Camera Labs

My new 'canon powershot sx130 IS' was a very wrong pick to buy, the decision of sticking to canon was its name fame! but now when I have bought this camera I noticed it takes images that are comparable to my old nokia 3230 images. Even though I made every fix and tried every trick the images are around or even below average; I wouldn't call them crappy because they are grain-less by far but still clear enough to recognize faces.

While reading reviews prior to buying it, the images I saw online were clear and that was what made me buy it actually and the 12x zoom capability attracted me as well...

I still see images claiming to be shot with this camera on sites like flickr totally alien to my knowledge and experiences with the images I had with this camera. I usually used P and Auto...settings were respective to the conditions as suggestions learned online.

I think I still need a reassurance if I am making some mistakes and lacking some settings in this camera?

Why not post an image and show us what exactly you mean?

_________________
Nikon D5000 and D300 with 12-24mm, 35mm f1.8, 50mm f1.4, 60mm f2.8 Macro, 18-200mm, 17-55mm f2.8 (all Nikon)

ok jeremy I will post an image here very soon..
Will try to take an image that tells the whole story I mean, hope my money won't go in waste...

Okay here are some samples of my new canon powershot sx130is



NORMAL LIGHT/EASY MODE (The leaves aren't even close to clear)





MAXIMUM 12X OPTICAL UPTO 48X DIGITAL ZOOM/AUTO MODE (Ridges on the surface are too blurry)







MACRO/FLUORESCENT/AUTO MODE (there is no clarity/details even it's in good light)




FLASH/MODE AUTO/MACRO (inferior to expected)




MACRO/DAY LIGHT/AUTO MODE (A fungus piece on a wood plank you can see its extremely blurry and somewhat useless for a macro)



LOW LIGHT/MACRO/WITHOUT FLASH/AUTO MODE (inferior to expected)



I will post rest of the images later...

Thats normally the image quality you get with a Point & Shoot ^^ (Limit controls)

(except Sigma and Leica compacts (pricy ones with APS-C Sensor) )

_________________
http://www.AnderssonPhoto.com
Cameras: Leica M8, Nikon FE-2, Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, 5D Mark II, 40D
Lenses: Voigtländer Nokton Classic 35mm 1.4, Ultra Wide Heliar 12mm 5.6 ASPH II, Nikkor AI-S 28mm 2.8, Canon 24-70 2.8L, 85mm 1.2L II, 300mm 2.8L IS, TS-E 45mm 2.8, Sigma 105mm 2.8 Macro
Canon 1.4x/2X TC II, Canon 580EX II X2, Gitzo + Manfrotto.
Wishlist: Leica Monochrom, Summilux 50 ASPH, Voigtlander 35mm 1.2 ASPH II

Hi Canon Guy,

May I offer you a warm welcome to the CameraLabs forum.

My first suggestion is to make sure you have the image quality set to "Fine". Shallow depth of field isn't usually a problem with the small sensors/lenses on cameras such as the SX 130 IS though the battery shot shows what can be accomplished. More usually the issue is diffraction softening as the very small pixels on the sensor demand an f-number which is usually close to the smallest available. Try setting f/8 (the largest f-number available) and the laws of physics demand that the lens can resolve detail no finer will cover about 10 pixels (linear resolving power reduced by a factor of three). For all except those rare occasions when shallow depth of field becomes an issue the right f-number is the smallest one available. My guess is that this is what will usually be set by the camera in Auto mode but you should be able to verify this if the shooting information is displayed on the LCD prior to fully depressing the shutter button. If that isn't happening then you can always go into Av mode and set the aperture manually.

You don't share any shooting information with us for any of the images above or whether and by how much they have been cropped. And even if the aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings are reasonable IS can only do so much and then only if it has a chance to settle down before you fully depress the shutter button. Ken's SX 130 IS review shows that good results can be obtained when the camera is operated sympathetically given the inherent limitations imposed by any 12MP sensor with a crop factor of 5.6. If you are happy that your technique is good and are sure that the camera is under-performing then maybe a warranty call to your vendor is in order?

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

I see some of the pictures are blurred because of the slow shutterspeed. That is NOT the cameras, that's YOU. You have shaky hands and that's why some pictures are blurred. Digital zoom is a kind of zoom Id not even want to use.
The quality goes backwards when using the digital zoom, so dont use that.
The first picture is taken against bright light, which is a challenge for even expensive lenses for DSLRs.
What's wrong with the egg, I dont know.

_________________
Ruben

Panasonic DMC-FZ18, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, Canon G5, Canon 350D, Canon 50D + BG-E2N
Tamron 17-50 2.8, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM,
Canon 18-55 II plus lots of Minolta MD/M42 lenses and bodies

Don. Homer
This camera is actually popular for its controllable imaging with its many manual controls and various modes like P,M, SCN, TV, AV etc. these controls are available only in to some Digital cameras and can be easily manipulated, it is considered to be analogous to the cameras other than basically point and shoot...I am not saying it but read it from expert reviews so I don't think it has limited controls like basic point and shoots! thanks for the interest.

_________________
A disappointed owner of a Canon Powershot SX130 IS!

I'm a noob but I have a SX130 IS and it takes great pictures for me except it struggles a little in low light. I rarely get a good pic in Auto mode and I see that is the mode you are using. When mine is in auto mode, in low light it cranks the ISO to maximum and takes grainy pictures. Try P mode instead, use evaluative metering, turn off the digital zoon and use optical only, and don't use more than IS0 800 for low light shots.

As mentioned before, you could have a bad camera. If you keep getting bad results exchange it for a new one. We bought a Panasonic ZX7 and took it back because we could only get 1 good shot out of 20 and it is highly rated. It could have been a bad copy but we got the SX130 and haven't looked back. It has me hooked and I am getting a T2i in the next few weeks.

Hi SVT Wylde,

And may I wish you a warm welcome to the CameraLabs community in turn.

Some great suggestions there.

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Im going to have to side with everybody else Im afraid Canon Guy and say that I think these are the standard results for the camera.

Have you by any chance come from film? If so the image quality will be lower than you have previously experienced.

Which mode are you in? If you dont know what you are doing, dont be afraid to use Auto. Auto mode when you dont know what you are doing will give better results than a manual mode. Later, as and when you learn about photography you can move onto P, and A and M later.

I should point out what Don Homer means isnt that this camera doesnt have manual controls and settings, but that it is just limited with what you can do than a larger sensor camera. The lens is worse, again especially if you have come from film. The sensor is smaller so noise results are worse and you wont get any bokeh etc etc.

A final point Id like to throw in is that anybody can make any camera look bad. The skill in my eyes to photography is finding the strengths and weaknesses of your gear and working around them. For example this isnt the sort of camera you shoot in the dark without a flash. Another example is that I used to shoot manual focus Leica's, so I didnt expect to turn up to a football game and get in focus shots.

_________________
Nikon D5000 and D300 with 12-24mm, 35mm f1.8, 50mm f1.4, 60mm f2.8 Macro, 18-200mm, 17-55mm f2.8 (all Nikon)

@Bob Andersson
thanks a lot Bob, I am actually shooting mostly in AUTO mode, I consider your explanation very insightful and valuable but as far as the warranty call has a chance I would like to ask one thing before I claim for any warranty that does the HD video quality have any good relationship with the image quality? As my HD video is quite good and detailed I would say, thats why I even take snapshots from the video sometimes because the stills taken from a video are better detailed than the still images my camera takes.

_________________
A disappointed owner of a Canon Powershot SX130 IS!

Hi Canon Guy,

I don't believe HD quality is relevant to this as video resolution is so much lower than stills resolution but I don't have your camera and, indeed, have never even held an SX 130 IS.

Without more information about the settings used for the shots above I'm still not convinced there's a problem with your camera but you are in the best position to decide that.

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Have you read my post already? What do you think is wrong with the camera? I think you have to go P and set the ISO at 200max, turn the digizoom off, learn that slow shutterspeeds result in blur etc.

_________________
Ruben

Panasonic DMC-FZ18, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, Canon G5, Canon 350D, Canon 50D + BG-E2N
Tamron 17-50 2.8, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM,
Canon 18-55 II plus lots of Minolta MD/M42 lenses and bodies

12X OPTICAL ZOOM UPTO 30X DIGITAL ZOOM/AUTO MODE/ISO AUTO














**NOW HERE IS A SNAP SHOT TAKEN FROM A HD720P VIDEO SHOT WITH THE SAME CAMERA**

_________________
A disappointed owner of a Canon Powershot SX130 IS!