Camera for holiday and sports

[Nem2k]

well i dont claim to be a sports photographer, nor do I intend to be one anytime soon. I just basically want to hand this camera to a friend or someone when im playing or skating and have them take a few moving shots

I guess its for general amusement more than anything, not showing off anything amazing. however it will be quite fast, maybe 10-15mph and the camera will have to do a bit of tracking

so are you saying that neither of these cameras can do that without ending up in a blurry mess?
I just wanted to make it clear that im not looking for anything amazing in these sports shots, just a clear picture or something that is moving. thats it.

[JohnG]

Nem2k wrote:

so are you saying that neither of these cameras can do that without ending up in a blurry mess?
I just wanted to make it clear that im not looking for anything amazing in these sports shots, just a clear picture or something that is moving. thats it.

Nope, not saying that. The truth is I don't know how well they track. But, if your intended use is only an occasional amusing shot of you playing hockey and not trying to produce frame quality shots I don't think it's worth paying the extra money you would need to pay to get a DSLR setup. Especially since your talking about just handing your camera to someone else who doesn't really know sports photography. Given your clarifying statement I think the only limitation to achieve the results you want with the F30 is probably the zoom. It will be fine when the action is close - within 10 meters but anything farther than that is a bit too far.

If you were looking to photograph your son's hockey career things would be different but for your occasional 'just want a shot or two of me skating around' I think the F30 should work fine as long as the action is close.

[Nem2k]

so maybe the SD700IS would be a better choice with the hockey given its 4x optical zoom? but then given you cant control shutter speeds to "freeze" the action, im not too sure how much that zoom would help...

[JohnG]

Actually, it sounds like the S-6000 MT mentioned might be worth waiting for. So far, digicams either have good low light performance OR more zoom. There aren't any so far that have both. The S-6000 is apparently trying to bridge that gap.

[mtclimber]

Nem-

As long as you are just a casual, every now and then kind of hockey shooter, then the Fuji F-30 is a much better choice due to its visible (shown on the LCD) higher shutter speeds and it much lower noise signature.

If you want to a lot of sports photos, then a consumer level DSLR camera is the more logical choice. That is a decision only you can make.

MT

[peripatetic]

For the needs you stated you need to do2 things:

1. Adjust your expectations downward by about 20 notches.

2. Get the F30 because it's the best of a bad bunch.

What you want to do requires a very significant investment in some mid to high-end SLR cameras and lenses. Even the entry level DSLRs aren't going to be very good. Ever notice the pro photographers at sports events? That equipment is very big and very expensive and it's not because they like using big expensive cameras, they'd rather be using small cheap cameras.

The F30 is a remarkable piece of engineering, but it's like you said: "Iwant to win Daytona should I get a Mini or a Beetle?"

[swgod98]

I've actually taken my S2 IS to a hockey game. The players on the ice are actually well lit. I was sitting pretty far back and could get decent shots at ISO200...exposure times wouldn't stop a bullet, but did manage to stop most of the players movements. On the other hand, shooting into the crowd was another issue as I could hardly keep the camera still enough to keep from camera shake.

So, at mr. pathetic stated (lol, j/k man...parapetitic, sorry just having trouble typing your name! :lol...the F30 might be the best of a "bad" bunch. If you're not too far away from the action (or don't expect closeups), you won't need much zoom.

And, while John stated there are no non-SLR camera's out there ideal for shooting low light action, you CAN get by with a non-SLR camera and still get decent images (with a little luck :-)). Just don't expect the world.

P.S.Any zooming will just make the action shots more difficult, so using the SD700 isn't really an advantage IMO...

F30 FTW. dSLR otherwise.

P.P.S. I'd take the Mini over the Beetle :G

[robbo]

I will recommend a camera which was not suggested, the Fuji S5200. It doesn't have image stabilization, but it produces decent images at ISO 400 and has a relatively wide maximum aperture even at its full 10X optical zoom. Not very expensive, either.

I have taken pretty good pictures at basketball games and night baseball games using it.

[mtclimber]

Roy-

Thanks for the advice. However, I own the Fuji F-30, the S-5200, the s-9000 and well as my DSLR's and among the P&S cameras, the F-30 is the champ. It does so much better than the S-5200 and the S-9000, that there is no comparison.

The Fuji S-6000 to be released in September will combine the F-30's imager with the S-9000's lens, thus providing a 28mm to 300mm lens range, and that may indeed be a better answer for hockey shots.

MT/Sarah