ront4649 Loc: North Carolina

I am having trouble taking action pictures. My granddaughter plays basketball and I'm trying to take pictures of her while playing. They all come out blurry. What settings do I need to put my camera on? Thanks for any feedback.

EstherP

Short exposure, high ISO, large aperture.
If handheld, IS on.
I'll have to look up the manual to see what the possibilities are - I have an E-500 (not used for three years now), remember that turning up the ISO resulted in very noisy images.
Assuming she's playing indoors, the lighting likely is not favourable to taking nice photos either.
Can you post a photo, with the "original" box checked?
EstherP

twillsol Loc: St. Louis, MO

To stop action, you need a shutter speed of at least 1/500. You will need high ISO because most basketball venues are not very bright. I havbe a D300S and a D800, I usually shoot basketball at iso - 2000, F 5.6, 1/500, they come out really good, the D800 is very sharp up to ISO 5000.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

The 510 is not going to do great for indoor basketball. If you are not comfortable with manual / semi-auto type settings start with the sports setting which I think is either a little running man or golfer on the setting dial. On semi auto settings, I'd probably start with shutter priority setting and a shutter speed of 400 and an ISO of 400 and adjust from there, letting the camera choose aperature. Above 800 ISO will be pretty bad.

Posting a photo will help folks give you more advice.

ocbeyer Loc: Baltimore

I've shot a lot with the 510. Contrary to conventional wisdom, I don't think that noise at ISO 800 is that bad, especially if using fast shutter speeds, which is what you would be doing at a sporting even anyway. I usually shoot raw and adjust noise in Lightroom but sometimes I think Noiseware community edition (free) does a better job. I generally get pretty good pictures (if you are not pixel peeping) at 800 but hardly ever at 1600. (According to Wrotniak the sensor does better under tungsten lights than in natural light)

Don't know how close you are getting to the action but with the 4/3 sensor you don't need as much lens as most cameras do. The older style 40-150 3.5-4.5 (efl 80-300) let's in more light than the kit lens and should get you close enough to the action so the shots would require less cropping. You can get it for around $100 on eBay. Don't believe the purist forumnista hype about it's IQ - it's a fine lens.


And...if you have one of Olympus's dedicated flashes (like the FL36 or FL50L) you can use the high speed sync, zoomed out long, which would help freeze action at lower ISO.

RLB Loc: San Francisco East Bay

My Olympus E-500 (no longer used) has a Sports setting in the "Scene" mode which is a fast shutter speed at the widest possible aperture setting for the light -- if you have in on your 510, have you given that a try?

ront4649 Loc: North Carolina

I will try using the setting at the next ball game. Thanks for the advice.

ront4649 Loc: North Carolina

Thanks for the info. I am using the 40-150 lens that came with the camera. I will look into the longer lens.

ocbeyer Loc: Baltimore

Well, it's not any longer than what you are using, just that it's wider. 3.5-4.5 vs the 4.0-5.6 on your kit lens. I like the kit lens a lot, it's very light, and pretty sharp and focuses quickly. But the older, faster lens might work better for you. It is pretty heavy, though. Solid. Metal mount.

RLB Loc: San Francisco East Bay

In addition to best shutter speed, the setting also gives continuous shooting (hold down shutter release for multiple shots) and auto focus follows the subject if you lock it in. Good luck.

ocbeyer Loc: Baltimore

Not exactly an action shot, but this was taken with an a E-420 (essentially the same as the 510 but without image stabilization) at dusk, 1/400 sec, f4.5, ISO 800, cleaned up a little with Noiseware. Not even a real "keeper" shot, composition wise, but I didn't import everything into LR5 so it wasn't easy finding a pic with the same sensor and shot at settings similar to what you would need.

Another thing, if you aren't using fast burst shooting already, you should try that.

13oct1931 Loc: Lebanon, Indiana

1. Have you tried pre-setting your camera, prior to the shot:i.e; try to trip the shutter at the peak of the action.
Bear in mind you need to educate your finger prior to the peak of the action. I other words their is a delay between when your eyes see the action and when the signal goes from your brain to your finger. So--you need to push the shutter button just prior to the peak of the action. This does require practice. (back--way back--in the day, standard practice was f4 at 1/50TH/second.
2. I believe an Olympus SP800 with a 30X zoom will solve your problem. ALYN

twindad Loc: SW Michigan, frolicking in the snow.

I have a 510, not used often anymore, and it's a fine camera. That being said, it's not a camera that does well in these situations, especially if you're using a lens that came with the camera. For something like this, you'll need a lens with a much larger aperture than the "kit' lens.
A flash unit won't do you much good past 20 feet or so. In my opinion, the best you can do with this camera is hope for a break in the action, like you granddaughter lining up a shot, shoot with a high ISO, and hope for the best.

chapin in utah Loc: Utah

I agree with twindad on this one.
I am using a e510, and inside a gym I had to bump the iso to 800 to get decent pictures.
You can set your white balance at plus 1.0 or plus 0.7 and see if you like the color.
You can also select wb in the cursor buttons select the type of light source that better fits your situation, and don't forget to try to use a tripod.
Good luck

chapin in utah Loc: Utah

I agree with twindad on this one.
I am using a e510, and inside a gym I had to bump the iso to 800 to get decent pictures.
You can set your white balance at plus 1.0 or plus 0.7 and see if you like the color.
You can also select wb in the cursor buttons select the type of light source that better fits your situation, and don't forget to try to use a tripod.
Good luck