Help!! Looking for a camera to take action sport shots.

[Ostinoh]

Hello -

I'm in the market for a really good camera that can take shots of action sports for example Soccer and Basketball.

Now I do have a budget of about $500.00. I know I should go with a entry DSLR camera but I don't want to break the bank or my back carrying it. Any suggestions please??? I'm lost on what is good and what is bad so many reviews and different opinions.

Regards,
David

[JohnG]

David - a lot comes down to your expectations. The FZ-200 is probably one of the better superzooms out there but I wouldn't recommend trying it for any action under the lights and you have to keep in mind the focus tracking is still going to be far short of what a DSLR with quality sports-capable lens can deliver. But at that point for large-field sports like soccer and baseball you're looking at spending $2-$3,000. The FZ-200 is a bit over your budget but close enough. But you have to keep your expectations reasonable.

[sasaboss]

For any outside action/sports, might I suggest the Nikon 1 system. It has very impressive dslr-like focus tracking in a smaller and cheaper package. The 30-110 vr zoom for Nikon 1 is inexpensive and very decent. If you need more range there is also an adapter with which you could attach standard Nikon lenses to a nikon 1 camera but thats probably going too far.
However for indoor sports Nikon 1 would do very poorly, but so would just about anything else in your budget. As suggested above, panasonic fz-200 is probably the best superzoom camera around but it would struggle in artificial indoor lighting.

[ramcewan]

A factory refurbished DSLR like the Nikon d5100 would fit within your budget, a Canon T3i might also be found within your budget. Though these models have since been replaced by newer ones you are still getting great performance and you can add lenses and maybe upgrade the body later. Here's the Nikon D5100 at Cameta $439 with 18-55mm

http://www.cameta.com/Nikon-D5100-Di...shed-62311.cfm

throw in a zoom like this 70-300mm and you've got a budget kit for around $550 that will do much of what you need.

http://www.cameta.com/Nikon-70-300mm...shed-10850.cfm