canon G9: taking flash photos of my cats

pigeonpie

I've got an old S2IS and the viewfinder's packed up and I'm thinking of replacing it with the S5IS or G9. I take a large amount of indoor photos of my cats - they are old, adored and near the end of their lives and memories of them are very important to me. One has had seizures and is blind and I can't use bright flash to take pics of him. The light indoors is often insufficient to give good results without flash, so I'm thinking of a hotshoe flashgun which I can bounce at my (high/cathedral/top flat - will that work?) ceiling instead.
I've narrowed it down to the G9 (no stereo sound on vid clips though) or S5. However I read a blog by someone who said that the G9 gives off a pre-flash light (even with a flashgun) which is green and bright and "scared the hell out of my cats"....!
But image quality is everything (rather than features) so I'm still considering the camera. Does anyone have one and does it have this weird bright light just before you take the shot?

I'm hoping to avoid that horrible green extra terrestrial eye look that all pics indoors of pets seem to have as well. Any suggestions would be really welcome. thanks.

isofa

I don't know about the S2IS specifically... but...

Can you put it into Program (or Manual mode if you are a good photographer) and up the sensitivity, i.e. the ISO number from low 100ish to 800 or above, this will enable you to take photos in lower light. Start with ISO 200, then 400, only using 800 and above if you really have to, as the images will be more grainy.

Also open the aperture more, a wider aperture (lower f number) lets in more light (you can do this in Program mode or Ae [Aperture priority]).

In low light it probably fires either the flash or a light to illuminate the subject for focusing purposes.

Also you could just put some lamps nearby and set the white balance to tungsten.

If you really want a new camera, look at a starting DSLR, like the Canon EOS 1000D or similar, much more control and better low light shots.

Mobeer

pigeonpie wrote: »

...However I read a blog by someone who said that the G9 gives off a pre-flash light (even with a flashgun) which is green and bright and "scared the hell out of my cats"...

The green light is the "AF-assist Beam", intended to make it easier for the Autofocus to work in low light conditions. This is not exclusive to the G9 - my older Sony compacts had a similar option.

To turn off the "AF-assist Beam", even in fully Auto mode:

1. Press Menu
2. Press down repeatedly until "AF-assist Beam" is highlighted
3. Press Right to toggle the setting to Off
4. Press Menu again to close the menu

Marty999

I would try to avoid using flash if at all possible, as this can obviously result in harsh shadows which spoils photos. Far better to use available light and get a much more natural image. Try and position your cat near a window or door on a bright overcast day. Use a tripod if necessary or rest your camera on something solid. You could always try the self timer if it has one.

pigeonpie

my cat has recently gone blind so is only filmable on the bed in natural light - the bed's on the floor as he panics if put up on higher surfaces (even chairs). I can't use terribly bright lamps/artificial light either in case it triggers seizures (cause of blindness).....and he's dark coloured, so it's a real problem unless the day is bright. Filming him lying in sunlight gives bad results too.
The G9 looks a good camera although don't know what the video sound is like (?). The great thing about the S5 / S2 is the stereo sound. Ideally I'd love stereo sound and better image quality.
A dSLR's not affordable right now sadly - even with the cashback it comes to more than £100 more AFAIK plus then I'd have to buy a zoom lens. Plus with cats a lot of photos are really point and shoot, spur of the moment stuff rather than well set up in advance.
Oh I have one dark cat and one light cat (this gets better and better doesn't it?!) :-)
thanks for the help; much appreciated.

Btw do you think that fitting a flash gun and pointing it at a high (white) ceiling would also work?

Marty999

Yes you will definitely get better results by bouncing your flash from something light coloured, rather than direct flash. And I suspect you will get exposure problems trying to cater for both a dark cat and a light cat at the same time - could be better to photograph them both separately.

bookduck

I have a g7. The video sound is not stereo, but very good. The quality of the vids even when the light is a bit dim is great. The photos are good too,

My last camera was an canon a70 which I thought was awesome at the time. The quality of vids and photos makes the last one look like a toy.

pigeonpie

the G10 is out end october so I'm wondering if the G9's price may drop or if the current price at amazon's about as good as it gets? (£262). The S5IS's replacement is still not in the pipeline it seems. I love the S2IS but it's creaking as I say. However I got the little 'un purring on stereo sound which was great. But only about 30% of my photos of my cats (together or separately) are really good, so I'm looking for better image quality.
Thanks for all the help guys.