Canon SX150 IS manual Image resolution and quality settings, Shutter Delay

Image resolution and quality settings

Digital images are made up of a grid of pixels, each representing a tonal value (ranging from black to white and a range of hues, saturation, and brightness in between). e larger the number of pixels used to represent an image, the larger the print you can make of the image before the individual pixels become visible. For more details about the nature of digital images, see “e Building Blocks of a Digital Image” handout and the “Digital Photography Presentation,” both available for download from the “Handouts and Support Resources for Visual Language” page on the Studio Foundation web site.

With the 4GB SD memory card that comes installed in the camera, the image resolution set to “L” (large, the highest resolution setting), and the image quality set to “F” (ne, the highest quality setting with the least amount of digital compression artifacts), you can to take about 1,058 images before you’ll ll the card. So unless storage space is at a premium or you have a specic requirement to produce low-resolution images, shoot the highest resolution, highest-quality images possible. You can later resize as needed in Photoshop. While the “Large” resolution and “Fine” quality are the camera’s default settings, however, another student may have changed the settings, so go into the camera menu and verify these settings prior to shooting with the camera. e chart below shows some of the camera’s resolution settings and roughly how large a clear print would be possible for pixel dimensions at 72dpi (typical computer screen resolution) and 300dpi (typical hard-copy printer resolution). e camera stores images in the JPEG image compression format.

Setting	Pixel dimensions		Rough image size	Rough image size	Image capacity
	(megapixels)		@ 300dpi	@ 72dpi	(Fine quality, 4GB card)
S	640 x 480 (0.3 MP)		2” x 1.5”	9” x 6.5”	19,998
M2	1,600 x 1,200	(2 MP)	5” x 4”	22” x 16.5”	6,430
M1	3,072 x 2,304	(7 MP)	10” x 8”	42.5” x 32”	2,002
L	4,320 x 3,240	(14 MP)	14” x 11”	60” x 45”	1,070

In practice you can make pretty good prints up to 16 x 20 inches with this 14 MP camera when you choose the Large resolution and Fine quality settings (our Canon ink jet printers print on 17-in wide paper rolls). Unlike higher-end cameras, a RAW mode is not available. RAW les must be processed with software such as Photoshop and offer increased exibility to change exposure, white balance, and other settings on the computer after the photo has been taken. If you are using your own higher- end camera and the best image quality is what you’re after, shoot in RAW mode if possible. When given a choice of compression options with any camera, choose the highest quality setting if RAW is not option (like the SX150 IS cameras we have available in the Studio Foundation cage).

Shutter Delay

e camera has a slight delay from the time the shutter button is pressed to the actual moment the picture is taken. is is because the camera needs time to gure out the exposure and focus, however, if you hold the button half-way down before you shoot, the camera can “pre-focus” and prepare the camera for the exact moment you want to shoot the photo. en when you depress the shutter button all the way, there will be less delay in terms of when the picture is actually made.

MassArt Studio Foundation: Digital Media Workshops: Canon PowerShot SX150 IS 7 of 9