ashley, thanks for resurrecting this thread. It addresses some of the issues I've been trying to figure out myself over the past 5 months. I've found learning to use this camera has been pretty challenging, but I think I'm making some progress.
Anyway, thought I'd share this information: (Keep in mind, I'm not an expert here, just trying to make sense of it myself. )
Last week I was taking some shots and playing around with the settings. Here are the results of the same subject (who was moving around which is why I wanted a quick shutter speed):
Sports Mode: f/8.0-1/1600
Shutter Priority/Tv mode: f/8.0-1/125
Auto: f/4.0-1/640
As you can see,
#1 was fairly noisy (ie grainy.) I attribute that to the high ISO (someone correct me if I'm wrong.)
#2 was overexposed, very low ISO but same aperture as #1 (started a thread about it last week if anyone wants to see expert opinions on why.)
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1404629&referrerid=70088
#3 was pretty good image quality, altho not the greatest shot.
What does all this mean? (Kind of reminds me of the Goldilocks and the 3 Bears - too hot, too cold, middle just right, LOL. ) High ISO can capture quick shots but it could be at the expense of quality. I guess only use if you have to. Amy, do you find this to be an issue when you get your shots?
Again, this was using the mode dial. I haven't ventured into setting things manually yet. Has anyone else? It seems pretty daunting if I can't even get the mode dial to work right. Oy...
Experts please chime in...
ETA: I think I goofed on the old thread,
that second dog pic was taken on auto, not sports - figured it out later.