night mode problems

[zenman]

Hi all,

I have been doing some reading on here, and yesterday started experimenting with other modes than "auto" on my Canon Powershot400.

Every shot I tried in "night scene" mode was blurred, regardless of how much light there was. I'm guessing that it's due to a slower shutter speed, but regardless, is it really the case that a tripod is necessary for all "night scene" shots?

Depressingly, the only shots that worked last night were in auto mode



On another note, late in the afternoon I tried a couple in "portrait" mode, and I found that there was a long delay between pressing the shutter and the actual shot being taken - I'd guess a little more than a second delay. Long enough for someone to think that the shot had been taken, then move the camera resulting in an off-center shot.

Any thoughts on either of these issues?

[candleman]

glad you're experimenting with more modes,
thats how i started my addiction.

its really hard to make judgement on the night mode.. but how much lght was there? you mean it was dark on a sidewalk with streetligting or pitch black on a hilltop?
i'd suggest at least bracing your hands on a tree, lamp post, or wall.. and then taking the shot.

my thinking is that in the low light for portrait mode...
my guess is theres a big gap between flashes?.. so it fires a small flash.. then on eor two bigger flashed later?

its probably giving a pause so it lets more light in for the background, and the flash then lights up the person.
so maybe just warn them and say *flash* "hold that smile" *flash-flash* done..

thats my guess.. i could be wrong.

but i think if you warn them and communicate by telling the nwhen te picture is taken then it will improve your shots allot.

off centre is not atually all that bad photographically speaking.
check this out

[sybren]

Yeah, for a night shot you want to use a stable support, and a tripod is of course best. If the problems were indeed due to a long shutter speed, I can guess at why you think the "auto" photos came out fine: my bet is that your camera selected a short shutter speed and used flash to illuminate the world. Because of the short shutter speed and the flash you didn't get blurred photos. But... and this is a Big But... just because the photo is sharp doesn't mean it's good. I'm confident that with some experimentation (and asking questions like this!) you'll get much better photos than with your camera on "auto".