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Hello,

I have a Olympus 720, which I usually use for still photos, hunting photos etc. My question is, what is the best way to set the camera to capture photos of runners? My son is in high school cross country this year and I want to get good photos of him running. Normally I push the shutter halfway down and allow for the focus, but with action, this obviously takes too long. Suggestions? Thanks.

not really what that kind of camera was made for (and my primary beef with them). You really need an SLR to get a fast enough shutter speed to get sharp pics

I am a camera novice, what is a SLR?

Single Lens reflex. These are the full sized cameras with interchangeable lenses. The shutter mechanism in them allows for shutter speeds on the order of indefinitely long (bulb) to 1/4000th of a second. With a point and shoot you're looking at something like 1/30th to 1/300th of a second max.

The main limiting factor, more so than even shutter speed, is autofocus time. Most compact digitals take too long to focus. By the time it gets itself locked on and focused, the subject has moved, changed distance, and is no longer in focus.

That's always been my main frustration with them.

I'll second what every one here has already said. I'm not familiar with your brand but you should have a setting that sets shutter speed priority. On Canon this is TV for time value. You should also have an auto program for moving subjects. If you can get in a manual focus or shutter speed priority program you can have more control over your shutter speed. The speed of your lens will impact this as well. Nothing can be done about slow AF speeds unless you have the ability to select single AF points. Choosing the center AF point only may help. A faster card may help a bit.
Here's a quick snap shot I took a couple of hours ago. No PP.
Canon XTi
EFS 17-55 f2.8 IS
1/2500
f 2.8
ISO 100

PS The pit bull jumped 20'!

AL SERVO Mode . That what I shoot my 20D & 5D in when shooting a moving subject.
randy

A shutter speed of 1/250 sec. or faster would help a lot.
randy

Randy on your Canon You can also be in AI Focus AF and your camera will auto switch to AI servo if your shooting something with a less predictable movement.

You can run a small aperture to get a deeper depth of focus.
randy

Stetson, not that I know of at least my camera never did.

Stetson what are you shooting?

XTi. It is a bit newer technology but I guess I figured the higher models up would do the same.

It just may I shoot in TV,AV, and Manual most of the time I dont know if that has anything to do with it?
Your XTi is a sweet camera.

Is this the C720? If so, you're not going to get action shots. I have a C750 and I gave using it for action because it doesn't work.

The EVF shows exactly what you see on the LCD. You might describe it as a movie camera that plays back on the view finder. The problem is that there's a lag time. What you see in the EVF is maybe a half second behind real time. When you push the shutter, the action has already gone. Combine that with the focus lag time and action shots are an exercise in futility. A couple years ago I spent an hour on a hillside trying to get a shot of a circling eagle. I never did get it because of these lag times. I had to aim the camera to where I thought the eagle would be when I clicked the shutter. However, when I did that, there was no object for the autofocus to lock in on so it just kept running in and out.

Dick

I shoot in the same modes. On mine you have to manually select the AF servo for the creative zones you listed. I think the basic auto modes and A-DEP will put you into the correct AF servo based on the program you select. Other than the view finder the XTi is indeed nice especially for the price. You've got some fine cameras there as well.
If the OP needs to upgrade there really has never been a better time to get a DSLR. With the new Canon 40D prices on the other models have droped. Nikon has some incredible deals as well.

Stetson, Thanks I going to get my book out and give her a try :GRIN:
randy..

The manuals can be a bit crazy some times. This weekend I was totally befuddled by the fact that I could not get my MLU to give me more than a 30 second exposure. A quick net search revealed that on the XTi the only way to get a bulb exposure is in manual. Not that I've found any thing in my instruction book stating that.

I do have a "sports" setting, I will give that a try to see if that gives me a faster focus/shutter speed.

Having the action in-line (coming or going) with you really helps to get an action shot with P&S cameras.

Thanks for that tip, I will give that a try as well.