New starter

[Mattman]

Hi all.

I have just joined this forum and, indeed, DSLR photography. I have just bought an Olympus E400 kit, which includes a Zuiko 40-150mm lens and a Zuiko 17.5-45mm lens. The camera has produced some fantastic photos and I am absolutely happy with it. I really bought it to take photos of my son at his gymnastic events, which are usually held inside, in well lit halls. This is where my disappointment lies.

I invariably use the 40-150 lens and use the 'sport' setting and without flash, however, I am suffering with alot of blurring, which I think is called speed blur? I have even resorted to experimenting and have recently used a shutter speed of 1/1000 to capture the action blur free. This is not ideal as I have to then edit the brightness and contrast to bring the photo to a reasonable finish.

Does anyone have any tips or remedies for my situation? Any advice would be much appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

[Greg McCary]

I would get out of sports mode and bump the ISO as high as you can. Probably 1600 on the 400. Then shoot in Aperature priority mode and shoot at 3.5, but learn to shoot in manual. Your keeper rate will go up if you learn exposure. The 40-150mm lens is really not a fast lens and will be difficult in a low light situation with a moving target. You might also try getting a long range flash. I think you might get some good shots at those settings, but as I said in a situation like that you really need a fast lens. This is all manufactors by the way not just Olympus. Fast lenses cost are higher than the kit. The bigger the lens the more light gets in and the lens reacts faster. But the bigger the glass the bigger the price.
Congrats on the 400 and thanks for joining. I hope you write a review on all of the equipment you bought. We need some reviews on the E-400 and the lenses too.

[dumpy]

Welcome to Photography review and to the world of DSLRs and Olympus gear.

In addition to Greg's great advice, I will add to try the "panning" technique. That is, if possible, move your camera with your subject, keeping them sharp, but blurring the background. I'm not sure how useful this will be for certain gymnastic events, but if for example your subject is running, it will work quite well.

Also read around on this site, especially the sports forum. There is a lot of knowledge that can be gained on this site by just browsing through.

[Mattman]

Many thanks for the tips guys. You have really confirmed what I originally suspected. Using flash, however, is not an option as I do not want to risk dazzling competitors.

Do you know of any budget lenses that would be suitable. I am afraid that I can not justify spending hundreds of pounds on a fast lens, especially for the small amount of time that I will be using it.

[Greg McCary]

I don't know what your budget would be but I have had my eyes on this one.

http://www.adorama.com/SG70200H2OM.html

[metallicblack]

I don't know what your budget would be but I have had my eyes on this one.

http://www.adorama.com/SG70200H2OM.html

Me too, but how much longer do we have to wait?