Please tell me what this setting is

[maslex]

I have always owned a point & shoot camera. Even with those, I basically leave it on the same setting when taking pictures. I have a Canon Powershot D10. I bought it mainly for the ability to take underwater pictures while on cruises. (so yes, I do switch the setting before going underwater)

Anyhow, I've been thinking of upgrading my camera and I'm thinking of getting one with a setting to take action shots. My boys play soccer and I would like to take consecutive shots of them running around the field. I just don't know what this setting is called. And is it called something on different cameras?

And lastly, could you point me in the right direction of a decent camera that has this setting along with high optical zoom? I read somewhere that it's the "optical" zoom you want and not the "digital" zoom. Is this correct? I sometimes like to take pictures of things that are far away.

I don't need a lot of bells & whistles on the camera. I mostly use it to take simple pictures. Nothing fancy. Usually soccer games, birthdays, vacations, etc.

 

[ukcatfan]

The speed of shots in a row is burst rate. Three to four shots per second is usually enough for most people shooting kids sports.

 

[Frantasmic]

If you want to stay with Canon, this one looks like you would use its features.

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consu...ital_cameras/powershot_sx40_hs#Specifications

As long as the soccer games in the day in bright sunshine, many point and shoots with a burst rate will get what you want. If they play at night under decent lights, you may have to tweak some, but still you should be able to get what you want.

The problem with the type of camera you say you want is that in many situations the camera selects settings that are "right" for the picture per se, but not really. Say at night you want a fast picture in low light. Not many point and shoot cameras do that in auto. You'd have to tweak it some. But, it would take a blurry picture that you wouldn't like according to the settings programmed into it.

 

[maslex]

Thank you.

Any more suggestions on other cameras?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I've been thinking of upgrading my camera and I'm thinking of getting one with a setting to take action shots. My boys play soccer and I would like to take consecutive shots of them running around the field. I just don't know what this setting is called. And is it called something on different cameras?

I believe what you're looking for is referred to as a "Sports" setting, and is usually designated on the dial by a "person running" icon. If you keep the shutter button depressed with your finger, it will keep taking a series of pictures. As a pp mentioned, this will usually work well in good lighting, like outside in daylight, but when you get inside or are otherwise in low light, especially using your optical zoom "zoomed out", you are likely to get blur. Unfortunately, this is the nature of point and shoot cameras, which is why a lot of people who want to get good sports shots move to dSLR cameras and interchangable lenses. (And even with those, sport shots can be a challenge.)

Finding a point and shoot that has a larger sensor, a long optical zoom, and is waterproof will be difficult. (Subtract the waterproof and you'll have more options.) Your best strategy might be to learn more about using your camera to your advantage. Someone who really knows photography will likely be able to eek out some decent sports pictures even with your current camera. It's all about knowing the settings and other strategies to get the best exposures. Look into mirrorless cameras and entry level dSLRs while you're looking at new cameras. But whatever you buy, learning to use it well, and understanding principles of Exposure, will help you get better pictures in any setting.

 

[SrisonS]

I was always under the impression that "sports mode" (or "Kids mode" on some cameras) was more for shutter speed. Because you can't get too manual with some p&s cameras, this setting would produce a fast shutter speed and increase the ISO for you; to help freeze those moving subjects.