Help with Shutter Speed

[Sunshinelewis]

Hey guys, I am attending a party tonight and need to know how to set my shutter speed on my cannon powershot pro 1. I want to be able to take photos quickly.(Blast mode maybe?) I will be taking alot of photos of kids *moving kids that is.lol* so I don't want to miss a shot. I don't know much about setting the controls yet. I have a reading on the bottom of my display that says 1/125, is this the shutter speed? (By the way I selected the Tv option instead of Auto, so I could adjust the shutter speed.) It also says ISO/50.
I thought I could figure this out myself or I would have asked sooner...Thanks in advance.

[beaucat]

ISO 50 is going to be way too low for an indoor party - you'll probably want ISO 400 or 800.

You'll want a faster shutter speed in order to capture the kids. Unfortunately, my brain has gone and left me today so I can't remember which direction is faster - LOL. You can figure it out by setting the camera to two (vastly) different shutter speeds and see which is faster.

Angela

[seebee]

The higher ISO number will likely be necessary for indoor photography. You'll get more grain/noise in your photos, but that's the trade-off, I'm afraid. Flash will help if you want to use it. And the larger the number on the bottom of that shutter speed ratio, the faster your shutter speed is. (So, 1/125 is faster than 1/50, for instance.) Your burst mode would definitely take pictures rapidly in terms of shots per second, but how quickly depends on the camera.

[Hollie]

Hmmm...well "party" and "night" together--thining you will have a challenging lighting situation. I'm not familiar with the Pro1 and its capabilities, but here are a few things to consider:

What do you want these shots for? Are they just for memories--snapshots? I'd rather sacrifice a bit of quality and get the shots I want then worry about perfect settings. Or are you wanting to get some posed shots and maybe do something a bit more special? Then I'd say try to get the settings right (for a posed shot, you should have time to set the cam). Or do you want both?

Is this in someone's home, or at a location that is more "one big room?" If a home, then I'd just put the cam on auto, because every room will have different lighting and need adjustments and you just won't have time for that (for snapshots anyhow). You can adjust settings for each posed shot that is in different lighting/different rooms. Low light needs either a slow shutter speed, a fast aperature (small f-number) or a flash. Or some combination. If your shutter speed is too slow, then you will either get blur from moving people or blur from the camera shaking (due to you not being able to sit immoblie while holding it). I'd bump the ISO up to at least 800 and set the shutter speed at 1/100 using your lowest f-number. Then take a test shot and see if it is okay. Adjust accordingly (isn't digital great for this!!).

If the room is very bright, you can use faster shutter speeds, higher f-numbers, and lower ISO speeds (or some combination).

If the party is in one big room, then you might be able to choose your settings and leave them--but if it's not bright enough, you'll still need the flash for the moving kids.

Sorry--this probably doesn't sound like much help, but you have to adjust for specific situations, and there are so many possiblities at a party in the eve--it's just not possible to say "set the cam this way and you'll get great photos." If you have time to "practice" or play around with settings to see what happens when you change different things, then try it! But if you just want to make sure you get the shots and don't know what to use, then really, I'd pick auto so I didn't miss a moment I wanted--if it were me anyhow.