Miss all the action shots with this camera

This is a common situation with almost all point-and-shoot cameras. The delay is because the camera has to do so much when you push the button. Bulkier and more expensive SLRs eliminate the delay by having more hardware to handle the various tasks.

You can reduce the delay by anticipating the action. If you know where the action is going to happen (a child blowing out the candles on a cake, or right in front of a soccer goal, for example) aim the camera there and press the shutter button halfway and hold it there. This meters the exposure and focuses the lens. Then when the action finally happens, press the shutter button the rest of the way. With the camera having done most of the work when you pressed the button halfway, there will be much less delay.

Again, the delay is a basic "feature" of the camera design. It can't be completely eliminated, but by pressing the shutter release halfway it can be reduced.

OHH - I can met this problem before , the camera is trying to auto focus and in the time it does the focus the action has passed.
Take a light & speed setting - then switch to manual mode OR manual focus , this will eliminate the AUTO focus looking for best light reading distance etc.
Some cameras also have a "fast" setting which is usually a 'running man' icon - click this button and the picture will drop back to 5mpixels but it will take a quick shot instead of saving then scanning at a slower speed.

Ray

Look in the manual - often helps

Hello, Sounds like you need to not use the auto setting but instead use the sports setting on the mode dial, this way all you need to do is turn the small dial to for any setting you wish.
Best Regards, Russell

One of the biggest disadvantages of compact cameras is that they take longer to acquire focus, meter and evaluate the light, and set appropriately. Larger, more sophisticated (and more expensive) cameras have faster processors that effectively eliminate this lag time.

There are things you can do to reduce, but not completely eliminate, the lag time of your camera. The most important is to anticipate the action. Follow the action with the camera and press the shutter release button halfway. This forces the camera to focus, meter, and do most of the other things that need to be done before taking the picture. Then press the shutter release button the rest of the way at the critical moment to take the picture.

Plug the camera into your PC using the USB lead. Turn on the camera. You can now navigate to the camera through the My Computer icon in the start menu. The camera will behave as another hard disc on your system and you can get to the pictures quite simply.

This is a common situation with many compact point&shoot cameras. Larger and more expensive dSLRs have additional hardware that eliminates this "shutter lag".

You can eliminate much of the lag by anticipating the peak of the action. Press the shutter release button halfway to focus and meter, and hold it there until the moment, then press the shutter release button the rest of the way.

The only trick I know is to pre-focus. The release button has a 2 step process on cameras like yours. Pressing the button halfway sets the focus. Soccer will be tough to do this with since you never know where the action will be. If you know the spot, you can hold the button down half way on that until the action occurs then take the shot. I have used this on baseball, but the batter doesn't move so that makes the technique work

Try and put the camera in the program mode.

Does the light flash for 10 seconds, with a series of beeps getting faster before the picture is taken so you miss the shot, or are you saying the shutter stays open for several seconds giving you a whiteout picture?

If the former, then the self-timer is on. Press the button on the back of the camera to the right of the displays just under the AV button. The display icon will change from :-
Hand sweeping round clock = self timer mode
Simple square = single shot mode
Stacked squares = multi shot (keep finger pressed to keep shooting)