S3 IS - Sports Photos

[zamus68]

What is the best methond of taking sports photos using the S3 IS?

So far I have been unable to get any photos that are actually quality stop action using the Sports mode.

I just upgraded from an S30 and the only thing required to get good actions shots was to move the dial to the "running man" sports scene mode. Using the S3 this does not seem to be the case.

Any ideas on how to best take action shots with the S3?

[ib2loud]

maybe shutter priority and then put it as fast as you can get it with the histogram showing proper exposure

[BobF13]

see this thread:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=214951

[zamus68]

Originally Posted by BobF13

see this thread:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=214951

Thanks.

I messed around with the creative zone yesterday and got a lot better pictures from stills to sports.

Although, it was nice to be able to just quickly turn on and set it and know I would get good pictures versus the S3 IS having to be tinkered with.

[Dori]

Originally Posted by zamus68

Thanks.

I messed around with the creative zone yesterday and got a lot better pictures from stills to sports.

Although, it was nice to be able to just quickly turn on and set it and know I would get good pictures versus the S3 IS having to be tinkered with.

Aw, but the tinkering is the fun part.

[zamus68]

Originally Posted by Dori

Aw, but the tinkering is the fun part.

True. So far tinkering I have taken about 600 pictures and am finally happy with everything but the sports so far.

Good thing is Saturday I'll be able to test the true sports ability of the camera at our leagues all-star football games. Hoping to fill up a couple of 2gig cards.

[Polytrope]

Originally Posted by zamus68

Any ideas on how to best take action shots with the S3?

The S3's 1/3200second shutter is good and fast, if that were the only thing you had to worry about. If you are taking shots in good daylight - partly cloudy - then if you can't get nice, sharp shots, say, of kids playing soccer, the problem isn't with the camera. But remember, sports photography is simply HARD. Ideally, you want to have the subject running directly towards the camera or directly away, rather than running sideways. Since you can't usually yell at a player on the field and say, "Hey, kid, run this way!" the burden is on YOU to get yourself well placed, anticipate the play and develop an instinct for when to push the shutter.

If the light's good, you might make use of the S3's excellent continuous shooting mode. I love it. If you're able to use full manual mode and turn auto-focus off, the S3 will get off several shots per second.

Now, if the light's not perfect, things get trickier. I've found that lighting inside a natatorium or even a basketball gym can be very tricky and photographers with more experience than I have confirmed this (and made me feel better about my own failures). Using the flash is normally considered rude and might even be forbidden; and even if it's not, it complicates life, because the S3's sensor will react differently to the flash-lit subjects close to the camera from the way it reacts to the flourescent-lit background, and you'll get weird discolorations in your shots. Better to set the WB properly for the scene and shoot without a flash, if possible.

In response to ib2loud's comment: I know it's counter-intuitive at first, but if you want to get the fastest shutter speed, don't use shutter priority. Use aperture priority, open the aperture all the way (f/2.7 if you're zoomed out, f/3.5 if you're zoomed in tight on the subject), then let the camera calculate the fastest acceptable shutter speed for you automatically.

At least, that's how you'd do it in the daylight when the light is good. The problem is, indoors, there may not be enough light for the camera to produce an acceptable shot at all, according to its metering. Then what do you do?

You can adjust the ISO. It's true that anything over 200 on the PowerShot S3 is going to be noisy - and if you push the camera all the way to 800 ISO, the picture will be very noisy indeed. But you gotta do what you gotta do to get the shot. I've had pretty good lucky fixing noisy shots using Noise Ninja 2. Since I'm not a professional photographer, and since I don't have thousands of dollars to spend on the equipment that I'd need to do a really good job photographing girls playing volleyball, well, I'm willing to put up with a little noise if it allows me to get the shot.

Another thing you can do is use M (manual) mode and deliberately underexpose the shot. The CCD in the S3 is very sensitive. A dark shot may still be able to be salvaged by a quick fix in the computer.

Clicking the Menu button and setting IS Mode to "shoot only" is supposed to make it a little more accurate. Putting the camera on a tripod is also highly advisable, if you can do it. But this brings me to what I consider the single biggest problem with the S3: the lack of a remote. For portraits, shots of birds, etc., using a 2-second delay allows you to put the camera on the tripod, click the shutter, then get your hands of the camera before the shutter clicks. Add focus-bracteting into the mix, and you've greatly increased your chance of getting a nice, sharp shot. But this is much harder to do shooting sports or action.

Finally, if you're shooting your own kid and not worried too much about capturing a shot for SI's next cover, well, you can throw up your hands, forget about getting a good still shot, and switch to movie mode. Movie mode is much more forgiving than still mode.

Good luck. I'm still learning, every time I'm out to shoot. Keep at it!

Will