Canon S2 IS or alternative for capturing professional sports

[Sporty G]

Thanks for the link pal~!Those shots of the on-ice action are very good! The little noise that is evident isn't unlike that which you see accompanying wire story photos (AP/CP, etc.). Very nice!Now, what went wrong with the shots of the crowd? One or two are very good, while the rest are quite poor, with lots of blur, noise and a lack of detail. What would have or could have remedied that? A higher ISO? With that have produced a sharper, though granier shot? What would be an ideal setting in a context like that with the aim of preserving clarity and sharpness while reducing grain?PS ~ I really appreciate your help thus far.

[rinniethehun]

The crowd shots were taken at shutter speeds from 1/8 to 1/20 second, resulting in motion blur. Even if the ISO was at 400, I doubt that it would have resulted in clear pictures, however the noise would have also been worse.

Take a look at this link for some sports shots taken by one of our members (scroll down to the bottom of his post):

http://stevesforums.com/forums/view_...mp;forum_id=16

These were taken with an S9500 at ISO 800 and/or1600 with noise reduction pp by the photographer. The lighting there was probably only a fraction of what you would encounter at a professional hockey arena. I believe the S5200 might have produced cleaner pics, for the reasons slipe mentioned.

the Hun

[swgod98]

rinniethehun wrote:

These were taken with an S9500 at ISO 800 and/or1600 with noise reduction pp by the photographer.

Those S9000 pics were pretty good. But, Idon't thinkit's the bestcomparison as there are a couple of differences. First, he was shooting at wideangle. The S2 would have had another 1/2 stop at 36mm rather than at tele range (which just makes for more light).Second, the images were reduced to near nothing in size. Try reducing the images I posted to the size of these (640x480)and youwill barelysee any noise...possibly even at ISO400...add nosie reduction and the images look beautiful...crystal clear with a sharpenmask(I just tried it).

As far as the camera shake...Most of the pics with camera shake could have been prevented with a steady hand. As none of them were below 1/8th and I've found it easy enough (if I'm very careful) to get a clean shot at 1/8th even at full tele with IS. At wideangle I can get a good shot just about every time.

As far as the subject blur, only ISO400 can hope to save that. Therewill definitely be more noise...and that is the reason I try to stay away from ISO400 on the S2. In this case, the S5200/S9000 would be much better suited as ISO800 images are fairly decent (I'd say somewhere between ISO200 and 400 on the S2).

The S5200's noise is a lot less "grainy" but much more "watercolory".

Don't take this post as me putting down the S5200, or trying to put the S2 on a pedestal. I honestly think indoor sport events are this camera's main weakness, and it will be hit and miss depending on the lighting. But, that is the same with every camera limited to ISO 400. My point is that the S2 can still hold it's own. And if the person using my camera was more careful, half of those "crowd" shots could have come out better (steady hand). The other half might have been saved with ISO400 (but, I'm partly doubting that).

P.S. Hun, if you find any full size indoor action shots, I think that would be a much better comparison to show these people what the S9000/S5200 can do.