Fast action lens? maybe

[bbancsov]

I really dont know anything about cameras except for the standard specs, and what i learned from a photography class in high school. But i have digital Canon Powershot S410 thats 4 megapixels and was wondering what type of camera i would need to get the nice clear shots of someone lets say doing donuts. in focus and all, would i need to buy a fast action lens camera? thanks

[nondescript]

This is a rather large subject... And really it's exactly what you want to see in the result that drives what tools you need to get there...

But; a few things...

1. I really don't mind a healthy amount of blur in an action shot... In many cases it conveys the sense of speed more than a shot that is totally frozen in time. This is a style issue more than anything.
2. a "fast" lens is one that can change focal points very quickly... this can help when you subject is moving very fast towards or away from you - but otherwise doesn't impact the "speed" of the shot...
3. Exposure time, aperture and ISO have more to do with how in focus the entire shot is... You want a camera that lets you adjust these...
4. And if you really are looking for that freeze frame effect - you want to spend as much money as you can on a camera that has less ISO noise at higher settings... Using a higher ISO will let you cut down the exposure time and raise the F stop which also cuts down on how much light is let into the camera but both will help keep the entire scene in focus.

Again; it's a style thing... But in a lot of my action shots I run a lower F stop to separate the subject from the background, and keep a fairly long exposure time to get motion blur on some bits of the scene... Example:



But then I've seen some beautiful results going the other way too... This has a short short exposure time, still lower F stop, and a higher ISO setting than I use... I didn't take it; blizur on here did - but think it's a great example.

[bbancsov]

What im looking for is more liek teh first shot. how the background is blurred, do you pan the object which is moving? and then snap the photo, or what other techniques do you use. But the first pic is more liek what im looking for, thanks. great pics btw!

[nondescript]

Yeah, that was a pan...

ISO 100; f/3.2; 1/250th (I think) and I'm fairly sure I had a circular polarizer on there...

The background (and foreground) would have been blurry even if it wasn't a pan because the f-stop was 3.2... That was taken with a Canon S2 IS... which is a great camera but still a point and shoot - with a good optical zoom and decent manual controls... You don't need anything crazy (expensive) for a pan shot like that... ... Now if you wanted to get the same effect with a car that was driving straight towards you... That changes things...

[bbancsov]

How would you do it if you wanted the car flying towards you? a quicker ISo or what would you change? my gf has a very nice point and shoot camera, basicallly im asking if the shot in the first picture can be done with a camera like mine, the one i mentioned in the first post. thanks.

[nondescript]

if you want to run a shallow depth of field (subject in focus, background blurry) and the subject is driving towards you.... you need a dSLR with a lens that has a focus ring (if you are going to do it manually) or a pretty good auto-focus (Canon 30D or 5D or 1DMarkII etc) that can track subjects approaching the camera with a fast acting lens...

That is the type of shot that requires stepping up to a dSLR and some good glass...

...

But to answer your question - yes you should be able to get a good panning shot even with the point and shoot you currently have. I got a few like that with my powershot S100... but the delay between pushing the button and when the camera actually takes the picture will require practice; and will be very annoying... But it _can_ be done.

[M i d o z]

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