HELP!!! Beginner going to Europe with F10!!

[Lookin4camera]

Hey all!

First off I want to thank everyone. I've been searching for awhile on a new digital camera for a trip to Europe - something small, great indoors and outdoors, not costing too much in case it is damaged or stolen, but yet will take solid pictures. After reading MANY posts and web sites and magazines, I settled on either the F10 or F30.

The F10 sold me because:

Seeing the great Walmart deal for the F10 ($250 Canadian) and the $499 Canadian F30 price.

The F30 release date - Does anyone really know?

For a camera that is coming out soon, where are all the "fantastic" preview shots to get us excited?

No reviews for the F30 to go by - Obviously

And i'm hesitant on buying anything new to the market in case there are bugs etc....

ANYWAY!!! The reason i'm writing this is, as my headline shows, i'm doing a back-packing trip to Europe in June. The one thing I've gathered about the F10 from your posts, is that it has a personality of it's own - that you have to adjust it a bit to get the best shots. So, I call upon you experts out there who can give me any tips and advice on using the F10 for the following conditions - or do i stick to the pre-determined steeings:

outdoor - daylight - including landscapes/cityscapes
outdoor - low-light including sunrise/sunset cloudy day
outdoor - night including cityscapes

Indoor - low light - including museums/stage performances
Indoor - Very low light - including dance clubs/pubs/parties w/o using a flash

and What is the best computer software to modify/enhance photos with?

Thanks all. Please help me out with this as i'm sure many beginners out there have the same questions.

Erik!

[P_Schneider]

Well first off good choice. I think you will love the F10 once you get used to it.

Here are my recommendations for the scenarios you laid out.

outdoor - daylight - including landscapes/cityscapes
you can use either manual mode w/ auto ISO or Landscape mode from the SP menu

outdoor - low-light including sunrise/sunset cloudy day
Manual mode w/ high ISO if you are facing away from the sun. You may have to lower the ISO if your shooting in the direction of the sun and it's not cloudy. (this is a bit of a balancing act since your dealing with high contrast subject matter.)

outdoor - night including cityscapes
Night mode from the SP menu. ISO is locked for this mode so not a consideration. You can set exposure up to 15 seconds from the Long Exposure menu which is Menu > Setup > Tab 2 > Long Exposure. You turn that on then
you can adjust the seconds from the ring around the menu button.

Indoor - low light - including museums/stage performances
for stationary objects such as the museum you can use manual mode w/ auto ISO. For stage with people moving you may have to raise the ISO to bring up the shutter speed then tweak the shots levels if it comes out too dark. This is assuming no flash.

Indoor - Very low light - including dance clubs/pubs/parties w/o using a flash
Here again if people are moving you are probably going to have to raise the ISO so your subjects dont blur from the movement. This you can probably test ahead of time at your local club. (I have not tried this scenario yet, this advice is my best guess)

For software I use Photoshop CS but it's spendy. I have heard good things about Picasa from Google but I have not tried it yet. Neat image is a must for cleaning up noise from high ISO shots. The TIPA awards gave DxO Optics Pro 3.5 the nod in the best photo software but I haven't tried that either.

Hope this helps and really the best way to figure this stuff out is to go out and shoot some pics. I ususally carry my camera with me on a daily basis and just take different shots in different conditions just get a feel for all of the functions. I am still fairly new to the camera as well, only having it since xmas so I haven't really played with a lot of the options yet.

[Nesster]

Yes, the F10 works great & does a good job right out of the box.

I'd add the following bits to P_Schneider's excellent summary:

outdoors, if sunny and contrasty, and especially if the subject of interest is bright/white: in manual mode -1/3 exposure comp. I tend to leave it there during the day.

One thing about landscape mode is that the camera goes into 'chrome' color. This is useful to remember, as night / low light shots can benefit from more color intensity.

The auto ISO tends to be in a hurry to raise ISO, that's one reason to stick with the manual. However, in a museum etc high ISO isn't that bad, I really don't mind the ISO1600 noise, but your mileage may vary. On the other hand, since there isn't much noise, you may wish to set ISO to say 200 in order to get faster shutter speed and smaller aperture --auto might select 80 or 100 in that situation.

That's about it - you essentially have 2.5 setups available via the top switch: auto, manual (where you can preset ISO and exposure comp), and the scene mode you've selected. My main problem is to keep all that in mind, LOL!

For photo editing I get plenty of use from Photoshop Elements 1.0. The latest version is something like $90USD, but prior versions do plenty. I really don't see the need to upgrade to full Photoshop, but would have to think it over if it were between the latest Elements vs. a full photoshop of a couple of releases ago...

Hope this helps, and have a great time!

(New York Times had a review of upmarket p&s cameras yesterday... they mentioned the F30 is being released 'this month' but did not have a sample.)

[P_Schneider]

outdoors, if sunny and contrasty, and especially if the subject of interest is bright/white: in manual mode -1/3 exposure comp. I tend to leave it there during the day.

Good tip there, I will give that a try.
thanks,