Cover ...i
Short Courses Books and Web Site ...ii
Preface ...iv
Contents ...v
Chapter 1
Getting Started with your Canon SX30 IS...7
The PowerShot SX30 IS— An Overview ...8
Jump Start— Taking Photos in Auto Mode ...9
Good Things to Know ...11
When Things Go Wrong ...13
Using the Monitor and Viewfinder ...14
Using Dials and Buttons ...16
Using Menus ...18
- Tabbed Menus ...18
- The Function Menu ...20
- Resetting All Settings ...21
Managing Images in Review Mode ...22
Managing Images in Playback Mode ...23
- Using Index View ...23
- Using Scroll Display ...24
- Erasing and Protecting Images ...24
- Tagging Images as Favorites ...25
Giving Slide Shows ...26
- Connecting to a Standard TV ...26
- Connecting to an HD TV ...26
- Slide Show Settings ...26
- Smart Shuffle ...27
Working with Groups Of Images ...28
- Auto Category ...28
- My Category ...28
- Filtering Images and Jumping ...29
- Specifying a Range of Images ...30
Selecting Image Quality and Size ...31
- Number of Pixels ...31
- How an Image is Captured ...33
- It's All Black and White After All ...33
- Choosing Image Quality and Size — Still Images ...34
- Resizing images ...36
- Trimming images ...36
Chapter 2
Controlling Exposure ...37
Understanding Exposure ...38
The Shutter Controls Light and Motion ...39
The Aperture Controls Light and Depth of Field ...41
Using Shutter Speed and Aperture Together ...43
- Exposure— Faucets & Buckets Analogy ...44
- Exposure— Seesaw Analogy ...45
Retaining Highlight and Shadow Details ...46
Choosing Shooting Modes ...47
Using Special Scene (SCN) Modes ...48
Using Program AE (P) Mode and Program Shift ...50
Using Shutter-Priority (Tv) Mode ...51
Using Aperture-Priority (Av) Mode ...52
Using Manual (M) Mode ...53
How Your Exposure System Works ...54
Choosing a Metering Method ...56
When Automatic Exposure Works Well ...57
When to Override Automatic Exposure ...58
- Scenes Lighter than Middle Gray ...58
- Scenes Darker than Middle Gray ...59
- Subject Against Very Light Background ...59
- Subject Against Very Dark Background ...60
- Scenes with High Contrast ...60
- Hard to Meter Scenes ...61
How Overriding Autoexposure Works ...62
How to Override Automatic Exposure ...63
- Exposure Compensation ...63
- AE Lock ...64
- Autoexposure Bracketing (AEB) ...65
- Using Safety Shift ...66
- The Exposure compensation point on the Control Dial ...66
Using Histograms ...67
- Displaying Histograms ...67
- Evaluating Histograms ...67
- Clipped Pixels ...69
- Sample Histograms ...70
Using i-Contrast ...71
- Using i-Contrast While Shooting ...71
- Using i-Contrast in Playback ...71
Chapter 3
Controlling Sharpness ...72
Getting Sharper Pictures ...73
- Using the Self-timer ...73
- Setting the Image Stabilization (IS) Mode ...74
- Changing the ISO ...75
- Sharpness Isn't Everything ...77
How to Photograph Motion Sharply ...78
- Speed of Subject ...78
- Direction of Movement ...78
- Distance to Subject and Focal Length of Lens ...79
Focus and Depth of Field ...80
- Focus ...80
- Depth of Field ...80
Focusing Techniques ...82
- Focusing ...82
- Changing the AF Frame Mode ...82
- Changing the AF Frame Size and Moving it ...83
- Continuous AF ...84
- Using Focus Lock and AF Lock (AFL) ...84
- Using Servo AF ...85
Face Detect ...86
Manual Focus ...87
Bracketing Focus...88
Checking Focus ...89
- Checking Focus in Shooting Mode ...89
- Checking Focus in Review and Playback Modes ...90
Controlling Depth of Field ...91
Using Maximum Depth of Field ...92
Using Shallow Depth of Field ...93
Conveying the Feeling of Motion ...94
Chapter 4
Capturing Light & Color ...95
Where Does Color Come From? ...96
White Balance ...97
Color Balance and Time of Day ...99
Sunsets and Sunrises ...100
Photographing at Night ...102
- Fireworks ...102
- The Moon ...102
The Weather ...104
The Direction of Light ...106
The Quality of Light ...108
Chapter 5
Understanding Lenses ...109
The Zoom Lens ...110
Normal Zoom ...111
Wide-Angle Zoom ...112
Telephoto and Digital Zoom ...114
Portraits with a Zoom Lens ...117
Perspective in a Photograph ...118
Using Macro Mode ...119
Focusing and Depth of Field Close Up ...120
Chapter 6
Using Flash and Studio Lighting ...121
How Automatic Flash Works ...122
- Flash Falloff ...122
- Flash and Shutter Speeds ...122
- Flash Modes ...123
- Flash FAQs ...123
Using an External Flash...124
- Using an Small External Flash ...124
- Using a Hot Shoe Mounted Speedlite ...124
Using Flash Settings ...125
Portraits with Flash ...126
Reducing and Removing Red-eye ...127
- Reducing or Correcting Red-eye in Shooting Modes ...127
- Removing Red-eye in Playback Mode ...128
Using Flash On— Fill Flash ...129
Using Available Light ...130
Using Slow Synchro Flash ...131
Controlling Flash Exposures ...133
- Flash Modes ...133
- Flash Exposure Lock ...133
- Flash Exposure Compensation ...134
- Adjusting Flash Output Manually ...134
Studio Lighting ...135
- Candidates for Studio Lighting ...135
- Lighting ...135
- Backgrounds ...137
- Risers ...137
- Special Bulbs ...137
Portrait and Product Photography— Introduction ...138
The Main Light ...139
The Fill Light ...140
The Background Light ...141
The Rim Light ...142
Chapter 7
Special Features ...143
Panoramas—Stitch Assist Mode ...144
- Basic Techniques ...144
- Stitch Assist Mode ...145
Using Color Accent and Color Swap...146
Using My Colors...147
- Using My Colors in Shooting Mode ...147
- Using My Colors in Playback Mode ...148
Continuous Photography ...149
Capturing Movies ...150
- Movie Modes ...150
- Movie Recording ...150
- Adjusting exposure ...151
- Taking Still Images ...151
Playing Movies ...152
Editing Movies ...153
Using C1 and C2 Modes ...154
Using The Shortcut Button ...155
Using My Menu ...156
Using the Set Up Menu ...157