> Slick, I don't know what sort of shot you are trying to obtain, but > the odds are the Coolpix won't be the right camera to use. There are > two issues - the telephoto end of the zoom lens is really not long > enough to bring the pitcher or batter "close enough" that he(or she) > will take up a large portion of the entire frame, and there is the > issue of shutter lag.
The latter is really the more important problem - that is, when you press on the shutter button there is a palpable delay before the shutter actually fires. For landscapes and scenics or general snapshots, this is not that annoying. However, for action shots (like sports) you will probably find yourself with an armload of images of "just afters" - just after the ball leaves the pitcher's hand, just after the bat has already been swung. in other words, it's hard to get a visually interesting shot with that camera.
Nevertheless, you're not wasting any film trying, so good luck! Other than zooming in all the way, there's no real setting that I think you would need to make...
Hope that helps (and doesn't discourage you),
BobF