Action shots

I have a point and shoot camera, Sony Cybershot 12.1 megapixel, and was wondering if anyone knew how to take action shots or speed up the shutter for sporting events and things like that. Because right now I get blurry shots when doing that.

for example:


Anyone have this camera or know how to not take blurry photos with it? And yes i hold the button down half way to let it focus first.

 

Turn up the ISO, that will increase the shutter speeds in lower light situations.

 

I've tried that and it made it look odd. Almost like it was more of a painting than a photo


The ISO goes up to 3200

 

Unfortunately Point and shoots are not the best tool for the job when it comes to stopping action in low light. I'm guessing you cant use the flash?

 

This was taken with a point and shoot camera?

unfortunately no flash

there is no sports setting, has everything but.

I am now regretting this camera purchase. Anyone want to buy a camera?

 

That's a killer in situations like this. Indoor lighting, especially gymnasium-type lights, are awful for camera work. Without being able to get more light or effectively change ISO settings I don't think that camera will work well in this environment.

 

damn, that sucks. So what is a good ISO for that setting or use auto ISO?

 

canons have the fastest shutter speed. unfortunately you cant really escape it with out a DSLR

 

At least ISO 400 (although more likely 800+ in that particular building) but the trade-off, as you mentioned above, is the higher your ISO setting the grainier the resulting picture will be. For a digital camera, basically you're compensating for less than ideal lighting by forcing the sensor to be more sensitive to light (and/or increasing shutter speed depending on the camera model). The cost for this is grainy pictures... this is where a flash comes in handy but you don't have that option.

 

Ok, thanks for the help. I'll give this a go tomorrow and see how it turns out.

 

I just read your cameras manual. There's a mode for food, fireworks and beach but nothing for sports? Get a new camera.

 

The fireworks mode might help although I bet the color balance is WAY off and it will be grainy. It should at least force the camera into its fastest shutter/highest ISO setup.

 

I thought about that, but wouldn't that suck to have every action shot picture come out in the wrong colors? How annoying.

Let's have a bit of fun and play with real numbers here. So we know he wants to freeze motion here. His EXIF info says the first shot was taken at ISO 400, f 4.5, 1/10. Let's try to get at least 1/150 to try to stop motion. If you move the shutter 4 stops, he'll be around 1/160 or so. Adjust the ISO so you still get a good exposure and you'll end up at ISO 6400. Which is insanely high. Closing the aperture to f/16 or so would be a better option buuuuut he can't do that. Soooo, time to get a new camera!

Now, I'm not recommending him to get a SLR. I'm just saying he should get something with a sports mode.

*edit: after looking at the shutter speed and taking another look at the image, the biggest problem this image has is hand shake. The weightlifter would of probably been decent. Get a new camera or a tripod. Either way, my double vision will thank you. The second one has no hand shake but needs to quicken the shutter speed.

 

In order to stop motion, you'll want 1/500 sec at the bare minimum to be safe.

So dial your camera to the shutter priority mode, hard set it to 1/500, and see if the camera can attain it. In shutter priority mode, the camera will automatically adjust all the other settings (aperture and ISO) in order to get the shutter speed you set. If that shutter speed is simply unattainable due to the ambient lighting conditions, it will indicate so. In which case you can try and dial it down to 1/250 and see if the camera can get it.

 

^^ I don't know what any of that means nor do I think that's even an option with my camera.

As for the hand shaking, there is suppose to be a steady hand option in the camera that stops that but apparently that option doesn't work either.

I tried playing with the ISO at different settings and still couldn't get a decent shot. I believe I will just have to get rid of this camera and get a new one. Any recommendations for a camera that can fit in my pocket and still take decent shots (i.e. action shots)?

 

You might want to learn three key points of making an exposure before you shop for a new camera:

1. Aperture
2. Shutter Speed
3. ISO

All three impact the exposure.

If you go to a store and ask the salesperson for a camera that can shoot action shots, you can easily be sold a dSLR, but then you won't get any good photos still, if you're using automatic modes.

That said, if you want a good point and shoot with a fast lens, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 is perfect. It's basically a clone of the Leica DLux 4, and has a Leica f/2.0 max aperture lens across the entire focal range. But again, even if you have a lens a fast aperture, and you leave it on auto or don't properly expose for fast shutter speeds, you're still not going to get good photos.

With regards to the 'steady hand' option, more often than not, it's not actual mechanical image stabilization. What many P&S cameras have for IS is a 'software IS' which basically sets the ISO really high in order to achieve faster shutter speeds. Fast shutter speeds help blur due to camera shake. But note that image stabilization only minimizes blur due to camera shake, not the blur caused by fast moving action.

 

Ok, wasn't sure what model you had so went to Sony and looked at Point and Shoot 12.1 megapixels model DSC-W310. Found the one that didn't have sports mode. Using the burst mode allows you to capture action pictures to some degree. I used this on my older Kodak. Basically you focus in advance and hold down the shutter button. This will allow you to take multiple pictures. While some may be blurred you will end up with some very usable pictures and can delete the rest after downloading to your computer.
good luck. Ken

(Burst) Records up to 100 images in succession when you press and hold
down the shutter button.
• Burst shooting is not available in Movie Mode, Smile Shutter or Easy
Mode.
• The flash is set to [Off].
• When recording with the self timer, a series of a maximum of five
images is recorded.
• The recording interval becomes longer, depending on the setting for the
image size.
• When the battery level is low, or when the internal memory or the
memory card is full, the Burst stops.
• The focus, white balance, and exposure are adjusted for the first image,
and these settings are also used for the other images.

 

I guess it could have been helpful to include the model number.

I will have to look into the panasonic camera.

Thanks for all your help guys!

 

^^I'm assuming not a point and shoot camera?