Manual factors effecting a photo

[Dolby]

Excluding light and external factors, how many settings on the camera determine a good picture? On my little camera it seems I can set :

F-Stop/Aperture
Shutter speed
ISO
Exposure

Anything else the big camera's can do that I can't? :/

 

[psc]

Image stabilisation ?
JPEG vs RAW (image quality)

 

[bwana]

Big camera = big sensor and, as well as everything else, that means less noise - especially with the pixel race still on.

Your sensor in the SX110 is slightly bigger than the 1/2.5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SensorSizes.svg

 

[Albereth]

The single biggest thing is the quality of the lense. The camera is just a box that captures light. Light goes in through a hole (aperture) for an amount of time (shutter speed) and is captured on media (iso).

You can achieve image stabilisation with a tripod and shutter release cable if you need to.

The second biggest thing is being there to capture the image in the first place.

The pixel size or iso rating are issues when it comes to printing. Hi iso film used to be quite grainy, and the digital equivalent is artifacts. Sometimes this creates a picture with mood. The pixel size or 35mm format has limitations in how large a print you can create from the 'film'.

But perhaps we should talk of what features makes a camera easier to use. Perhaps, and this is application dependent, you should look at the focussing system (number of focus points and ability to focus in low light) and the number of shots that you can fire off in 'motor drive'.

Another consideration should be how close is the on board flash to the lense?