I am struggling to get sharp shots with my first telephoto zoom lens. How do you get fast enough shutter speeds for sharper shots?

Melissa Jenkins, Crediton

Brian Says… You need a shutter speed that is the reciprocal of the focal length of the lens you are using to avoid camera shake. Using this rule, a 200mm lens needs 1/200 sec to avoid camera shake. You can use the Sports scene mode, or even better, try shutter priority mode (Tv). If you use Tv, then try AUTO ISO, as a good sharp action picture with a little noise is better than a blurred image.

A 200mm lens was used for this shot. 1/1000 sec shutter speed froze the action