Express Action Sports

I mainly want to take pictures of my kids but also want it to use for sports (myself and theirs when they get older). I am worried about the blur that occurs on sports pictures sometimes. I play tennis and get a lot of that on any camera. Does anyone have this and have good experience with sports pictures. Also, had a question about the quality and stability of the zoom. Thanks in advance.

My daughter has the Canon S2, and has very good results with it. Outdoor or flash pics with lots of light are excellent. Low light pics with no flash tend to have some noise. I get similiar results with my Sony H1. These "ultra zoom" cameras give you great flexibility without having to carry around a lot of separate lenses for a d-SLR camera.

The camera does a good job with sports pics as long as there is good lighting. The 12x zoom lets you get close to the players, and the autofocus can track moving objects.

However, there is no predefined high shutter speed Sports Scene mode. You have to learn to use the Shutter Speed Priority mode. Then you just set a shutter speed that is fast enough to capture the action (usually 1/200 second or faster), then the camera will set aperture wide enough to get a good exposure.

There have been no problems with the zoom, and the image stabilization really helps avoid camera shake when using the long telephoto.

Other similar cameras are the Canon S3, Sony H1/H2/H5, Panasonic FZ7/FZ30/FZ50.

Good Luck

I am looking for a camera to shoot HD photos and videos of horses (mainly jumping). How is the SX40 with sports/action?

I can’t speak to the video side but being a partially controllable camera, if you can set your shutter to at least 1/500 and can adjust your ISO for arena light (usually terrible) then you might do alright.

i take a lot of sport shots,during the day i have the camera set on the sport mode and i get fantastic photos,but when the light goes,and try taking shots at night at a sportsfield under lights,and still on sport mode,the pics are dark,but mainly they are very blurry,and not worth keeping.I have tried to take the same sought of photos on the Aperture mode,but the pics are too dark.Its all been very frustrating.Can someone help me please?

As mentioned, a P&S does not have the controls necessary to freeze action in low light, nor does it have a large enough sensor to produce nearly noiseless images at high ISO settings.

Here is what you could expect if you had the right tool for the job, mainly a dSLR with long, fast lens

http://s862.photobucket.com/albums/ab182/fotomanaz/Answers%20album/?action=view&current=i_AIA3008copy.jpg

That shot was made using a 300 mm lens with aperture of f/2.8 and a shutter speed of 1/500th second.

If you look on your camera, you will notice that none of those settings are possible on your SX20

I’ve been trying to get good lowlight action shots with my new Canon Powershot SX30IS, but I have failed so far…

I have tried every setting, and also tried Manual at: 1600 ISO, f/2.7 and 1/1000 shutter speed, but then my images are pitch black!! And of course if I lower my shutter speed, letting in more light they are extremely blurry. And yes, I have tried the flash, but that only works when I’m very close ti the subject, which I can’t be during the rodeos, sports, etc.

I’ve tried doing research and the only thing I’ve found is my aperture needs to be a lower number, but f/2.7 is as low as my camera goes! Are there any lenses I can buy to help?

Thanks!

You don’t understand the limitations of P&S cameras it seems

1) it does NOT accept interchangeable lenses, so buying a faster lens it NOT an option
2) the limits of your camera will allow you to only use aperture priority and an ISO of 1600. The camera decides the shutter speed to get a good exposure
3) the maximum reach of your flash is 6.8 m.

Basically you do NOT have the proper equipment to do what you want. You will have to save your pennies and buy an entry level dSLR, a camera that has ISO settings of at least 3200 and can use interchangeable lenses.

I want to get a new mega zoom camera
such as the Pentax X70 or Lumix FZ28k

Both cameras have 20x mega zoom lenses and claim to have fast shutter release times and advanced action and sports features. However, I read one review that said the pentax is too slow for shooting sports.

But the Lumix costs ($400) about $100 more than the pentax.

Any suggestions on which camera would be a good choice? Please recommend other brands if you have a mega zoom camera that you use for action and sports photography.

Thanks!!
More info!!

Please read the above. I do not want a camera body and a 20lb bag full of lenses. I’m looking for the best nonremovable lens mega zoom camera.

Also, I am not a brand whore. I don’t believe that Nikon is automatically the best brand for digital cameras.

Panasonic FZ28k is a better choice,it take excellent image quality normally price of FZ28 is lower than Pentax X70 but it will be discontinued and there will be new model Panasonic FZ35 out soon

I found not to good reviews about Pentax X70

another good model that I would suggest is Canon Powershot SX10IS 10MP with 20x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom.It take good picture whether the action is fast or slow, close up or far away
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G5ZTZO?ie=UTF8&tag=computer0bd-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001G5ZTZO

I am looking for a camera for photographing sports and I can buy any of these three in a bundle in the $100 price range. Which of these cameras is best for photographing Action Sports?

1.Kodak Easyshare Z1285
2. Nikon Coolpix L15
3. Canon Powershot A 590 IS

Thanks for your help, I appreciate it!

None!

They all suffer from shutter lag and that means you will be missing shot after shot as the action goes on and on.

You need long lenses to cover sports .. the Kodak has the longest of the three.

You need to be able to shoot at high shutter speeds and only the Canon gives you control over the shutter speed and or aperture

You may have noticed that people who shoot sports, usually have a DSLR around their neck … at least an entry level one. There are four primary reasons: 1) they have shutter lag that measures in milliseconds, 2) they have huge sensors compared to P&S cameras (thus higher quality images are possible), 3) they have interchangeable lenses (you can by longer and longer lenses as you can afford them) and are fully adjustable using aperture or shutter speed priority modes.