1st day S3 newbie questions

[iem]

happy holidays!

yes, i know i picked a bad day to finally take the camera out of the box, LOL but . . . .

i've read the manuals and tested some things out, but i have a few minor issues, that i'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction of.

1. am i doing something wrong or does continuous shooting not work with the flash on?

2. i am using 2200 mah rechargeable batteries (because i can't find the charger for the 2500 mah batteries).

i took 52 pictures and about 2 minutes of video and the low battery light started flashing. i have the camera set to "P" mode, large and superfine. the iso is set to auto. the batteries are not brand new, but they were fully charged when i put them in the camera. is this typical for 2200 mah batteries?

if it matters or helps, i have a 2gb 150x card in the camera.

3. the video play back sound is very low, even though i have the volume as high as it will go.

4. can i display the total number of pictures taken on the screen? this would be helpful when i want to review the ones i just took, because i would know how far back to go. the reason i know how many pictures i took in #2 above is because i counted them as i viewed them.

5. do i have to use the software that comes with the camera to download the pictures & video? i have photoshop elements and i'd like to put the photos in there. if it matters, i've never used photoshop elements.

6. i've looked but can't figure out how to turn off all of the icons that are on the screen. it's a bit distracting. 2 or 3 wouldn't be so bad, but there are probably 10 icons on the screen and the ones that i'd really like to see, like battery life and # of photos/video taken aren't there, or if they are - the screen is too cluttered for me to know what they are.

7. is it better for the camera to use an ac adapter when copying pictures to the hard drive? i didn't use one for my old camera and i didn't notice any problems, but i don't want to do anything to mess this camera up, so i figured it's better to ask before i copy any pictures to my hard drive.

thank you
indera

[XaiLo]

1. am i doing something wrong or does continuous shooting not work with the flash on?


continue to hold the button down it takes a sec for the flash to cycle.



2. i am using 2200 mah rechargeable batteries (because i can't find the charger for the 2500 mah batteries).

i took 52 pictures and about 2 minutes of video and the low battery light started flashing. i have the camera set to "P" mode, large and superfine. the iso is set to auto. the batteries are not brand new, but they were fully charged when i put them in the camera. is this typical for 2200 mah batteries?

if it matters or helps, i have a 2gb 150x card in the camera.


I would say that is not normal at all I use 2500mah PowerX and 2100mah Sony rechargeables and they last for well over 500 pics actually they can max my 2GB card with no problem. And more than a week if I'm doing casual shooting never really checked to see how long they last in an unused state, but it's never been a problem. What make are your rechargeables and how long have you had them?





3. the video play back sound is very low, even though i have the volume as high as it will go.


I've shot clips of a sermon and playback was great. go to the menu second tab the gold one third option down is audio option depress the set button check your mic level mine has two ticks selected or half way.



4. can i display the total number of pictures taken on the screen? this would be helpful when i want to review the ones i just took, because i would know how far back to go. the reason i know how many pictures i took in #2 above is because i counted them as i viewed them.


when the camera is in playback mode look in the lower left hand corner and it displays the amount of pictures taken and the number of the picture placement being reviewed. In record mode the lower right hand corner tell you in detailed veiw how many pictures you have remaining



5. do i have to use the software that comes with the camera to download the pictures & video? i have photoshop elements and i'd like to put the photos in there. if it matters, i've never used photoshop elements.


No. use a usb card reader instead.



6. i've looked but can't figure out how to turn off all of the icons that are on the screen. it's a bit distracting. 2 or 3 wouldn't be so bad, but there are probably 10 icons on the screen and the ones that i'd really like to see, like battery life and # of photos/video taken aren't there, or if they are - the screen is too cluttered for me to know what they are.


Back of the camera right side bottom there is a button designated display, when depressed it will show a simple and a detailed view for the viewfinder and LCD display.



7. is it better for the camera to use an ac adapter when copying pictures to the hard drive? i didn't use one for my old camera and i didn't notice any problems, but i don't want to do anything to mess this camera up, so i figured it's better to ask before i copy any pictures to my hard drive.

thank you
indera

Never owned the AC adapter have shot thousands of pics never had an issue, though now out of habbit I do incremental downloads.

Congratulations welcome to the community and please share some pictures with us in the "Some S3 Pics" thread. :)

I know the manual is not the greatest but read it a couple of times and remember your not going to learn this camera in a day it's going to take a minute, happy shooting and auto isn't worth too muc try shooting in "P" mode.

[nap]

I used partially-charged 800 mAh for my test shots and I had over 80 shots (Around 60% without flash) before the low-battery warning showed up. I had over 300 shots (90% with flash) with my 1600mAh batteries and the low-battery warning hasn't showed up yet.

If you don't want to use an SD card reader, you can use the USB cable that came with the camera to plug in your camera to the USB port of your computer. If you have Windows 2000 or newer you won't need to install the software that came with the camera.

[iem]

hi XaiLo,

this is the 3rd time that i'm trying to respond to your message. i think it keeps timing out on me.


continue to hold the button down it takes a sec for the flash to cycle.

ok, i will try it and let you know what happens.



I would say that is not normal at all I use 2500mah PowerX and 2100mah Sony rechargeables and they last for well over 500 pics actually they can max my 2GB card with no problem. And more than a week if I'm doing casual shooting never really checked to see how long they last in an unused state, but it's never been a problem. What make are your rechargeables and how long have you had them?


i didn't think it was normal.

i've had the batteries for at least 2 years, but haven't used them much because my other camera was terrible.

the make/brand name of the batteries is "digital".

does it matter that i took all of the pictures with the flash on because it was night time?

does it matter that i used the zoom way too much, as this was the first time that i used the camera?

i also need to read the book again to find out approx how many pictures are left when the red battery light starts flashing.

i can see me having the camera shut off for no battery life - LOL

i have some brand new energizer rechargeable 2500 mah batteries that are brand new, but for some reason i can't find the charger, which is strange because everything came in the same package.

i bought them maybe 4 months ago when i saw them on sale, and i haven't used them yet. i bought them in anticipation of getting this camera.



I've shot clips of a sermon and playback was great. go to the menu second tab the gold one third option down is audio option depress the set button check your mic level mine has two ticks selected or half way.


i checked and all of the squares for the audio are selected. i will turn it down.



when the camera is in playback mode look in the lower left hand corner and it displays the amount of pictures taken and the number of the picture placement being reviewed. In record mode the lower right hand corner tell you in detailed veiw how many pictures you have remaining


hmmm, in playback mode there is nothing on the screen but the picture.
in the view finder in the left it has 117/117.
back to the book i go.

in record mode on the screen in the lower right corner are the following numbers:
10' 41''
499

does this mean that i have 499 more pictures to go on the 2 gb card?

back to the battery issue - now that you've told me how to tell how many pictures i have taken, i need to add that to take the 117 photos (i guess this # also includes the 2 or 3 video clips), that i have charged the batteries 2 times and am currently on the 3rd charge? this time i'm not zooming all over the place, like i was a few days ago.




No. use a usb card reader instead.


ok, i will add this to my shopping list.
the 2 laptops that i'm looking at have a built in card reader.
is it better to buy an external card reader?
if so, does the brand matter?



Back of the camera right side bottom there is a button designated display, when depressed it will show a simple and a detailed view for the viewfinder and LCD display.

when i push the "disp" button, i get a histogram, in addtion to all of the icons on the lcd, when i push it again the histogram goes away.

i push it again the lcd goes blank and i get all the icons in the view finder.
i push it again and get the histogram.

i want to find a way to reduce all of the icons. they are in my way on the lcd.



Never owned the AC adapter have shot thousands of pics never had an issue, though now out of habbit I do incremental downloads.

Congratulations welcome to the community and please share some pictures with us in the "Some S3 Pics" thread. :)

I know the manual is not the greatest but read it a couple of times and remember your not going to learn this camera in a day it's going to take a minute, happy shooting and auto isn't worth too muc try shooting in "P" mode.

ok cool, i can cross the adapter off my list.

thank you for welcoming me.
i will post some pictures as soon as i get them off the card - LOL

i can't say that the manual is bad.
it does tell you where the options are, just not thorough enough to know what to do with the option, once you find it - LOL
i think it's written for someone that has experience with digital cameras.

i am shooting in "p" mode. i read that here before i owned the camera. i book marked messages that had info that i thought would come in handy when i got the camera.

i will post back in a day or so, once i go through the book again.

thank you for helping me. i really appreciate it.
indera

[iem]

I used partially-charged 800 mAh for my test shots and I had over 80 shots (Around 60% without flash) before the low-battery warning showed up. I had over 300 shots (90% with flash) with my 1600mAh batteries and the low-battery warning hasn't showed up yet.

If you don't want to use an SD card reader, you can use the USB cable that came with the camera to plug in your camera to the USB port of your computer. If you have Windows 2000 or newer you won't need to install the software that came with the camera.

hi nap,

it could be that the batteries i have are old or just not a good brand.
i have energizers, i just can't find the charger - that is my mission before the end of the year - LOL

i have windows xp pro.
i really don't want to install any more software then i already have, although after reading part of the book for the software, i think it has a great feature - it keeps track of the photos and video that has already been downloaded and will only down load the new ones.

i have photoshop elements, but haven't used it.
i'm going to check to see if it has this feature.
if it does, i'll muddle through figuring it out.
if it takes me more than 5 minutes to figure it out, i will install the software that came with the camera, as i don't want to remember what the last photo was that i downloaded.

i do have a question - do you know if the software remembers this by card or is it done by the photo number?

i hope it's by the photo number because i have 2 cards.
i think its done by the photo number.

thanks
indera

[XaiLo]

find the charger and use the energizers. lol ;)

You don't have to buy a USB reader.


does this mean that i have 499 more pictures to go on the 2 gb card?


Yes.



hmmm, in playback mode there is nothing on the screen but the picture.
in the view finder in the left it has 117/117. back to the book i go.

That's what your suppose to see.



i want to find a way to reduce all of the icons. they are in my way on the lcd.

There's no way to remove all the Icons.