Anyone using S5IS for sports? - Need help for a friend

Hey all

I'm shooting club VB with my 30D and an 85f1.8 in the typical dark gyms. One of my team moms came up to me, and asked for help. She's got an S5is, and I tweaked and poked at it, and I want to make sure I've pushed it as far as it will go before I punt.

I upped the ISO to 1600, changed to tungsten light mode, put it in Tv mode, and I'm only get 1/200 at f2.7 - 5.3 before the f stop turns red (I assume that means I'm maxing it out).

Are there any tricks to this camera that I missed that would help her get a little more speed for action shots, or is she stuck taking sportraits?

Thanks

If she can move in closer, the S5's variable max. aperture will get a bit (not a whole lot) wider than it will at the tele settings, but you've done about all that camera will let you without an external flash. I think, however, that CWB might be better than Tungsten unless it's an unusual gym - they're often some form of sodium, mercury or fluorescent lights; also "tungsten" setting is a bit cooler than most tungsten lights; it's really tungsten studio lighting.

One thing for sure - stay away from "sports" mode and also stay away from anything higher than ISO 400 You will get very bad noise.
I would try av mode , wide open - speeds will be a problem but if you shot enough, you will find some winners.

I've had some decent shots with higher ISOs....the noise only shows up when the picture is huge. A sharp sports picture is better than a boring sportrait. So it's gotta be a balance between noise and sharpness.