Any suggestions on how I can get CHDK on my 720IS to take better sport shots? I am often in dimmly lit gyms that require higher ISO settings (creating noise) and fast shutter speed settings. I know the camera has limitations in this type of situation, but what would be the "optimum" settings for this and similar cameras under these circumstances? I have played around with Aperature/Shutter Over-ride and Noise Filter settings, which made for some interesting shots, but I have not gotten the type of results I was hoping for.... Any Ideas???
Teachnet,
Being completely new to photography when I bought my S2IS a few years back I figured it would be the right tool for the job. I have daughters that play volleyball and that was one of the primary reasons that I bought that particular camera having a limited ammount of money to spend at the time. In hindsight I wish I'd known then what I know now--that the camera just has certain limitations. If I'd known lower light situations (and yeah the gyms are to my camera also a very low light situation) would require so much post processing just to get an image that was closer to useable but still crappy, I'd have talked the Mrs. into plunking down a few bucks more to get at least an entry level DSLR. I'm still working on her for that.
Your problem here is probablly identical to mine. Your camera just doesn't have the horsepower in low light. You get focus errors--because you lack the contrast needed in brighter situations. Irritating isn't it? You end up with noisy (grainy) looking shots because of the higher ISO settings. You can try these things and see how it works out. First, forget about automatic or semi-automatic mode if you want to take pics of action in low light. These cameras are designed to do a lot of things automatically but all they're trying to do is get to a proper exposure with the light available. If that means leaving the shutter open longer--that's what its gonna do. Problem is--if you're trying to get shots of people moving quickly, as in volleyball or basketball--its just gonna look like all blurry. If you're in a mode like "sports" make sure your ISO is set as high as it will go. This will help your camera get a higher shutter speed, which you'll need to capture action. However your cam will still try to compensate for a better exposure regardless of the action--and use a shutter speed slower than is acceptable to capture the action. If the shutter speed seems to capture the action OK, you can set your EV higher max it out to say +2. That'll help brighten things up.
Better yet, if you can, go into a manual mode try these settings, set the shutter speed at about 1/160 (still way slow), the aperture as wide as it will go, preferrably 2.7 (however the ammount you zoom WILL affect this, making it smaller no matter what), set ISO as high as it'll go and jack up the EV as high as it'll go. Either way try to get as close to the action as you possiby can. Sit in the front row or stake out a good position in a corner or end line if the refs will permit it. More closer, more better. That factor alone will help probably more than anything else.
Blurry images can be caused by several things. One is camera blur--its caused by the ammount you might physically move during the time your camera's shutter might be open. Motion blur--the ammount your subject might move during that time. And digital noise--caused by using higher ISOs in lower end cameras.
The first two problems can be solved by using as high a shutter speed as you can get and still have a close to properly exposed shot--(expect a way underexposed shot). That and try to hold the camera as steady as you can. Hard to do with one of those LCD screen point and shoots you hold out in front of you. While it might not seem like you moved much, even a little twitch will be exaggerated at a relatively slow shutter speed ruining your image. The last problem--noise--is a bit trickier. Its a product if the ISO setting but can be corrected to some extent with software. Higher end cameras will go to around ISO 1600 or 3200 and produce little or no noise at all. Mine only goes to ISO400 and is noisy as all hell. I use photoshop and another program called Noise Ninja that cleans the shots up well but not perfectly. The result actually looks a bit flat. The cost of removing noise is the loss of detail--not that its much as the noise pretty much already did that to begin with.
The short of it is while our cams might be great out in the light of day or in a small area where the flash is useful, in a darker area without flash they're just out of their element. I long for the day that I have a better camera and I don't have to fiddle so much with every shot I take in a gym that I like. I'm so envious when I go to a tournament and see the shots the pros take and are selling at the door. I get the same shots they do (as I've had so much practice over the years) but their images are so much crisper than mine. Oh well. One day.
Good luck!
