I recommend that time_lapse.bas is your normal resident script.
All info is here http://stereo.jpn.org/eng/sdm/index.htm
However, to keep it simple, what do you want to do ?
I'll do as you suggest (as soon as I read up on how to do it!).
Essentially I would like to learn to shoot in manual mode. I've read a bit about the various components that go into taking a good shot but reading =/ understanding. I'm not really sure what I will photograph most often as I'm just getting into photography. Rushing out and spending a fortune on a camera to get my feet wet doesn't make much sense. I'm a frugal perfectionist so the idea of purchasing something only to find that it wasn't an optimal choice for whatever direction I gravitate towards is a bit abhorrent.
For now I'll probably mostly be photographing nature, some architectural details, my kids (when their moods allow for it - lol)...
Oh, and I plan to shoot everything in RAW.
Thanks, MFG! I really appreciate all of the help!!
When you get a photo out of an IXUS 105 in RAW, it is so highly messed up that you'd probably end up giving up on it. However, having said that, if you do succeed in fixing the distortion, colors etc and making it look better than the jpeg the camera produces, make sure you do SHARE IT with us, or at least me, because I myself have always been interested in RAW but couldnt get far with this cam.
When you talk about shooting in manual mode, to me, three things come to mind, shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Well, SDM does not really let you change the ISO, so that option is gone, this cam also happens to have no aperture, so thats gone as well, so the only thing you're really left with is shutter speed. When it comes to shutter speed, it lets you shoot at 1/40,000 of a second, i.e you can theoretically shoot something like a F1 racecar as its whizzin by. You can also reduce shutter speed to 65 seconds, and I've used it a handful of times really, when I wanted to shoot some stars in the sky, then I got bored.
Where SDM, in my humble opinion, really helps is with the automated scripts. Motion detect, time-interval, LCD off etc are some of my favorites. Besides that it lets you zoom in and out during movie capture, which is very good.
You mentioned photographing nature, kids and architectural detail.
From my experience, its not SDM that really plays a part in all three, but your ability to judge the right settings (usually built in already). Say for example nature, if I were you, I'd choose the Foliage Mode. This would give me a nice contrast of colors as well as good enough ISO, i.e ISO 200. If I want a better photo of nature, I'd go on P mode, choose ISO 80 and then choose VIVID COLORS in the color mode. I would put the cam on tripod and turn image stablization OFF. I would also zoom in a little bit to fix the barrel distortion that any point and shoot camera with wide lens is prone to. If shooting through a window or a glass, I would zoom in full, for some reason it gives me clearer shots in this case. Note that I would have face detection OFF during all this and metering to weighted.
For kids, if shooting outdoors I would choose P mode with ISO 80 and override shutter to 1/250. I would then apply I-CONTRAST if needed. I just might choose UNDERWATER MODE at times, giving me fast shutter speed automatically. I would have face detection OFF if they are moving rapidly, and ON if stationary.
For kids, if shooting indoors, if they are stationary I would always choose AUTO mode with flash on AUTO. Face detection is ON by default in AUTO, there is nothing you can do about it, so I would choose this mode only if kids are stationary. Else, I would switch to PORTRAIT MODE, flash AUTO, face detection OFF, metering centered. I might bump ISO to 400 if they are moving very rapidly.
For architectural details, I would choose MACRO MODE and shoot without a flash. If with flash, I would put a tissue on flash, folded 3 times to diffuse the flash. I would choose max ISO 200 else detail will be lost substantially.
Note that all that I said is from my own personal experience. It might work for you, if you find I'm wrong, do share, I might learn a thing or two as well.
Also, all the technical stuff I mentioned is already there in your camera manual.
Hope that helps.
