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How about a Sony H5 (Cybershot)

Your in-built flash sync is less than 200 for sure. It should be some where in 80-125th/sec.

I see the 200 figure on the display. Any way to obtain a higer shutter speed or please let me what aperture settings will get me a properly exposed frozen image with no flash. Thanks Rudra.

You can bump up the ISO. Whats the aperture value when you are clicking?
1/200 is a fairly good shutter speed to freeze action unless and until the object is going really fast.

I will increase the ISO speed. Will speeds like ISO 800 be enough? (can go only upto 1600). I thought shutter speeds like 1/800-1000 will be awesome for fast moving objects. I can go upto 1/4000 on this cam.

I never checked the aperture value exactly, though I tried at both ends and at the middle as well. What values should I be setting?

What is EV compensation? Thanks

Good to see somebody in the same situation as mine:uncontrol

Regarding ISO, try to stick to as much lesser value as possible. Go up to 800 and use 1600 only in extreme dark situations.

For example, you can freeze a fast moving fan ( citing the same example as below) with shutter speeds of 1/200 or below. So to use 1/800 or above you need to have the object moving very fast, like maybe a fast passing car.

Play around with the aperture values, if you need more depth in your image, go up F16 or above, if you want less depth stick to F3.5 or slightly above like F5.6.

I think the EV compensation bar lets you know how much that particular image is exposed. + for more exposure and - for less exposure.

If you feel that camera is under or overexposing the shot, you can use the EV compensation +/- to correct it. There are times when the metering system of the camera is tricked by the elements and hence are not able to take a properly exposed photo.
If you click in -ve EV, the shutter speed will further decrease while + ve EV will increase the shutter speed.

P.S. You can freeze a moving fan using shutter speeds as low as 1/40 of a second.

I have downloaded Gimp. I am a bit poor in handling these imaging softwares. Can you guide me how to resize the picture so that its memory size gets reduced?

I open the image in Gimp software, what are the next steps to be followed?

I downloaded Image resize too but it aint working as i have Vista on my laptop

mobike008,

look at this,

Cool Solutions: Gimp Tips Part 1: Resizing Images


Right click on the image in Gimp, go to image->scale image. There you can give the size. Hope this helps.

Hellwrath, your the man:) Btw, what values should i give? 800 (width) X 600 ( Height)?

The problem is X-sync
If you want to go faster than 1/200 with flash, you need an external flash which supports high speed mode.
In your case you want to freeze motion.
So the best way is to put into Aperture priority mode, and ISO 400.
Set aperture to max(lowest number, for example 3.5 at 18mm on kit lens).
focus on the subject. If you are getting a slow shutter speed, up the ISO.
For example sometimes you may need to push to ISO 800.
An example is the photo I posted below. I was shooting with telephoto lens(75-300), and near the max focal length, I had the maximum aperture available as F5.6
At that focal length to freeze motion, as well as be immune to hand shake, I needed a 1/500 of shutter speed atleast.
So I pushed ISO to 800

In this photo with ISO 800 I was able to get 1/800 shutter speed at F5.6


So the popup flash is useless for action freezing. Infact in true action photography, you would need an extremely powerful flashgun which high speed sync which will cost you 10-20times the cost of your camera.

Tsk, Thanks for the great explaination. I will try these methods. I usually use the Tv mode for freezing action. Your idea of using Av is good.

I was at Dolphin Lagoon a month back. I hadnt got my 350D then. Your pics are well shot. Please tell me the brand of the cam and lens kit you used for this shot.

I used the 350D to get these shots.
Regarding Av mode and Tv mode, its all really simple.
Let me explain
When you take a picture with your digital camera. What happens?
Light falls on your sensor through your lens and your sensor records it.

So if very less light is captured, you get a dark image, if more light is captured you get a bright image.
Your camera offers you various tools on controlling "exposure", i.e. the amount of light
1. Aperture : this is the lens opening. The wider you open the opening, the more amount of light will come in. For example if your room window is fully open, it will be brighter, right?
2. Shutter speed : The more time your shutter is open, the more light will fall on your sensor, and more "number of photons" will be captured by your sensor. But if you open the shutter too long, you will get "motion blur" if the subject is moving, or hand shake blur, if your shutter speed is slower than 1/<focal length>. Suppose you have a 300mm lens, a rough rule for people whose hands are somewhat stable is -> use a 1/300 shutter speed atleast. Some people can shoot steady with 1/100 speed too(for example surgeons, who have steady hands). There are people who can't take a steady shot with 1/600 speed also on a 300mm lens. Example is software engineers after 100 cups of coffee a day.
3. ISO : This is the sensor gain. Its the volume button. what happens when you increase volume on your stereo? Well you get more sound, but at the same time distortion also increases, right? Its a poor analogy, but think of this in same way. If you increase ISO noise will increase. Canon 350D is really good in the sense that even at ISO 1600 noise levels are acceptable. Hooray for canon CMOS

So if you are at a place where its very dark and you are unable to take steady pics do this
1. If the subject is stationary and nearby, use flash. Max flash speed is 1/200, but you can go slower if you want. There is a C.Fn to do that, look up the manual
2. If the subject is far, flash is useless, use a tripod
3. If the subject is moving, you need a fast shutter speed, tripod is useless.
So in case 3, first select the focal length at which your subject looks okay. Lets say you are shooting a bird far away. Using your 18mm Focal length will show the bird as a dot, not something you want, so zoom in.
Then select the widest aperture, lets say F5.6(which was in my case) I used a 75-300Lens.
Select ISO 400 and half press, and see the shutter speed you are getting. So if you are getting 1/200 and your focal length is 1/300, you can get camera shake, so up the ISO to 400.
You may be a surgeon and may get better shots at slower shutter speeds, or you may be a coffee addict, in which case you may need to go to ISO1600.

Hope this post clears up the confusion!

TSK, that was one awesome and simple way to put things across. Were you guys ( Rudra, Samurai, Deepak ) all born so educative?:D

I just did not get this part. :confused: Could you kindly explain?