Technika Pro SH-C350 settings, help needed please

Due to having a few pennies to spare and getting brave beyond my actual ability with a camera I went and got a new one - a Technika Pro SH-C350.

My prefered shots to try and take are action shots of dogs, [ agility mostly ], and I was getting the hang of those with my usual camera but decided it was time to try for sharper shots with more clarity hence going from a 6.1 mega pixel camera to a 12 mega pixel.

The new one however has settings available that I can`t fathom, reading the manual varies from ` but how do I do that` to ` eh wot ??` to the words just starting to merge together before my eyes in a jumble of babble that`s beyond me

And typical of a manual it says what a camera can do but not how to set it correctly to do what I`m after as it seems to be written for people who already understand all the terminologies or for men, who as we know are born knowing how things work without needing to read a manual in the first place

I have been googling for tips but again everything assumes people already know which settings to use or at least knows what they mean enough for tips to make sense

I have tried the various iso settings, [ it goes up to 1600 ] but found the `noise` increased greatly with each setting, and I have been experimenting with the sports setting, plus Burst and Continuous, but when it comes to how and what to set shutter speed to and things like that I`m at a loss cos my other camera does`nt have options for choosing settings and does`nt have anything like the range of this new one within its auto settings anyway.

So if anyone has the time and patience, please can I have a mega simplified idiot guide on how to get the best from this camera pretty please - I know it has the potential for some smashing shots and I`m already pleased with the detail it gives for general still type photo`s but it`s the fast moving one`s I really want to master with it

[ I did use search here of course and spotted that perrodeagua has one of this model but had`nt read the manual so I did look around before posting to ask for help

I couldn't give you much info. about this camera as I don't have one but you will generally find it performs better on sunny days or bright conditions. The reason is that you have a lot of megapixels crammed into a small sensor that make it noisy if you increase ISO speed (the apparent sensitivity of the digital sensor) so it will be best to keep this at 200 or less. Your previous camera was probably less noisy because only 6 megapixels in the same size sensor. It's worth pointing out there are a lot of compromises on this type of camera but you can still enjoy it.

You are asking a fair bit of a camera like that to get action shots of dogs particularly in lower light levels. It requires a fast shutter speed and likely the zoom needs to be extended (which then makes focussing more difficult and requires an even faster shutter speed to maintain sharpness and prevent camera shake - which are helped on brighter days and/or increasing ISO), plus as you probably notice a camera like that has a slight delay when you press the shutter.

If your camera has a 'sports' setting that may be best for the dogs. If not, maybe 'P- Program' and an ISO of 200, possibly 400 if the noise is acceptable to you. Cameras like that often have special settings for landscape, portraits, night time shots so use those to get started.

The other thing worth understanding would be exposure compensation +/- The camera exposure meter can be fooled. If you go outside and photograph a snowy landscape your camera will think it is very bright and reduce exposure. Your picture will be dark and snow will look grey. It actually requires approx. double the exposure the camera thinks.

Appreciated I haven't explained your camera specifically or 'all the reasoning why' but hopefully you have some ideas there that you can build on. A book from the library or loads of websites explain the technicalities.

If you did get into photography a little more seriously megapixels aren't everything. An 7-8MP Canon or branded compact is a quality compromise and a 6-8MP digital SLR will offer you more quality than you know what to do with.

You live and learn...

???????

What are you talking about BC?

You live and learn , what??? I am curious now

Goodness, today is one of those days when I don't seem to understand what most people are talking about, what you on about Moonie and BC?

Patch congratulations on your new camera. To take shots of a moving dog you are best to set the camera to the sports setting or multi shot setting. To start with only try in good light because you can't use a flash and if you can change the ISO on you camera, do, change it to at least 400 even in good light.

Try that for a start and when you get that to work come back for some further suggestions.

Apologies for taking so long to come back to the thread

Thank you BlackCloud for the detailed response, scarily, [ for me ], much of what you say makes sense to me

OK, I am getting used to the delay in terms of timing for a shot, I use sport setting mostly but on that one it won`t let me change the ISO.

On `TV` setting it lets me change shutter speed but not ISO and on another setting it lets me change ISO but not speed, and P does`nt seem to want to let me do either, [ unless I`m missing the settings bit ].

TV seems so far to be giving me the best shots for sharpness but because it won`t let me alter the ISO the shots come out a bit dark, not too much of a problem as I can lighten them with software then reduce noise and bring the colour up to what it should be, but I need to figure out how to set the ISO and the speed when on sports setting - which it does`nt look like it will let me - very frustrating

These are a few I have got so far but I can`t remember which settings I used because I was experimenting and did`nt think to note which I used at any point, but they are sort of getting close to what I want for clarity at speed at least









What I am very pleased with so far is the clarity for still shots, I`m not used to taking photos which show so much detail down to where coat colours meet showing strands of hair, when I look at older photos in comparison I can see a big difference due to the extra pixels.


Old camera [ might have been my Canon A10, can`t remember now ]



compared to new camera





Now if I can just figure out how to get the setting I want for speed and ISO together for taking action shots I`ll be a very happy bunny

Looking forward to lots more agility pics! Loving these.I miss it so much......

Thanks Fudgeley
It`s a shame your club does`nt train all year round, mind you I have had to cancel sessions here and there because of rain as the ground gets too boggy but don`t worry, Fudge won`t forget what she has learned during out of season, you`ll soon be back to it
Am about to post some in the pets section which I took today and hopefully there will be some good tips for me for improving the settings

I've got the same camera and can't for the life of me think how I've done the action shots in the past, unfortunately got work for the rest of the week so couldn't even have a play!

perrodeagua, can`t you throw a sickie