SX30 IS flash pics poor in Auto mode

[Cancelli]

Hi, If anyone reading this can help, I’m trying to find out if my Powershot SX30 IS is faulty or do they work like ths!

I have taken a few indoor test shots in lowish light conditions (typical sitting room). Using the green AUTO mode with built in flash, the camera, whilst showing the red wobbly hand symbol set itself to 1/15 sec and 400 ISO and produced totally unusable bad images literally made of noise! Why 1/15 sec, surely raising the flash should auto set the speed to 1/60 and not show camera shake warning symbol and why 400 ISO?

When in P mode using built in flash with ISO set to 100, the camera set itself to a typical 1/60 sec and produced a good image suitable for indoor family shots.

I rang Canon support but the guy there had no technical knowledge of this particular camera model but suggested that a Canon camera should take good pictures in full auto mode and thought it must be faulty.

My wife’s little Konika Minolta Dimage X-50 has no problem taking good family shots under these lighting conditions.

[wavemachine]

That doesn't sound right to me, as well as my 7D I have a powershot A640 and an SX10IS bridge camera and both of those will set 1/60th of a second shutter speed on auto (I have just tried it), it sounds like a fault.

It would be totally unusable if it was supposed to do that, I can understand the ISO 400 but not the shutter speed with flash, is the flash firing as I would expect the images at 1/15 to be over exposed with flash.

I would reset it to factory settings and try again (to be sure), if it still does it then take it back as it doesn't sound right, if it is supposed to do that then it is not fit for purpose.

[OldBoy]

Check your menus to see if you have selected 1/60s for auto mode? I only use a DSLR but with that I can lock-in a shutter speed in P mode.

[Cancelli]

Thanks Wavemachine and Oldboy for replying, I tried shooting at 1/15 in Tv at,100, and 400 ISO and the exposures were OK but in these lighting conditions only 100 ISO gave a reasonably low noise image.

The guy at Canon got me to do a full reset but without improvement.

In P you can change stuff like flash comp., 1st,2nd curtain etc but in Full auto there’s only red eye.

As I’m writing this I thought I’d also try auto Portrait mode with the flash raised and in the same lighting conditions, this caused the camera to set itself to 1/60sec at 100 auto ISO resulting in a good exposure (:

The fault would seem to be that in auto mode this camera doesn’t know the flash has been lifted and sets itself up for a non flash image, complete with shake warning, even though flash mode is functioning and confirmed on the lcd screen. I tried not lifting the flash when in auto and the camera set itself to1/15 sec and 400 auto ISO.

BUT do all the SX30 ISs have this fault?