain).

[freygr]

So I've had this camera for a few months and take it to a lot of concerts in order to get personal photos. I went with this because it's compact and not many of the shows I got to allow you to bring in a camera. I also like to take photos without using the flash as to not bother the band or the people around me.

I've been testing various modes and settings trying to get the best possible photos but I still haven't come across the best settings.

Does anyone have any advice for me?

It will be very hard for you to get good low light photos with the camera you have.
1) the lens has a small aperture at the long end (telephoto) F2.8 - F4.3 but the wide in is fine. Most of the time you will have to zoom in to get the framing for the photo, the long you go the higher the f number, which means the less light gathering the lens can do.
2) the size of the sensor is small 6.16 x 4.62 mm @ 32 MP/cm² pixel Density(yours) and a full frame is 36 x 24 mm @ 2.4 MP/cm² pixel Density (Canon D5). Notice the size of the full frame pixel is 12 times the size. Pixel size is the name of the game for good noise free low light photos. The smaller the pixel size the signal amplifier will need higher gain for processing the pixels adding noise. They have made much progress but I can't upgrade my camera $$$

[bcart12]

I understand the need for a small camera getting into a lot of venues. Are all of those yours above? The top two are excellent, the bottom 3 look like what I'd expect from an SX-110. Like Wombat said, very bright lighting is the key to decent photos with your camera. Most smaller venues have really poor lighting, and it's really hard to have enough light without cranking up the ISO. Compact cameras just don't have the sensor size to be able to crank up the ISO much without getting a lot of noise(grain).

Those are all my photos. I took the top two the same weekend that I bought the camera and I'm not sure what I had the settings at.

Thanks for all the info guys. I realize I'm not going to get amazing photos with the camera I have, I just wondered what advice people had for getting the best quality photos with that camera.

After doing some more research (and info from you kind folks) I think I will play around with things a bit and see what happens. I'm going to a show tomorrow and I have third row seats so I should be able to get some nice shots since I'll be closer to the light source.

So to clarify on the above question on the panning, shoot or continuous IS, would the panning be my best option since I'm shooting a moving band? I don't care about battery life since I'm taking extra batteries.

[bcart12]

It will be very hard for you to get good low light photos with the camera you have.
1) the lens has a small aperture at the long end (telephoto) F2.8 - F4.3 but the wide in is fine. Most of the time you will have to zoom in to get the framing for the photo, the long you go the higher the f number, which means the less light gathering the lens can do.
2) the size of the sensor is small 6.16 x 4.62 mm @ 32 MP/cm² pixel Density(yours) and a full frame is 36 x 24 mm @ 2.4 MP/cm² pixel Density (Canon D5). Notice the size of the full frame pixel is 12 times the size. Pixel size is the name of the game for good noise free low light photos. The smaller the pixel size the signal amplifier will need higher gain for processing the pixels adding noise. They have made much progress but I can't upgrade my camera $$$

Thanks man, this was good info. I realize now that most of the photos that have not turned out great, I'm zoomed in because of my distance from the band. So quick question. I usually have my pictures set at a very large size, actually the largest I can take. If I crank the size down I'll get better shots right?

Thanks again guys for putting up with a n00b like me :thumbsup:

[SmartWombat]

I would keep file size at the largest size possible, cranking it down is not going to make any improvement.

Zoom is a tough decision, zoom out and have 1 1/2 stops more light - zoom in and fill the frame? I can't suggest much more than try it both ways.

[bcart12]

Thanks SM. I'll post some pics after the show. Hopefully they'll be good and you all can be proud of your tutelage.

[freygr]

Thanks man, this was good info. I realize now that most of the photos that have not turned out great, I'm zoomed in because of my distance from the band. So quick question. I usually have my pictures set at a very large size, actually the largest I can take. If I crank the size down I'll get better shots right?

Thanks again guys for putting up with a n00b like me :thumbsup:

Changing the file size doesn't change any thing just gives you less information to work with. Now you can as part of your post processing down size using an averaging resize and reduce the noise and make it look sharper but is all depends on what the end use is going to be. For web you can get away with a lot but not for printing (the final printed size is the key).