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General discussion

Best Pocket Camera for Sports

Apr 18, 2005 3:36AM PDT

Does the SD400 or SD500 have the ability to adjust the shutter speed. Which pocket camera can take the best pictures of sports.

Discussion is locked

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Sports Photography
Apr 18, 2005 7:30AM PDT

None of the ultra small/ultra thin cameras permit the photographer to control the shutter speed.

If you can find one that has scene modes that include something like - sports, action, high speed shutter - ; that would be your only chance at having any control of the shutter speed.

The Canon SD500 says it has a manual mode, but it is not what you would expect. You can control other things but not shutter or aperture. It should have been called Program Mode (Bad on Canon for misleading the public).

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Re
Apr 18, 2005 7:33AM PDT

What camera would you recommend for sports. I want it to be somewhat compact, and at least 3x optical zoom.

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Small Sports Cameras
Apr 18, 2005 8:01AM PDT

Right now, about as small as you can get with true manual controls is:

Canon A410 or A420 - 3.6 x 2.5 x 1.5 inches - 8.1 ounces

Fujifilm E500 or E510 - 4 x 2.4 x 1.3 inches - 8.0 ounces

You can find all of these cameras for under $250.

All have two AA batteries (NiMH recommended)

The two Fujifilm cameras have a 28mm focal length at the wide end of the zoom. This is considered "wide angle" in the digital world.

The two Canon cameras have a 35mm focal length at the wide end of the zoom. This is typical in the digital world.

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Wide Angle
Apr 18, 2005 9:49AM PDT

What actually do you mean by wide angle?

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Wide Angle
Apr 18, 2005 11:35AM PDT

Assume you are taking a photo of a line of people in a rather small room. The people are along one wall and you have backed up against the opposite wall.

There are 12 people but you can only get 9 in the picture.

If you had a camera with a wide angle lens, you would be able to probably get all 12 people in the picture.

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The focal length of the lens determines whether it is normal, wide angle, or telephoto. A zoom lens is a variable focal length lens.

A typical 3X digital camera lens will have a focal length specification of 35mm to 105mm (35mm film equivalent).

The Fujifilm E500/510 has a lens focal length specification of 28mm to 91mm.

So when the lens is not zoomed, the focal length is 28mm while the majority of digital camera lenses are rated about 35 or 36mm.

Therefore the Fujifilm lens is considered to be wide angle.

If you want to get more people in the photo, use the Fujifilm E500/510.

Here is a link to goes more into detail:
http://www.shortcourses.com/choosing/lenses/10.htm#Focal%20length

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