Best settings for indoor lower light shots with S2...

[AMDnut]

First off, I'm a newbie here so "HELLO"!!! Been lurking and reading a while and like what I saw so I signed up. New Canon S2IS owner here since the price dropped upon release of the S3. Love it so far, but...

As thread questioned, what are your settings that are a good starting point for indoor lower light shots? I am happy with the outdoor performance, and indoor with good lighting as well, but have been disappointed with lower light situations. Was at a waterpark resort with indoor slides and lower light and could not get good shots. I needed faster shutter to capture the kids movement on the slides, but needed more light to come in and could not get a good combo.

Have I found the S2 "Achilles Heel"? Is there something that I am doing wrong? That is very possible as I am newer to the S2 and am not totally up to spped on settings. I will admit, I have a lot to learn! That is one reason I am here!!!

Thanks in advance for the tips!

[AMDnut]

Oh yeah, here is my moon shot.... gotta join the club!:D

[JTL]

Have I found the S2 "Achilles Heel"?What you have found is actually the "non-SLR" Achilles Heel...

[Wesan]

Maybe a slave flash could help? Canon has one called HF-DC1 and Soligor one called DG-340 AZ. On the Soligor, you can also tilt the flash head (right word? Sorry, English is not my native language... :o ) to make it bounce off a wall or the ceiling, making the flash light softer. I have ordered the Soligor for my S3, but I haven't got it yet. The delivery has been delayed.

Soligor seems to be a German brand (www.soligor.com). Don't know if it's available where you live. But I'm sure there are other brands in that case, that have slave flashes for the S2/S3-cameras.

Wesan

[AMDnut]

JTL - I figured that, there will be a Nikon D50 in my future....:D

Wesan - Thanks for the info and link, I will look into the slaves!

[swgod98]

Nobody mentioned ISO settings...? AMDnut, be sure to up your ISO settings. I've found (even with the S2) that while ISO 400 is not the prettiest on the S2, it will still print great 4x6's.

Try upping your ISO to 200. If that doesn't work, go to 400. if that doesn't work, you're SOL short of a slave flash.

Also, don't zoom too much. Try to keep the aperture fully open (which means limited zooming - or none at all!).