? for the pros

[Royce Aardahl]

I just got a canon S2 IS. I would like to use the zoom and take action pics at my sons bball games from the stands. I need some ideas on what settings to use with no flash so I don't bug everybody around me. Thanks!

[Steve Foss]

eyeguy: I don't know the S2, so I'm assuming it's an all-in-one, point-and-shoot digital with some telephoto capabilities. Not sure of the megapixel count or what settings are available on that camera. Generally, if you're shooting indoor sports with no flash, you need an ISO of 1600 and a lens with an f stop that will open wide, say f4 or wider. I don't know how much control you can exert with settings on the S2, and that's the key.

As for not using flash so you don't irritate the neighbors, almost anyone who shoots sports indoors, unless they have pro gear, uses flash, because you need to be able to open those fstops and crank that ISO setting, and most point-and-shoots don't allow that.

OK, did some online looking. Appears the S2 goes to ISO 400 and the flash is good to 17 feet. That means you're going to have to use flash, and you're going to have to be fairly close to the action to catch moving sports shots. The only other issue is how quickly the camera will focus and how much lag there is between tripping the shutter button and the actual image capture. And if the action is moving toward or away from the shooter, most all-in-ones don't compensate quickly enough to get in-focus shots. Many all-in-ones are very slow at all these things, which means the action has passed on by the time the camera's ready to capture it. I do know that the most current all-in-ones are faster than the older models. The S2 IS is a nice high-end all-in-one with some excellent features, but whether it'll catch shots that are moving at some speed, well, you'll have to experiment to see.

[Royce Aardahl]

thanks!

[Steve Foss]

And eyeguy, let us know what you find. As all-in-ones get more and more sophisticated, they can challenge DSLRs in some categories. Now that you're digital, shoot the everloving heck out of a basketball game. If you buy a 1 Gb memory card you'll get more than 300 shots at your 5 Mp camera's highest resolution setting. I always shoot at the highest resolution, because it makes bigger enlargements, and if you have to crop, you can still get nice enlargements. If you shoot at a lower resolution setting, you can't get the most out of the images.

Don't know what type of battery comes with the camera, but if it's not a rechargeable specific to that model and runs on AA or AAA general batteries, get a bunch of rechargeable batteries in that size and a charger, and carry lots of spare charged batteries. Digital EATS batteries.

And since this is, after all, the "photo sharing" board, share a few sports shots of eyeguy jr.!

[Tom Wilson]

Eyeguy,

I am sincere when I say this, so don't take it as sarcasm--you need to take it to the first game and try it first. As Steve said the technology is changing so fast and there are so many new improvements, that there is no way of giving you any advice on this until after you see how it performs first. Camera companies know that their biggest customers for the P&S camera's are Mom' and Dad's that are looking for ways to photograph their kids. I would assume that it is like every other camera being made right now and it has several modes that help you by making shutter and aperture decisions--like portrait mode, Landscape mode, sports mode, etc.... I would try the sports mode first, followed by anything like indoor mode or something that signifies shade. Read the manual also to see if the camera will change the ISO (film speed) automatically. If not find out how to adjust it and set it as high as possible when indoors. I'll bet you'll be surprised at the results. You will need as fast as shutter speed as you can get--you will get this with an ISO setting as high as possible, and an aperture setting as large as possible(smaller number). Let us know how it goes.

Tom W

[Royce Aardahl]

OK, bear with me. I used the P setting so I set the ISO to 400. The shutter speed is auto and was at 1/50. Next time I will try the TV setting and try 1/100 at ISO 400 and see what happens. They came out fair. I use recharchable batteries and always have a spare set along. It seams with the bigger zoom it helps. I'm maxed on the ISO at 400. Sure is fun. I use the 1200 by 1600 setting. If I go to the max on this will it make the picture look clearer on the computer or just if I have a print made?

[Steve Foss]

Your exposures look good, but 1/50 is pretty slow for action, as you can see with some of the images being a little fuzzy.

You may find the flash doesn't have enough pop on the Tv setting if you try to push the shutter speed above 1/50, but I use that setting on my 20D for indoor sports sometimes, and my external flash will allow me to shoot at 1/250 or so, even though it automatically wants to synch at 1/60.

As for the size of the jpeg file you're shooting, bigger won't make it sharper on the computer, because computer monitor resolution is 72 dots per inch. Printing resolution should be 240 dpi minimum, with 300 preferred, and you'll need the highest resolution setting your camera has to make sure you can make decent enlargements. It's also good to max it out if you need to crop to make a nicer image. And you never know if you'll need to crop until you get a look at the images, so . . . . I always use the largest setting available. Of course, the higher the resolution of the shot, the larger the digital file, and the longer it takes to write to the memory card — and the fewer shots you can get on the card.