Blur pictures using Sport mode

[yeobt1]

Hi

I have a Canon EOS500D. I switch to Sports mode and when I took some pictures of people doing fast action sports, the pictures turn out blurred. I thought it would have frozen the action. What is the best approach to take sports picture with the following results:

1. Clear freeze of the action
2. Slight blurring of the actions but the figure is clear

Thanks in advance for any advices

 

[nmoody]

Post some of the pictures with EXIF data (settings) so we can see what the camera did.

Most likely the shutter was getting set too slow. Faster shutter will freeze objects better.

Another tip is to pan with the object you are taking pictures of. If done correctly this will make the moving focal object in focus and the background blurred.

 

[MLeeK]

The solution is to learn how to use the camera.
Sports mode only works IF you know how to make it work. The short of it is that you need more light into the camera so that the camera can use a faster shutter speed. You get more light by doing 3 things. Open up the aperture-your lens only opens up so far and you are hitting the maximum aperture already. Raise the ISO-the camera cannot do this on it's own unless you have Auto ISO as an option AND you have turned it on. And lastly it uses the shutter speed to get in the amount of light it needs. If the shutter is open for a long time-the subject or part of it has time to move. If it opens and closes extremely fast the subject doesn't get any time to move so the action stops.
Get out of sports mode and use shutter priority to stop the action. The shutter speed you will use depends upon the sport. If you are shooting volleyball you'll need about 1/500 to stop the players, but it won't stop the ball. You'll need even faster. For basketball 1/500 and possibly even 1/400. 1/500 is a good starting line and will work in most situations.
You will need to raise your ISO CONSIDERABLY for any indoor sport or for football under the lights. We're talking ISO 12800 and depending on the lens you have that may not be enough to get exposure.

Here are some tutorials on how to begin understanding your camera. Digital Photography Tips and Tutorials

 

[TCampbell]

Do post an example (or two) and make sure the exposure settings are included. It'll go a long way toward explaining exactly what happened to your shots and why they turned out the way they did.

Many sports are played in environments where the lighting puts the camera at the edge of it's capabilities, if not just a little beyond, when using the kit lens.

Sports mode will bias toward a faster shutter speed and open the aperture. But once the f-stop hits the limit for the lens you are using (e.g. on a kit lens that's usually f/5.6) then it can only continue to increase shutter speed by increasing ISO. If you set the ISO speed to any value other than "Auto" then it's not permitted to alter the ISO -- so it'll be at it's limit. If you did set the ISO to "Auto" then it still has a max based on a setting in the custom functions (e.g. it might have the auto ISO "max" setting at 1600 -- which means that even though the camera can go to 3200, it wont because it was told never to exceed 1600 (or whatever max you've got set) when in "Auto" ISO mode.)

This is a challenge when using the "scene" based modes (portrait, landscape, sports, etc.) is that you're telling the computer the nature of the shot, but you're never really sure what it's doing.

If you learn the fundamentals of exposure, then you could switch to, say, Tv mode (Time value -- aka "Shutter" speed priority.) In that mode you could actually dial in your speed (something in the neighborhood of 1/250th to 1/500th will generally freeze most sports action.) Then as you're taking the shot, you can see the meter in the camera indicating whether it's able to get the shot at the shutter speed you've set. If it's not indicating a good exposure, you'll know it before you take the shots.

A lens with a lower focal ratio will really help your sports shots in situations where the lighting isn't very ideal. A zoom lens with a constant focal ratio of f/2.8 available all throughout the zoom range will collect four times as much light as a variable focal ratio zoom at f/5.6. That means you can shoot with a shutter speed four times faster and get the same shot. You can get non-zoom (aka "prime") lenses that are even faster (e.g. f/2 or lower) and these are collecting eight times or more light. That makes a HUGE difference when shooting sports.

 

[Someones]

Change it in to Manual mode and shoot. Increase the shutter speed so as the iso (just for a lil bit, other wise the picture will be noised)
take them with low aperture. Don't try capturing images with auto modes, it kills the creativity. practice hard.
Someones 5th eye
http://www.facebook.com/5theye

 

[2WheelPhoto]

manual mode, set shutter slow enough to blur and compensate ISO/aperture for proper exposure and you're done.

Even the bestbuy rep selling pro kits can explain this methodology =)

 

[JasonJ89]

use autofocus muti shots.

 

[Professional]

Simple answer, use higher shutter speed, doesn't matter which aperture or iso you use, if you could manage to have high ss minimum 1/500 and AI servo with good exposure balanced with f/ISO then you will be fine.