Shooting in Sports Mode?

[mrsthom123]

I have been shooting my son's Baseball & soccer events for two years now. I make movies on my Mac. in iMovie. I got a new Canon Powershot for Christmas and when I started taking pictures in sports mode for the action, especially in Soccer, they became really grainy. I prefer the clear pictures I get in AUTO, but getting those shots are hard. I get some, but not enough for my satisfaction. :( What adjustments can I make to get less GRAINY shots in Sports Mode.:)

I's appreciate any help. thanks

[David Metsky]

Not much, unfortunately. Sports mode is all about taking shots with fast shutter speed to freeze the action. It does this by pushing the ISO higher, which causes noisy photos. Your best bet it so push the ISO to an acceptable level manually (200 or 400) then shoot lots of photos. You'll need to be in M or P mode to set the ISO. If your camera has full manual controls your can also set the shutter speed to something like 1/200 to freeze the action and set the ISO and aperture yourself.

But shooting sports with at P&S is a mixed bag, it's not an easy thing unless you have excellent lighting.

[FLiPMaRC]

David Metsky pretty much said it ;) What you might also do is keep shooting in sports mode and then just run the grainy pictures through Neat Image (http://www.neatimage.com/) or Noise Ninja. (http://www.picturecode.com/) Might be worth a try :)

[zmikers]

they became really grainy. I prefer the clear pictures I get in AUTO, but getting those shots are hard. I get some, but not enough for my satisfaction.

Unfortunately there's a reason why these have been your two outcomes, grainy shots or a small percentage coming out clear. Basically:

1. Higher ISO means your film/sensor is more sensitive therefore allowing your camera to use faster shutter speeds (or smaller aperture) as it does not need as much light. The problem with higher ISO is grain or noise.

2. In order to decrease the noise you need lower ISO settings. Your film/sensor will become less sensitive to light therefore needing slower shutter speeds (or higher aperture) to get a proper exposure. The draw back with slower shutter speed is motion blur and camera shake.

So unfortunately in poor light situations you are stuck with slow shutter speed or noise. If you have full manual, try to set the aperture as wide open as possible (this means a smaller F numbers) this will get you faster shutter speeds.