sx420is questions

[Fionna]

I just bought sx420is and would love to learn more about taking good pictures. I cannot find a place to get the info. Anyone here have one?

[kvbarkley]

https://learn.usa.canon.com/home/home.shtml

[Fionna]

I went there before I joined the forum and could not find anything on my camera.

[ScottyP]

Learning how to be a better photographer is not something specific to your exact model camera.  To learn about your model just read the manual, and you can supplement with any 3rd party guide books for your model like the so-called "Idiot's Giude to xxxxx" or the "Dummies Guide" or etc...

What you need more than that is an understanding of exposure and composition, neither of which is specific to a camera model. 

I suggest you start learning exposure by searching YouTube for free tutorials on the "exposure triangle". This is the central concept in all photography.  Watch 2 or 3 short tutorials on this and it makes sense. Basically exposure is getting light into the camera to make the image. Not too much. Not too little. There are 3 variables you can manipulate to control the amount of light:  1.). Time of opening (shutter speed), 2.) size of opening (aperture) and 3.) sensitivity to light (ISO).  Give and take between these variables to get the right amount of light and as a side effect you get different looks to your images. 

Composition is another thing you can can find a lot of free tutorials on. 

Good luck and hope hope you have fun. 

[Fionna]

I just want to take a picture and have the background blurry. So far I have looked on you tube and have found nothing that I can do to get it with my camera. I have read where I can, but they did not explain how.

[newsense52]

The blurry background photo is only achieved with a focusing lens camera ( macro ) and not on a powershot like camera.

You can try to off the digital zoom and auto focus from menu and focus the object  in a short distance.

[ScottyP]

Not so. You can get a blurry background. That is one of the side effects I mentioned above, for a large aperture. A big aperture gives a shallow depth of field in focus. You can exaggerate it by getting as close to your subject as possible while putting the background as far behind the subject as possible. You further exaggerate it by using a somewhat long (zoomed in) focal length.

Set the camera to AV setting. That is for "Aperture Value". Select the lowest aperture number, which is the biggest aperture your lens can do.

Zoom in a bit.  Not full supertelephoto or anything, but do zoom in.  It won't work on the widest angle shots because wide angle lenses give a lot of depth of field in focus and you want the zone of in-focus stuff to be as slim as possible.  

Move in close to your subject. Since I just asked you to zoom in, you might not be able to get super close but do what you can. 

Make sure the background is quite a way off behind your subject. The farther the better. It won't work if they are leaning back on a wall while you shoot it head-on because the background is too close.  

It will work. Not as easily as on a bigger sensor camera with a bigger opening in the lens but it will work. 

[Fionna]

where is the av on my point and shoot? I can't find it. Check online still cannot find where it would be.

[newsense52]

LOL topic " depth of field " will give you an idea how a camera works with a blurred bacground but focused object.

[Fionna]

I am glad you think this is funny.

I thought this forum was to help all kinds of people. Novice and experience ones. 

I do not know anything about cameras and taking pictures. I am trying to learn. I have seen dslr that have the ap on the knob. I do not have one of those.

I have a canon sx420is. I have seen pictures taken with this camera that shows the background out of focus, but they do not tell you how to get it.