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IXUS 400 action shots - focus and shutter lag?

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tonysab

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I am a bit of a newbie so forgive me if I am being totally stuped with some of my comments here!

I have an IXUS 400 which is fantastic. I use it to take photos of my local soccer team in action, but am a bit mystified why some of the following is happening -

1) Out of focus results - even relative close-up action can come out blurred, but not all the time

2) Shutter lag - can vary but sometimes it takes a good few seconds for the auto-focus etc to work out what it needs to do between pressing the button and the picture being captured. So I think ok, click just before I normally would and I should be ok, so the next time it captures the picture almost as soon as I press the button!

3) Little green rectangles - I have tried to improve the blurry results by pressing the shutter halfway first - however this doesn't really improve things either - I suspect due to the movement of players after I have pressed halfway? And why do the green rectangles appear in different places when I press half-way, cancel and do it again? - it's almost like it's pot luck on what it focuses on? I wonder if it would be better to just use the centre focus only?

Basically during a game I might take 25 pics, half come out blurred, half are pin-sharp.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks,
Tony
 
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=5360588
tonysab said:
I am a bit of a newbie so forgive me if I am being totally stuped
with some of my comments here!

I have an IXUS 400 which is fantastic. I use it to take photos of
my local soccer team in action, but am a bit mystified why some of
the following is happening -

1) Out of focus results - even relative close-up action can come
out blurred, but not all the time

2) Shutter lag - can vary but sometimes it takes a good few seconds
for the auto-focus etc to work out what it needs to do between
pressing the button and the picture being captured. So I think ok,
click just before I normally would and I should be ok, so the next
time it captures the picture almost as soon as I press the button!

3) Little green rectangles - I have tried to improve the blurry
results by pressing the shutter halfway first - however this
doesn't really improve things either - I suspect due to the
movement of players after I have pressed halfway? And why do the
green rectangles appear in different places when I press half-way,
cancel and do it again? - it's almost like it's pot luck on what it
focuses on? I wonder if it would be better to just use the centre
focus only?

Basically during a game I might take 25 pics, half come out
blurred, half are pin-sharp.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks,
Tony
Click to expand...
--
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/
 
Many thanks for your advice. The other thing that occurred to me was that I tend to always shoot at 3x optical zoom - is this likely to increase the chance of slight camera shake therefore causing the blurred pictures, or does this only happen when using the digital zoom?

Tony
 
In low light, 3x zoom is a double wammy. The lens lets in less light (F2.8 wide vs F4.9 wide) and longer zoom is harder to handhold at low shutter speed.
tonysab said:
Many thanks for your advice. The other thing that occurred to me
was that I tend to always shoot at 3x optical zoom - is this likely
to increase the chance of slight camera shake therefore causing the
blurred pictures, or does this only happen when using the digital
zoom?

Tony
Click to expand...
--
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/
 
I want to buy the S400 or S50.

After reading your posts, I am concerned about the S400 action problem. The S50 has more manual settings, but is it that much better with action photos?
 
In My Opinion. They each have the same speed lens so there will be little advantage to the S50. The S400 will tend to almost alway shoot wide open. Sometimes you may find yourself on the edge where the S400 will choose to drop to about 1/125, but that should be pretty rare. Most of the time shutter speeds will be equivilent.

You are much better off going with the G3 if this is what you want to do, since it has a faster lens. Especially if you want to zoom in on that action where the G3 will have a 2 stop advantage.

That translates into a situation where the S400 and S50 would have a 1/60th shutter speed, the G3 could have 1/240. Much better for stopping the action.

IMO I would look at the S400 for the size and image quality, or go straight for the G3 to get more control and more importantly a much better lens to control. The S50 is like putting the G3s controls on the much more limited lens of the S400, it doesn't buy you much. The G3 has better lens, better flash, better battery, easy attachments for external flash, lens attachements.

Obviously this is my opinion and many will disagree. I live with the limitations of the S400, but if I were to get a bigger camera I would definitely want a better lens at minimum.

Peter
Lize-Marie said:
I want to buy the S400 or S50.
After reading your posts, I am concerned about the S400 action
problem. The S50 has more manual settings, but is it that much
better with action photos?
Click to expand...
--
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/
 
More over, since some online stores are now selling G3 for around $425, one should definitely get G3 over S50 (both cost probably the same). 5 megapixels is not really something we need.

If you have more $$$ then go for Sony DSC F-828 or DSLR.
Peter G said:
You are much better off going with the G3 if this is what you want
to do, since it has a faster lens. Especially if you want to zoom
in on that action where the G3 will have a 2 stop advantage.

That translates into a situation where the S400 and S50 would have
a 1/60th shutter speed, the G3 could have 1/240. Much better for
stopping the action.

IMO I would look at the S400 for the size and image quality, or go
straight for the G3 to get more control and more importantly a much
better lens to control. The S50 is like putting the G3s controls on
the much more limited lens of the S400, it doesn't buy you much.
The G3 has better lens, better flash, better battery, easy
attachments for external flash, lens attachements.

Obviously this is my opinion and many will disagree. I live with
the limitations of the S400, but if I were to get a bigger camera I
would definitely want a better lens at minimum.

Peter
Lize-Marie said:
I want to buy the S400 or S50.
After reading your posts, I am concerned about the S400 action
problem. The S50 has more manual settings, but is it that much
better with action photos?
Click to expand...
--
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the advice guys. What do you think of the Sony DSC V1? Also small, 5MP, 4xzoom and better shutter speed.
Gary Jones said:
If you have more $$$ then go for Sony DSC F-828 or DSLR.
Peter G said:
You are much better off going with the G3 if this is what you want
to do, since it has a faster lens. Especially if you want to zoom
in on that action where the G3 will have a 2 stop advantage.

That translates into a situation where the S400 and S50 would have
a 1/60th shutter speed, the G3 could have 1/240. Much better for
stopping the action.

IMO I would look at the S400 for the size and image quality, or go
straight for the G3 to get more control and more importantly a much
better lens to control. The S50 is like putting the G3s controls on
the much more limited lens of the S400, it doesn't buy you much.
The G3 has better lens, better flash, better battery, easy
attachments for external flash, lens attachements.

Obviously this is my opinion and many will disagree. I live with
the limitations of the S400, but if I were to get a bigger camera I
would definitely want a better lens at minimum.

Peter
Lize-Marie said:
I want to buy the S400 or S50.
After reading your posts, I am concerned about the S400 action
problem. The S50 has more manual settings, but is it that much
better with action photos?
Click to expand...
--
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I am not entirely sure that the problem I get is purely down to taking action shots - some of the shots the players are barely moving at all, and yet the whole picture comes out blurred. I can take a picture seconds later which will be pin-sharp. I am coming to the conclusion that it is a combination of -

1) Using 3x optical zoom, thereby increasing the chance of camera shake
2) Using AiAF, possibly
3) Shooting in Auto mode?

although as a newbie I would have thought auto/aiaf would have covered all possibilities as far as the camera is concerned when it comes to shoot.

I am going to try shooting in manual mode with aiaf switched off and see how that alters anything.
Lize-Marie said:
Gary Jones said:
If you have more $$$ then go for Sony DSC F-828 or DSLR.
Peter G said:
You are much better off going with the G3 if this is what you want
to do, since it has a faster lens. Especially if you want to zoom
in on that action where the G3 will have a 2 stop advantage.

That translates into a situation where the S400 and S50 would have
a 1/60th shutter speed, the G3 could have 1/240. Much better for
stopping the action.

IMO I would look at the S400 for the size and image quality, or go
straight for the G3 to get more control and more importantly a much
better lens to control. The S50 is like putting the G3s controls on
the much more limited lens of the S400, it doesn't buy you much.
The G3 has better lens, better flash, better battery, easy
attachments for external flash, lens attachements.

Obviously this is my opinion and many will disagree. I live with
the limitations of the S400, but if I were to get a bigger camera I
would definitely want a better lens at minimum.

Peter
Lize-Marie said:
I want to buy the S400 or S50.
After reading your posts, I am concerned about the S400 action
problem. The S50 has more manual settings, but is it that much
better with action photos?
Click to expand...
--
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
tonysab said:
1) Using 3x optical zoom, thereby increasing the chance of camera
shake
Click to expand...
Simple. What is the shutter speed (check the Exif) on these blurred shots. If it is low this is a problem and the zoom will only make it worse. Learn from the bad shots.
tonysab said:
2) Using AiAF, possibly
Click to expand...
Well if the shutter speed is high, then this may be a problem. AiAF in itself is not a problem, but paying no attention to which boxes it chooses is a problem.
tonysab said:
3) Shooting in Auto mode?
Click to expand...
Only it is causing #1. Check the shutter speed first then worry about focus. You can focus perfectly with AiAF but you have to pay atttention...
 
Lize-Marie said:
Thanks for the advice guys. What do you think of the Sony DSC V1?
Also small, 5MP, 4xzoom and better shutter speed.
Click to expand...
Again IMO. I like the V1 better than the S50, lens is a bit faster at telephoto. More features etc. But I don't consider these cameras small enough to drop into a pocket like my S400.

If I can't drop it in my pocket, I still like the G3 is better than the V1 in many situations.
 
I made up my mind. I'm going for the S400. You're right; it's going to be too much off a hassle carrying around a big camera. A Friend told me yesterday that he dropped his IXUS V3 in a swimming pool and it still works. Wow!
Peter G said:
Lize-Marie said:
Thanks for the advice guys. What do you think of the Sony DSC V1?
Also small, 5MP, 4xzoom and better shutter speed.
Click to expand...
Again IMO. I like the V1 better than the S50, lens is a bit faster
at telephoto. More features etc. But I don't consider these cameras
small enough to drop into a pocket like my S400.

If I can't drop it in my pocket, I still like the G3 is better than
the V1 in many situations.
Click to expand...
 
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