Clueless newbie question

I have had a Canon PowerShot S100 since 2001. By the end of 2004 the
battery wouldn't really hold a charge and the pictures came out dark, so I
decided to get a new camera. As I had been happy with Canon & had
accessories like extra Compact Flash Cards and a card reader that would work
with a newer model, I decided to stick with Canon. I went back and forth
between the A95 and the PowerShot s500. After being used to the small size
of the s100, handy for travel, etc., I couldn't get used to the size of the
A95, so I wound up with the s500.

Anyway, I expected the same level of pictures as the s100, just better
quality due to more megapixels. Apparently I am completely clueless when it
comes to this b/c now I am having the following issue:
Photos taken on my s500 look funny when viewed at a normal size onscreen
(doing a lot of photo sharing through ofoto.com, shutterfly, snapfish,
etc.). If I increase the size of the photos the quality becomes nice and
clear - but how can I share a photo that is larger than my 17" screen?? Is
there a setting I need to change on my camera, or is it something that I
need to do once the file is downloaded onto my computer? Is it possible to
get nice sharp pics from a 5 megapixel that look clear at a 4X6 or 5X7 size
onscreen?

Can someone advise?
Thank you in advance.

Hi,

There are two factors here. I have an S500, and my premium paper prints are
sharp and colorful, from 4x6" on up to 8.5x11". Computer screens have a limited
sharpness, and smallish images just do not have much detail. If an image fills
the screen, then of course there will be more visible detail.

Have you tried printing 4x6" prints on good paper, either on your printer or
elsewhere? With your camera, assuming that your camera technique is adequate,
prints should be nicely sharp and detailed from 4x6" up to 8.5x11".

Good luck.

Morton



stars wrote:

I have had a Canon PowerShot S100 since 2001. By the end of 2004 the
battery wouldn't really hold a charge and the pictures came out dark, so I
decided to get a new camera. As I had been happy with Canon & had
accessories like extra Compact Flash Cards and a card reader that would work
with a newer model, I decided to stick with Canon. I went back and forth
between the A95 and the PowerShot s500. After being used to the small size
of the s100, handy for travel, etc., I couldn't get used to the size of the
A95, so I wound up with the s500.

Anyway, I expected the same level of pictures as the s100, just better
quality due to more megapixels. Apparently I am completely clueless when it
comes to this b/c now I am having the following issue:
Photos taken on my s500 look funny when viewed at a normal size onscreen
(doing a lot of photo sharing through ofoto.com, shutterfly, snapfish,
etc.). If I increase the size of the photos the quality becomes nice and
clear - but how can I share a photo that is larger than my 17" screen?? Is
there a setting I need to change on my camera, or is it something that I
need to do once the file is downloaded onto my computer? Is it possible to
get nice sharp pics from a 5 megapixel that look clear at a 4X6 or 5X7 size
onscreen?

Can someone advise?
Thank you in advance.

Thanks for the quick response. I have not tried printing any pictures yet.
I don't have a color printer here - just a b/w laser. I usually print
through ofoto.com. Assuming my photos print well, is there anything I can
do to get decent quality on-screen? People's faces look funky when viewing
the photos through one of the photo-sharing sites. Do I need to compress
the file size? Also, I want to take pictures of a few things to sell on
ebay, so I need to be able to post clear photos. Is this a matter of
adjusting the settings on my camera when I take a photo specifically for
this use, or do I need to compress the file after the photo is taken?


"mort" wrote in message
...
Hi,

There are two factors here. I have an S500, and my premium paper prints
are
sharp and colorful, from 4x6" on up to 8.5x11". Computer screens have a
limited
sharpness, and smallish images just do not have much detail. If an image
fills
the screen, then of course there will be more visible detail.

Have you tried printing 4x6" prints on good paper, either on your printer
or
elsewhere? With your camera, assuming that your camera technique is
adequate,
prints should be nicely sharp and detailed from 4x6" up to 8.5x11".

Good luck.

Morton



stars wrote:

I have had a Canon PowerShot S100 since 2001. By the end of 2004 the
battery wouldn't really hold a charge and the pictures came out dark, so
I
decided to get a new camera. As I had been happy with Canon & had
accessories like extra Compact Flash Cards and a card reader that would
work
with a newer model, I decided to stick with Canon. I went back and
forth
between the A95 and the PowerShot s500. After being used to the small
size
of the s100, handy for travel, etc., I couldn't get used to the size of
the
A95, so I wound up with the s500.

Anyway, I expected the same level of pictures as the s100, just better
quality due to more megapixels. Apparently I am completely clueless
when it
comes to this b/c now I am having the following issue:
Photos taken on my s500 look funny when viewed at a normal size onscreen
(doing a lot of photo sharing through ofoto.com, shutterfly, snapfish,
etc.). If I increase the size of the photos the quality becomes nice
and
clear - but how can I share a photo that is larger than my 17" screen??
Is
there a setting I need to change on my camera, or is it something that I
need to do once the file is downloaded onto my computer? Is it possible
to
get nice sharp pics from a 5 megapixel that look clear at a 4X6 or 5X7
size
onscreen?

Can someone advise?
Thank you in advance.

Replying to my own post - I think I have it figured out. I fiddled with the
settings on my camera and I was able to shoot a photo that looks clear at a
small size. This should work for my ebay listings.

Thanks again for the help!

"stars" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the quick response. I have not tried printing any pictures
yet.
I don't have a color printer here - just a b/w laser. I usually print
through ofoto.com. Assuming my photos print well, is there anything I can
do to get decent quality on-screen? People's faces look funky when
viewing
the photos through one of the photo-sharing sites. Do I need to compress
the file size? Also, I want to take pictures of a few things to sell on
ebay, so I need to be able to post clear photos. Is this a matter of
adjusting the settings on my camera when I take a photo specifically for
this use, or do I need to compress the file after the photo is taken?


"mort" wrote in message
...
Hi,

There are two factors here. I have an S500, and my premium paper prints
are
sharp and colorful, from 4x6" on up to 8.5x11". Computer screens have a
limited
sharpness, and smallish images just do not have much detail. If an image
fills
the screen, then of course there will be more visible detail.

Have you tried printing 4x6" prints on good paper, either on your
printer
or
elsewhere? With your camera, assuming that your camera technique is
adequate,
prints should be nicely sharp and detailed from 4x6" up to 8.5x11".

Good luck.

Morton



stars wrote:

I have had a Canon PowerShot S100 since 2001. By the end of 2004 the
battery wouldn't really hold a charge and the pictures came out dark,
so
I
decided to get a new camera. As I had been happy with Canon & had
accessories like extra Compact Flash Cards and a card reader that
would
work
with a newer model, I decided to stick with Canon. I went back and
forth
between the A95 and the PowerShot s500. After being used to the small
size
of the s100, handy for travel, etc., I couldn't get used to the size
of
the
A95, so I wound up with the s500.

Anyway, I expected the same level of pictures as the s100, just better
quality due to more megapixels. Apparently I am completely clueless
when it
comes to this b/c now I am having the following issue:
Photos taken on my s500 look funny when viewed at a normal size
onscreen
(doing a lot of photo sharing through ofoto.com, shutterfly, snapfish,
etc.). If I increase the size of the photos the quality becomes nice
and
clear - but how can I share a photo that is larger than my 17"
screen??
Is
there a setting I need to change on my camera, or is it something that
I
need to do once the file is downloaded onto my computer? Is it
possible
to
get nice sharp pics from a 5 megapixel that look clear at a 4X6 or 5X7
size
onscreen?

Can someone advise?
Thank you in advance.

Stars,

Can you tell us what setting on your camera gave you better results?

My suggestion was going to be that you use a photo editing software and
reduce the side of your image to a maximum width of 750 pixels. This
will make your photo viewable on 800 x 600 resolution screens.

By re-sizing your photo first, you get the compression algorithm in the
resizing feature of your software to make it look better at a small
size.

Charlie

Got digital photos? Show them off!
http://FlyingSamPhoto.com

Hi Charlie,

I dug up the manual to the camera (I know, I know...should have done that
before bothering everyone here). Apparently for resolution I have 4
choices - Large, Medium1, Medium2, and Small. I set the camera to "Small"
which equates to 640 X 480 pixels. There was also a setting called
"Compression" which gave me three settings - Superfine, Fine, and Normal. I
set the camera on Superfine. I took a few pics of something I wanted to
sell on ebay and they came out nice and clear at a small size - perfect for
the purpose I was aiming for.

I have Adobe photoshop, but was not adept enough at reducing the image size
without sacrificing the quality. Maybe changing the settings on my camera
is "taking the long way around", but it got me where I needed to go!

-stars


"Charles Kerekes" wrote in message
oups.com...
Stars,

Can you tell us what setting on your camera gave you better results?

My suggestion was going to be that you use a photo editing software and
reduce the side of your image to a maximum width of 750 pixels. This
will make your photo viewable on 800 x 600 resolution screens.

By re-sizing your photo first, you get the compression algorithm in the
resizing feature of your software to make it look better at a small
size.

Charlie

Got digital photos? Show them off!
http://FlyingSamPhoto.com

"stars" wrote in message ...
Hi Charlie,

I dug up the manual to the camera (I know, I know...should have done that
before bothering everyone here). Apparently for resolution I have 4
choices - Large, Medium1, Medium2, and Small. I set the camera to "Small"
which equates to 640 X 480 pixels. There was also a setting called
"Compression" which gave me three settings - Superfine, Fine, and Normal. I
set the camera on Superfine. I took a few pics of something I wanted to
sell on ebay and they came out nice and clear at a small size - perfect for
the purpose I was aiming for.

I have Adobe photoshop, but was not adept enough at reducing the image size
without sacrificing the quality. Maybe changing the settings on my camera
is "taking the long way around", but it got me where I needed to go!

-stars




Hi Stars...

When I first got my first digital camers (Nikon Coolpix 950), I
thought it would be best to take them all medium sized so that I'd get
more photos on my memory card and they were an ideal size for showing
on the net. But for printing them out they are just not good enough.

I soon changed my mind and now I take ALL my photos at fine quality
and then re-size them (BUT NEVER THE ORIGINAL) to send them to friends
or post them on the net.

JP
******
For a terrific place to meet, chat, share and learn, come to the
Photography Cafe! It's free! with 10MB space as well.
http://photography-cafe.com

(J P Scott) wrote:
"stars" wrote...
Hi Charlie,

I dug up the manual to the camera (I know, I know...should have
done that before bothering everyone here). Apparently for
resolution I have 4 choices - Large, Medium1, Medium2, and Small.
I set the camera to "Small" which equates to 640 X 480 pixels.
There was also a setting called "Compression" which gave me three
settings - Superfine, Fine, and Normal. I set the camera on
Superfine. I took a few pics of something I wanted to sell on ebay
and they came out nice and clear at a small size - perfect for the
purpose I was aiming for.

I have Adobe photoshop, but was not adept enough at reducing the
image size without sacrificing the quality. Maybe changing the
settings on my camera is "taking the long way around", but it got
me where I needed to go!

Hi Stars...

When I first got my first digital camers (Nikon Coolpix 950), I
thought it would be best to take them all medium sized so that I'd
get more photos on my memory card and they were an ideal size for
showing on the net. But for printing them out they are just not
good enough.

I soon changed my mind and now I take ALL my photos at fine quality
and then re-size them (BUT NEVER THE ORIGINAL) to send them to
friends or post them on the net.

So do I - memory cards are cheap these days. I crop/edit images for
printing, saving at 90-95% jpg quality. For posting to the net, I
reduce them to something like 640x480.

The OP seems to have found something that works for his specific
purpose, but s/he doesn't seem to understand the basic mathematics of
number of pixels, resolution and physical image size.

--
Martin S.

"J P Scott" wrote in message
om...
"stars" wrote in message
...
Hi Charlie,

I dug up the manual to the camera (I know, I know...should have done
that
before bothering everyone here). Apparently for resolution I have 4
choices - Large, Medium1, Medium2, and Small. I set the camera to
"Small"
which equates to 640 X 480 pixels. There was also a setting called
"Compression" which gave me three settings - Superfine, Fine, and
Normal. I
set the camera on Superfine. I took a few pics of something I wanted to
sell on ebay and they came out nice and clear at a small size - perfect
for
the purpose I was aiming for.

I have Adobe photoshop, but was not adept enough at reducing the image
size
without sacrificing the quality. Maybe changing the settings on my
camera
is "taking the long way around", but it got me where I needed to go!

-stars




Hi Stars...

When I first got my first digital camers (Nikon Coolpix 950), I
thought it would be best to take them all medium sized so that I'd get
more photos on my memory card and they were an ideal size for showing
on the net. But for printing them out they are just not good enough.

I soon changed my mind and now I take ALL my photos at fine quality
and then re-size them (BUT NEVER THE ORIGINAL) to send them to friends
or post them on the net.

JP
******
For a terrific place to meet, chat, share and learn, come to the
Photography Cafe! It's free! with 10MB space as well.
http://photography-cafe.com

JP,

Changing the settings worked for pictures to use for Ebay purposes, but what
you are saying makes sense in terms of pictures of friends/family/trips,
etc. that I will want to print out. What program do you use for re-sizing
your photos? I think I just need to spend a bit more time learning some
software.

thanks,
stars

"MartinS" wrote in message
news.com...
(J P Scott) wrote:
snipped original message
Hi Stars...

When I first got my first digital camers (Nikon Coolpix 950), I
thought it would be best to take them all medium sized so that I'd
get more photos on my memory card and they were an ideal size for
showing on the net. But for printing them out they are just not
good enough.

I soon changed my mind and now I take ALL my photos at fine quality
and then re-size them (BUT NEVER THE ORIGINAL) to send them to
friends or post them on the net.

So do I - memory cards are cheap these days. I crop/edit images for
printing, saving at 90-95% jpg quality. For posting to the net, I
reduce them to something like 640x480.

The OP seems to have found something that works for his specific
purpose, but s/he doesn't seem to understand the basic mathematics of
number of pixels, resolution and physical image size.

--
Martin S.

Memory is not my issue - have plenty of memory cards around here. Yes, I
found something that worked for my specific purpose of posting a picture to
ebay (and my item sold right away - an added bonus of that nice picture).
Is my little solution the answer to all of my hopes & dreams for my dig
photo taking? Nope.

At first I was a bit insulted by your post - who is Martin to claim I don't
have an understanding of basic mathematics? He has no idea that my job
requires me to perform advanced calculations on my fancy calculator all day
long! : ) However, before getting all defensive I re-read your post and
decided, that hey, you're right - I haven't bothered to learn the basics of
photography. Call me lazy - I was looking for a quick answer. Yes yes, I
understand that the higher the number of pixels, the clearer the image.
Monet and pointillism are not lost on me. Yes yes, I know there is math
involved. Feel free to point me to a good resource to read up a bit more
about digital photography & photo-editing, and rest assured I will learn all
the necessary math!

: )

-stars
(a "she")