My wife got this one for Christmas also, 35X zoom=840mm....that's
a pretty impressive zoom, we were taking moon eclipse shots, me using
a 200mm SLR lens around $2000, with 2X converter, =400mm.
I think she beat me! I'll show some pics later for comparisment.....
Merry Christmas, you got a awsome camera!
Konrad

I have an older powershot that is still plodding along. I only have 12X zoom, which is more than most cameras. Read the instruction booklet, and -play with it as much as you can. I took the book with me for about 6 months until I had everything figured out.....Nice gift, lucky you. Enjoy.
PS the great thing about Canons is they dont use other companies for parts - its all Canon.

To my surprise Santa got me a canon SD 1400 pocket camera, some
are made in China, some in Japan.

Here is the compare pictures of moon eclipse from my SLR 7D and Canon PowerShot SX30 IS

PowerShot SX30 IS, straight out of camera, hand held, it was too cold
to monkey around with tripod.

Canon 7D, 200mm lens with 2x extender, hand held.

As you can see, the power shot is a very respectable camera.

Konrad

I should say that condition was not very good, the sky wasn't very clear,
it seemed a bit fogy.

the pics look good ....... gotta admit the little canon did a great job. did you have to go to the fullest digital zoom or did you just go to the 35X ? I have played with mine some......after I get into the digital they seem real foggy...actuallu some staying within the 35X seems foggy. Not sure what might be happening!

Trying to post some of my shots with new camera......I think they look foggy. Opinions please!

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Think you can do better,... I have to ask my wife, what setting did you use,
are your pixel setting set to the max?

just now in the process of printing off 196 page booklet, as one DID NOT come with the camera:(( How do you set pixels to the max? ANY help will be appreciated. Whats the chance of having a bad camera? Not a good thought but my first HP camera it took till I exchanged and got the 3rd camera before I got one that performed well, and it was a GREAT camera. I basically just took this one out of the box set it on auto and zoomed in and clicked! Not real smart on lots of fancy setting .......but would like to learn

Max pixel is the same as large file [L], go to function and set to L

Auto is not a bad setting when you're not used to others, the moon was
on auto digital zoom, not full.

Kenn, [Link on bottom] has the same camera and makes nice bird pictures...a little post processed, sometimes he uses the converter 1.7X

Here is one my wife took full zoom towards leaning birdhouse,.. see the black frame, back of property, a bit fogy.

Without zoom

Full zoom hand held..

I do believe that sometime you can get a bad camera, perhaps a re-packaged also.

Konrad

Here is a link that might be useful: Kenn's Bird pictures

Thanks for all the info. I will definately try to change the pixel setting. The bird house looks great. And what a lovely setting in the snow. No snow in Tx. Boo-hoo!! I also went on DPReview and read lots of posts....not a lot of A+ ratings. Kenn's bird pics are awesome....lots of people don't seem to think he is being totally honest....but still enjoyed his pics. Told my hubby I guess I have a decision to make...as my return time is fast running out. I enjoy siting on the stand taking close-ups and almost to the point of having a take with me proof of what I was seeing thru a binocular!! I don't do much printing for the sake of framing and hanging my pics. Far from a professional but just like taking pics. I really think the lighting may have been a problem also. I have been taking shots the last few days and we have been having very overcast days and they are very blurry. I still may consider exchanging, in case I did get a lemon. I appreciate your respnses.
Linda

Oldcrafty, I'm not familiar with your camera, but are you saying you enabled digital zoom as well as optical zoom? You might see how you do with just optical, as that's the true zoom. "Digital zoom" is more of a crop than a zoom lens.

Also, your photos are out of focus as well as overexposed. Did you depress the shutter button halfway first, to allow the camera to focus and adjust exposure? Could your hands shake a bit? Image Stabilization can do only so much to correct camera shake if it's caused by the photographer. You might see how the camera does on a tripod.

Shooting at full zoom makes everything harder for the camera. I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, but excellent results at a long zoom can be tricky to achieve.

Agree, since you shoot towards the deer feeder [stationary], you
could put your camera on a tripod...see if it makes a difference.
Also put it on timer.

As was mentioned before, I too thought the photos were slightly overexposed and possibly have a slight blur from motion.

To test my theory I copied one of the photos and did a quick edit using "Photoscape", which is a free download photo editing program from Google. (Just insert the word "Photoscape" in your browser serch bar to find a download site).

During the edit under the heading "Bright/Color" I hit "contrast enhancement-middle", "Deepen-middle" and "Darken-middle" then I hit the Sharpen Button and selected mid scale at 6" and finally a save. Total edit time about 2 minutes.

While I am sure that your camera is capable of taking much better photos in my humble opinion the problem is not in the camera, but rather you have not yet learned the finer points of shooting wildlife. To that end I may be able to offer a solution.

I am currently in the process of writing a series of lessons for our local photoclub on basic photography & bird & wildlife photography. If you would like copies of the lessons send me and email and I will be glad to send you copies free.

email to LazyPup@yahoo.com

Here is your photo after a quick edit.

Linda, you can do the same editing with your CD that came with your
camera.

When shooting moving subjects like deer or birds, heaving camera set
on auto, you will get allot of blurry pictures, kind of hit and miss because camera doesn't know how fast things are moving.
[shutter speed too low]

Then, ..my preferred setting is TV, [shutter priority] changing shutter speed and ISO.
I know that for shooting birds I have to go from around 1/250 of a second to around 1/1000 shutter speed.
You have done nicely on your first try, the nice thing about today's
digital, you don't have to be a pro, you can always delete a ton of pictures and keep the good one's, that second deer picture looks pretty good, you can be proud of it,.. you're just in the beginning, ..have fun!
..
I don't like editing, most often one can get carried away and go
overboard, seen it allot here....I don't think one of Kenn's bird picture he post is without editing. It may look good but it's not natural color anymore.
Konrad

Thank you both for all your input. I hope to try your suggestions this weekend.
Lazypup....it almost doesn't even look like the same pic....the colors are so much more vivid and so much more detail shows up.
I'm gonna dig out my tripod for my next outing and I feel sure that in itself wil be a big help. I've not ever really tried editing.....but I'm certainly gonna give it a try

You can also put your camera on sports setting ...[faster shutter speed]
for your deer pictures.

Due to this thread I went out and purchased one of these cameras...I can not wait to get a nice day to go play with it.
The key in getting the best photos out of your camera is to play with it. Read the manual and just try out all the settings.

The days around here have been real overcast....not much good for getting good sharp pics. I've decided to keep mine.....I'm gonna try real hard to master some of the finer picture taking skills that is being provided to me for guidance.....and hope I can master it!! I have been amazed to say the least, as to how far out this camera can reach. Not always the sharpest pics so far.....but I am hopeful they will come. Besides it has been "fun" playing around and seeing just what it is capable of reaching out to. My son has a device, not sure what the official name is, but he can tell me how far away a subject is. Then the challenge is on to see if I can capture it! Good luck and I hope you enjoy it.

Good...you'll be pleased.

>>My son has a devicecould be a range finder, hunters use them.

Here a bird picture, [common redpolls] with the same camera you have, on auto setting straight out of the camera, poor light, cloudy.

Another one..

Ohhhhh! Very nice! If you keep that up Konrad, I may be buying a new camera! Nice Pic!

Does the camera take macro photos as well?

Kt

GREAT shots.....theres still hope for my efforts to capture some really good shots as you have. I'm jealous of the time you had to get out and shoot.....I spent all weekend working!

Yes, the camera does video and macro. It takes some awesome shots. Some of the more extended telephotos will come out grainy, I read the manual and if you go past this line in the telephoto/zoom option, the meter will turn blue, apparently shots taken in this area will be more grainy than those taken in the non blue area. Still. I am very very please with this camera....the price is right as well

Thanks, Mazer. Can you post any macros taken with your new camera, if you have any?

I wonder how long a charged battery will last under 'normal' photography?

Do you have a lens multiplier or do you know if they make one for this camera?

Thanks!

Kt

Here two macro shots from tonight, [not the best lighting] adding light with flash light.

A penny with needle and thread.

A brown egg...being round, this of course will focus only on a very small area.

A battery can take over 300 pictures, that includes some taken with flash.

Sorry, 3rd. question I can't answer, but I'm sure you don't need extra lens.

I doubt therre is a multiplier for this lens and quite frankly you dont need a multiplier...The batteries are less than $40 I bought an extra one which I intend to take both batteries fully charged with me whenever I go out in the field.

Thanks Konrad and Mazer.

Kt

The Canons that I'm familar with have two focusing modes: continous and only at exposure time. In the continous mode, the focus mechansiam is active all the time and is using up battery charge. It is constantly trying to keep the scene in focus as y u move the camera around. Many users turn this off to conserve power. In the other mode, the autofocus become active only when the shutter button is pressed half way down to its first detent. In this mode, the shooter must allow enough time for the camera to focus before pressing the shutter all teh way down to record the shot. In good light, those Canons do focus fairly fast, usually in the time it take the user to compose the scene. But focusing takes more time for low light and at long zooms. The farther the zoom, the longer it may take. I think that on onme of your deer shots, the camera was not fullt focused when the shot was recorded.

In another matter, I have been able to hand hold shots up to 2 and maybe 3 times zoom in good light where the shutter speed is fast. Once you approach 5X zoom and beyond, you'll need someting to steady the camera or very fast shutter speed. Your shots of the deer appear to be at least 5X zoom.