S400 shutter speed question

[gtach]

Hello...I just discovered this forum and this is my first post. Sorry if this has been asked before; I didn't see a search feature.

On a S400 is it possible to manually set the shutter speed? Say keep it on 1/500?

I take a lot of photos of my running friends out on the trails and find it challenging, resulting in many blurry out of focus pictures. If it is not possible, any tips on what settings to use? Use center-point focus vs auto-focus? Use a higher ISO?

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions?

gtach

[Moly]

Read the post in this section about shooting moving targets with a 400.. it's very recent and should contain everything you need to know!

You can't directly control the shutter speed (unless you want it really slow between 1" and 13") or aperture on the 400, but you can control the ISO setting:

ISO 400 gives more of a freeze frame effect as the shutter speed is automatically speeded up to componsate for more sensitive film
ISO 50 will give you a nice smooth picture which looks more dynamic, but is trickier to shoot without blur.

you may want to select a compromise in between (and make sure you pre-focus and pan with the object)

when you look at the other thread, both Mikeys pictures look like ISO 50 and don't have all the noise evident of 400 film. It also give a more dynamic/blurred background.

one more hint for you, with your particular subject (people running) I expect you will want a high ISO due to the fact that although you can pan with the object, you will get blur on the legs and arms which are moving. There again, this may give an interesting effect if the body is in focus.. just experiment with the ISO, you will soon see the difference.

HTH,
Martin