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Last Post 08/01/2013 6:22 PM by  Jud G.
Camera Purchase???
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Author Messages
Tom Toll
Moderator & Life Member
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts:1865


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09/09/2008 10:04 AM

Bob, your a bad influence. You made me go out and buy the Canon 870 elph. I love the darn thing. Good wide angle, easy to take onto roofs, and excellent photos. I still use my Sony DSLR, but the little one is most comfortable. Thanks for your write up. Now, if I can just figure out how to turn off that wheel thingy.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
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BobH
Veteran Member
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Posts:759


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09/09/2008 10:17 PM
Posted By Tom Toll 
...Bob, your a bad influence.

At least there are some things you can count on in this life.

Posted By Tom Toll 
...Now, if I can just figure out how to turn off that wheel thingy.


Menu

This is what you will see when you press the "menu" button (Courtesy of DPreview.com) and the first thing you want to do is push the "4 way controller thing" to the right so that the "wrench and hammer" (settings) column of choices is active (rather than the "camera" column that you see in this image).

Then you scroll down to "touch icons" and change the default "on" setting to "off". You don't get a lot of feedback at this point to confirm your change, you have to press the "menu" button again to exit and save your selection.  This is what DPreview.com says toward the end of their review about that touch wheel thing:

Less impressive is the touch wheel, which appears to be a slightly fumbled attempt to fit extra functions onto fewer buttons. Ironically, the functions that it accesses (in record mode, at least), only required two buttons to be pressed anyway, making it questionable whether it delivers convenience or complexity.

And they also make another comment that I agree with.  Lot's of camera's coming out in the last couple years try to "detect a face" in the photo, and focus on THAT.  This camera also has an "Artificial Intelligence" focus, which is where there are multiple zones in the picture that it analyses and you really have no control over which one it is choosing as most important to focus on.  If you study the color of lights on the "focus indicator points" you can see what the camera is deciding, but you may have your attention on something else, and the image isn't focused on what you want.  Or it keeps trying to focus on the furniture next to you rather than the wide view of the room, no matter what you do.  All new cameras have this grief, and I turn that feature off and simply select the "center focus" option. 

That is what we did in the old days, twisting the lens barrel on the SLR camera until the center "split screen" thing was lined up, and in-focus, and you could then take the shot or pan over to the view that you wanted after establishing the focus (modern cameras you push the shutter down 1/2 way, then hold it there, pan over to the view you want, and push shutter button fully to take the shot).

You change this camera to "center focus" by going to the Menu shown above (for camera, not the "wrench and hammer" settings) and the very first item is "AF Frame".  You just move it away from "Face Detect" or Artificial Intelligence (Ai) and put it in "center".  That last page of DP Review also had this to say:

AiAF/Face detection a little haphazard

The solution for me was to just turn it off.  (use "center" focus).  I find the menu's hard to access on this camera (to force flash on, or off, if you are in "auto" point and shoot mode) but otherwise it is a great camera.  It is a compromise for the ultra-compact size, and a trade-off I am willing to make.
(Edit: The SD870 was recently replaced by the wide-angle SD880)
Bob H
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Roy Estes
Member
Member
Posts:155


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09/09/2008 11:29 PM

GET  CHEAP DIGITAL 5X ZOOM CAMERA, ONE THAT YOU CAN CHARGE THE BATTERY, AND HAS A USB PORT, LOAD THE SOFTWARE, ADJUST IT TO 640X480, AND IMPROVISE.

"Each of us as human beings has a responsibility to reach out to help our brothers and sisters affected by disasters. One day it may be us or our loved ones needing someone to reach out and help." RC ESTES
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Linda
Life Member
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Posts:35


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05/21/2011 11:07 AM
DATE/TIME Stamp

For those of you working for companies who require the Date/Time stamp embedded in the photos, please be aware not all new cameras have these capabilities. Don't assume your new camera has this feature. I have a Sony Cybershot that is a few years old which has it and the new ones do not. Before anyone argues with me, you can check the Sony web site. There are programs which can imbed it for you but who needs to do an extra step? Check the camera BEFORE you purchase it.
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Jud G.
Advanced Member
Advanced Member
Posts:509


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08/01/2013 6:22 PM
It's been a while since this forum was updated, but I remember vividly the tips that Bob H. provided regarding camera technology. These tips helped me out and the lessons in understanding camera features on this forum are still valid.

The dated information really only relates to the models of cameras mentioned here as they may be obsolete now. I ran a search on the latest Canon ELPH models and came up with this: http://www.dpreview.com/news/2011/0...ixus220hs.
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