Hi all,
I've just upgraded from an old Fujifilm Finepix 1300 to a Canon PowerShot S3 IS. Not been too serious about photography and so I don't know much about it. But, I have a question (and I hope I'm in the right forum - I've had a look around and at the FAQs). Yes, I've just joined the MB, too :)

I pointed my Canon out of my window and into the field. It was set on Auto and I had 12x optical zoom on (no digital zoom). I focussed on two small patches of nettles in the centre of the frame and took the picture.

Now, I'm no expert, but I was a bit disappointed with the result. Perhaps my question relates to depth of field, but the nettles along the bottom of the frame appear sharp on the right but blurred on the left, whilst the rushes near the top of the frame appear sharp on the left but blurred on the right. It was the same with a similar shot I took a few days earlier (aiming at a woodpigeon :) Is this normal or is it indicative of some fault? The camera seems to display an asymmetrical 'sweet spot' that I didn't expect given the product reviews.

(Please see 3.92 MB jpeg attached.) Actually, I'm limited to a 2 MB attachment, so I'll have to do reduce it's size tomorrow. Sorry.

Regards, Phil

Sorry, BB wouldn't let me add the attachment by way of editing so I'm placing it here... It's now limiting me to 156.8 KB, but I would appreciate advice

Attached Images

 

Two things -

Either:

1.) This is the kind of quality to expect at the end of your zoom and you should sell your camera/ live with it or;

2.) There's a degree of user error. Have you tried taking a shot of any higher contrast subject?

My advice would be to take your camera round town, use only the long end of the zoom - and take a look at all the results, as a whole, rather than stress out about one image of some nettles.

PS Don't know what light conditions are, but you should consider using the lenshood in direct sunlight - direct sunlight tends to make images flare and become softer.

Thanks for the advice. Will try that.