f/2.8
Since getting the new Canon PowerShot SX110 back in November, I've not had much time (or opportunities) to experiment with its 'M' (Manual) setting. I've played a bit with the manual focus (for example here) and the results were decent, but it wasn't much of a stretch from photographs that I've taken in the past.
Last night, I got inspired and decided to try taking some long exposure photos. This camera provides the ability to get up to 15 seconds of exposure time (which isn't a huge amount, especially on a DSLR scale, but is quite decent for a non-DSLR). What I did was set the exposure to the max of 15 seconds, dialed the aperture to 2.8 (the widest possible), and set the ISO to 100. I had a small 8inch tripod (which actually came with my first webcam from about 7 years ago), and put the camera on it, and then set it up in front of the window pointing into my backyard. Doing this type of shot without a tripod or some other manual stabilization would have turned into a blurry mess (even with the best onboard automatic digital image stabilization). The results were pretty good for my first attempt, with several stars getting captured (click for bigger versions):
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](https://netllama.linux-sxs.org/pix/9_info.html)
Looking back, I prolly should have experimented a bit more with different ISO settings, which I'll try out at some other point in the future. Additionally, my choice of subject wasn't that great but the choices around my house are rather limited when there are huge orange sodium vapor streetlamps all over the place. The full moon likely helped to some degree, although I was shooting perpendicular to the moonlight, which was also not an ideal direction.