What setting?

[belfrybats1]

I'm shooting outdoor and indoor sports photography with a Canon EOS 40D. The lens i have been using is a 28-135mm Canon ultrasonic with image stablization.
On my indoor photography i have been using the tv setting and using a flash. The photos are ok, but i've seen better. Which setting is best for shooting indoor action shots and what is the effect of shooting with a higher ibo?
On my outdoor photography, ie football, baseball, I am not sure which setting to use. I try the action setting and turn up the shutter speed as high as possible and it doesn't seem to capture crisp clear images. Any help?

[Didache]

Without seeing a couple of shots, anything I say will be "on principle" only.

First of all, with the indoor shots, you don't tell us how far away from your subject you are. Flashes (especially the on-board ones) have a VERY limited range - so you are never going to illuminate your subject of you are more than, say, 30 feet away - less with the on-board flash. If you are farther away than that, then it is most likely the pictures are ok because of the ambient lighting, not the flash. You are right though to use the Tv setting and setting the shutter speed as high as you dare. Bear in mind though that as you shoot with a faster shutter speed, you will be reducing your depth of field proportionally. Setting a higher ISO can help as it allows you to set a better combination of shutter speed and aperture. Don't overdo it though as higher ISOs can introduce unwanted noise.

With the outdoor shots, you have confused me a little - you say you set the action mode and then boost up the shutter speed. Which of the two are you doing? Again, I would use the Tv setting and set the shutter speed as high as possible - 1/500 at least if you can. Regarding crisp images, it could be (again, guessing without an image to look at) that you don't have the focus just right. I find it helpful to use spot focussing and focus on a particular point where you know action is about to happen and then press the shutter when the action hits that point.

We can be more helpful if you can post a picture or two.

Hope that helps
Mike

[freygr]

With indoor shoots, to get professional results. You need 1) good lighting(big strobe, flash), 2) a fast lens, or 3)both. The indoor shoots I take at events I can't us flash, so I use fast lenses. You have to make sure that the subject is being focused on other wise the back ground is in focus and the DOF is insufficient and the subject is out of focus.