oting sports with Canon A720... Help please!!

Hi everyone,

I just got a Canon A720is and had somebody tae pics at my hockey game. The shots came out horrible. Can anyone offer any advice on what settings to use to help get clear sports shots?

Thanks.

Can you describe what you mean by horrible? I'm guessing the shutter speed was probably too slow because the arenas are usually poorly lit. Thus using a higher ISO or faster lens would be ideal. But using a higher iso for a P&S is probably not a good idea.

So in the end you should accept the fact that a P&S is probably not going to take good pics of your hockey game.

While you may get lucky from time to time, compact cameras just aren't geared for low light and action sports. However, if you would post some examples as to what you mean by horrible, someone here may be able to help you improve the photos to a point.

Gary

It is pretty darn near impossible to take just a few single pictures at a hockey game and expect good results. I have an A610 and an S3, and it took me more than a few games (ok, really almost a whole NHL season!) and a lot of experimentation, but I finally figured out what works best for my cameras.

On the A610, which would have functions similar to the A720, I've used the Kids and Pets setting (in SCN), set the drive to take continuous shots and adjust the white balance to compensate for the rink lighting. Avoid using the digital zoom. You're very lucky because the A720 has image stabilization, which is also quite a big help.

On the S3, which is a little different, I use the Sports setting, set the drive to take continuous shots and adjust the white balance to compensate for the rink lighting.

In either case, since hockey is such a fast sport, you need to be patient and expect to take LOTS of shots to get a few good ones. For the examples posted in the links below, I probably took close to 200 shots to get these 3. Have faith, eventually you'll get the hang of it!

Examples taken with the S3 are here:
http://www.flickr.com …/22267679@N02/2​190382272/
http://www.flickr.com …/22267679@N02/2​189592517/
http://www.flickr.com …/22267679@N02/2​190377630/