Questions about Canon.

[evanilily37]

Hi...first post here, I have a Canon PowerShot ELPH 180, and I have some questions about it, here's some backstory behind the camera.

Last year I told my mother that I'd really like to get into photography since I have a horse and would love to take pictures of him, I'd use my phone but the phone doesn't do him justice. She came through for me and bought me a camera for Christmas, the camera is a Canon PowerShot ELPH 180, as stated above. However it didn't come with a USB connector/cord thing to attach to my computer so I can upload the pictures to my computer. So that leads me to my first question: Can somebody point me in the right direction for a USB cord for it?

Here's my second question: Is this camera good for action shots? My horse loves to run around and my phone is absolute dookie when it comes to action shots.
My third question is: Since I'm new to photography, can people give me lots of tips and tricks? I don't know if I ever plan to get into photography seriously, it's more of a hobby since I do a decent amount of traveling, I'd love to take pictures for memories.

[rs-eos]

For the cable, you'll want an Interface Cable IFC-400PCU .  That link will take you to the details on that camera.   Check out the Supplies and Accessories section; specifically the Cables & Cords section.

Camera should do well for action.  I would first start taking photos outdoors where you'd have lots of light.  If in darker areas (e.g. stable), you may end up with granier images.  Try getting shots with say the stable doors open to let in as much light as possible.

For action shots, you'll have to decide if you want to freeze the action (horse running), or if you want to show some motion blur. I believe the camera perhaps has some modes that could do either.  You'd want to check the manual for details.  e.g. P mode (Program mode) starting on page 43.  

[wq9nsc]

Excellent advice from Ricky!  And pay very close attention to what he said about lighting because the performance of that camera will be much better when there is plenty of light, especially when you want action photos.  Set up properly, it should do a pretty good job of freezing motion in good outdoor lighting but on a very cloudy day or in the deep shade it will struggle to provide good action photos.

I looked at a copy of the manual for your camera and the manual isn't one of Canon's better writing efforts.  I know that they were trying to keep it very simple and non-technical but in the process they made it quite difficult to quickly figure out how to do some of the things of which the camera is capable.  You will want to spend some time with the manual open on your computer and your camera at hand and I would make some notes of typically used setups (such as how you want to set it for action photos).  I think your camera will be capable of doing some nice work but it will take a little bit of experimentation and learning by trial and error on your part.  Don't let it get you frustrated if you aren't happy with the early results (easy advice for a bystander to give) 🙂

When you get to the point of manually setting your shutter speed to freeze action, try around 1/320 as a starting point and go faster (i.e. 1/500) as needed to properly freeze motion.  Keeping the shutter speed as slow as possible while still freezing motion makes having really good light less critical.

Have fun, learn a lot with your ELPH 180, and if you decide you really like photography but want more capability then you can move up to more advanced gear.

Rodger