A new K-X owner needs some advise here.
- Thread starter joycegian
- Start date
What is the best mode to use for taking kids playing?
I've been using the TV mode which can set the shutter speed, I've set it to the highest but when I tak my son playing, he is still blur.
Advice please.
A noob here.
Seems like all the pictures I took are not sharp.
There's a blur when zoom.
Even on my focus point.
I've been using the TV mode which can set the shutter speed, I've set it to the highest but when I tak my son playing, he is still blur.
Advice please.
A noob here.
Seems like all the pictures I took are not sharp.
There's a blur when zoom.
Even on my focus point.
Last edited:
Indoor and especially night time requires you to think more creatively... you see for you to capture your kids running around my guess is the shutter speed would be somewhere around 1/250 maybe even more depending on what you get based on the image you see on your LCD screen, if need more? increase accordingly (I mean the shutter speed need to be quicker 1/>250). To achieve that you have to give up something. Basically, 3 things that can allow you play which directly affect the image... the ambient lighting, ISO setting and aperture size/shutter speed. Both aperture and shutter speed are inter-related thus the / symbol.
- You can boost ambient light by switching on more lights if indoor or turn on the flash (in which case you create a change in WB so set WB accordingly)
- You can increase ISO until you get the shutter speed you want but by doing this you incur noise or degradation especially when ISO is around 3200 and beyond if you want your subjects frozen and relatively sharp enough, of course if your kids run like Usain Bolt then ??? see *
- You can set larger aperture F stop (this one is a little weird it is reverse logic.. the larger aperture the small the number that appears on your camera, if you are using the 18-55mm at 18mm the largest aperture is F3.5
Ok what is in * ? learn how to shoot panning, I think that requires practice.
../azul123
- You can boost ambient light by switching on more lights if indoor or turn on the flash (in which case you create a change in WB so set WB accordingly)
- You can increase ISO until you get the shutter speed you want but by doing this you incur noise or degradation especially when ISO is around 3200 and beyond if you want your subjects frozen and relatively sharp enough, of course if your kids run like Usain Bolt then ??? see *
- You can set larger aperture F stop (this one is a little weird it is reverse logic.. the larger aperture the small the number that appears on your camera, if you are using the 18-55mm at 18mm the largest aperture is F3.5
Ok what is in * ? learn how to shoot panning, I think that requires practice.
../azul123
When you say that you're shooting in Tv mode with highest shutter speed, you mean like 1/4000s? And I'm guessing that you're on auto-ISO with no upper limit? In that case, to get the right exposure, the camera probably had to choose to use a small f-number and a very high ISO. If your ISO is too high, the pic will be noisy and won't look sharp. Lenses are also not at their sharpest wide open (smallest f-numbers), and are less tolerant of focusing errors.
Tv mode is a good mode to use to freeze the motion of your son playing, but there's no need to push it to the extreme. Like azul123 said, shutter speeds of 1/(hundreds) should be enough.
Think azul123 and Gengh has pointed out key points which you may look into. If you have max your shutter at 1/4000, it can't be that your image would blur but would be very dark if you are in a not a bright area. :bsmilie:
Another question, i don't quite understand what you meant, "There's a blur when zoom.
Even on my focus point." :dunno:
Are you saying after taking the picture, you zoom in to have look at the pictures and it look blur?
If that's the case, did you wait for the SR to kick in? And also, your focus point is it set to center? Are you using mutli-points or centered only? Sorry for asking, as i did try to play with my friend K-x, the focus point was not at the center, sometime you would accidentally adjusted it with the menu keys. As K-x don't have the AF confirmation in the Viewfinder, sometime you need to check your LCD screen to ensure it is center.
Another question, i don't quite understand what you meant, "There's a blur when zoom.
Even on my focus point." :dunno:
Are you saying after taking the picture, you zoom in to have look at the pictures and it look blur?
If that's the case, did you wait for the SR to kick in? And also, your focus point is it set to center? Are you using mutli-points or centered only? Sorry for asking, as i did try to play with my friend K-x, the focus point was not at the center, sometime you would accidentally adjusted it with the menu keys. As K-x don't have the AF confirmation in the Viewfinder, sometime you need to check your LCD screen to ensure it is center.
Posting up a picture with teh EXIF intact would help people give you better advise, rather than just guessing about the camera settings or the picture. If you don't want to post pictures, at least describe the situation (lighting condition, kids' activity/motion, etc) and the camera settings (shutter speed, aperture, ISO, AF mode, focal distance, etc)
Short of more info from you, here's my speculation:
Try to switch your autofocus mode to AF-C (continuous AF).
If you were in AF-S (single AF) mode, with a very active/fast kid, especially if he is running towards or away from you, between the AF lock and the picture being taken, he may have run outside your focus depth of field, so he will be out of focus.
And you may be working with a very narrow/thin depth of focus. This is because with a high shutter speed, your aperture is going to be big, so thinner DOF. And if you zoom in, the more you zoom in, I think the thinner the DOF too.
Don't go too high with your shutter speed. Try around 1/200 plus or minus first to see if that works.
I prefer a capture where I can get the face sharp, but there is some motion blur with the hands or feet. Gives a nice sence of motion.
Short of more info from you, here's my speculation:
Try to switch your autofocus mode to AF-C (continuous AF).
If you were in AF-S (single AF) mode, with a very active/fast kid, especially if he is running towards or away from you, between the AF lock and the picture being taken, he may have run outside your focus depth of field, so he will be out of focus.
And you may be working with a very narrow/thin depth of focus. This is because with a high shutter speed, your aperture is going to be big, so thinner DOF. And if you zoom in, the more you zoom in, I think the thinner the DOF too.
Don't go too high with your shutter speed. Try around 1/200 plus or minus first to see if that works.
I prefer a capture where I can get the face sharp, but there is some motion blur with the hands or feet. Gives a nice sence of motion.
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