digital camera question for a beginner

[maxx]

Ok this may sound odd, but remember I am a newbie to the world of digital cameras. Lets say that I want to take a photo of someone on a soccer field, but I only want the main subject (the player) in focus. What kind of setting would I need to look for in a digital camera?

Is there a way to adjust the focus to such a effect on a traditional point-n-shoot digital camera such as the Canon Powershot cameras?

thanks

[John_Reed]

Ok this may sound odd, but remember I am a newbie to the world of digital cameras. Lets say that I want to take a photo of someone on a soccer field, but I only want the main subject (the player) in focus. What kind of setting would I need to look for in a digital camera?

Is there a way to adjust the focus to such a effect on a traditional point-n-shoot digital camera such as the Canon Powershot cameras?

thanksSmall-sensor digital cameras generally give a very deep "depth of field," which gets shorter at longer zoom, but not short enough to be able to isolate a single player in a group of players. You can do much better with a DSLR and a long-zoom telephoto lens. Short of that, you can use a P&S camera and pan the subject, that is, follow the subject's movements with the camera as you take the photo. That way, others are blurred, and the subject comes out relatively sharp. Here's a simple example (with a Panasonic FZ10):

http://John-Reed.smugmug.com/photos/6034612-L.jpg

Another one (with a Panasonic TZ1), of a Tiger pacing at the Washington D.C. Zoo:

http://john-reed.smugmug.com/photos/81765840-L.jpg

For panning, it actually helps if you use a slower shutter speed, it maximizes the background blur. The 1st example I showed was at 1/160 on a bright day, and the Tiger was shot at 1/50. In fact, here's one of my faves, an Egret in full flight (TZ1 again) at 1/250:

http://john-reed.smugmug.com/photos/69693450-L.jpg

The Egret was moving a LOT faster than the Tiger! I hope that was helpful?

[Chrisku13]

I also have a Powershot, and tried doing this for the first time today. It was tricky at first, but panning with the subject can create a great effect. Of course, programs such as photoshop can mimic this somewhat. Maxx, for your purpose, if your soccer player star is out in the sun, you can potentially get a nice shot using the powershot's manual mode. Use a fast shutter speed and set the aperture as low as you can. This way, light comes in from the aperture's wide opening, and creates a better blurred background, if you focus correctly. And you can freeze the action that he's doing with the faster shutter speed.

[mattdm]

John, what did you do with the image stabilization in those shots? It's my understanding that Canon has a special panning stabilization mode which stabilizes vertically while not messing with the pan. Do you just turn it off on your Panasonic, or is it able to tell the difference automatically and cope?

[John_Reed]

John, what did you do with the image stabilization in those shots? It's my understanding that Canon has a special panning stabilization mode which stabilizes vertically while not messing with the pan. Do you just turn it off on your Panasonic, or is it able to tell the difference automatically and cope?The first shot, taken with my old FZ10, used its "panning" mode, where the vertical stabilizer is left on, the horizontal one turned off. But I came to realize, as long as I'm following the subject's motion with the camera, that relative to the camera, the subject itself isn't actually moving. So nowadays, I just leave IS on, usually mode 1, which is my preferred stabilization mode. I'm sure the same technique would work for almost any camera, with or without stabilization. It does help to have the long zoom, but then you have panning of Goldfish at full wide angle with my FX50?

http://john-reed.smugmug.com/photos/125076894-L.jpg

or a toy train @ 1/13 of a second, 65mm equivalent focal length with my TZ1?

http://john-reed.smugmug.com/photos/109276193-L.jpg

One thing you have to get used to with P&S cameras is that while they're shooting, the LCD display (or EVF) isn't updating. So you may have to follow through with the camera movement even if you can't see the subject!

[mattdm]

Well, while an SLR is shooting, the mirror is up, so, same deal.

The train image kind of looks like maybe the image stabilization is actually making things worse -- there's a double-image effect, as if the stabilizer froze the scene for a little bit and then jumped. (But that could be caused by something else too, of course.)

[John_Reed]

Well, while an SLR is shooting, the mirror is up, so, same deal.

The train image kind of looks like maybe the image stabilization is actually making things worse -- there's a double-image effect, as if the stabilizer froze the scene for a little bit and then jumped. (But that could be caused by something else too, of course.)If you look at the "VIRGINIAN" lettering on the coal car in back, it's tack sharp. The longish train is entering the scene at an angle, and is taking up most of the scene width. The fact that the front is slightly blurry is most likely due to imperfect tracking, rather than image stabilization. After all, as I mentioned before, the subject is actually relatively motionless, if the tracking is perfect. So whether or not IS is engaged should have little bearing on the result. But I could be wrong.

[mattdm]

After all, as I mentioned before, the subject is actually relatively motionless, if the tracking is perfect. So whether or not IS is engaged should have little bearing on the result. But I could be wrong.

I don't think the image stabilization knows a thing about the motion of the subject -- it's not like in video cameras, which work by digitally keeping things aligned frame-to-frame. Instead, I think it just actually dampens motion of the sensor.

[John_Reed]

I don't think the image stabilization knows a thing about the motion of the subject -- it's not like in video cameras, which work by digitally keeping things aligned frame-to-frame. Instead, I think it just actually dampens motion of the sensor.Is vibrational, periodic motion, the type which accompanies hand shake. When you're tracking a moving subject, moving the camera steadily, you may not be exciting the OIS at all on these cameras. But rather than belabor the point, the next time I get a chance, I'll try some shots with and without, and see if there's any difference. Unscientific, I know, but should be interesting. I'll let you know how the test turns out, OK?

[mattdm]

Okay, thanks. I bring it up because I saw some pictures from Canon's IS system which clearly had the problem mentioned above. Their IS didn't seem to be able to distinguish between smooth panning motion and hand-shake at all unless specifically told. Panasonic's may be different.