Need recommendation on digicam

[JohnG]

OK,

I need some help for a friend who is looking for a digicam to help taking photos of her very active 11 year old daughter, including SOME indoor swimming. Here are some requirements:

• f2.8 or better constant aperture[/*]
• 300mm or better max focal length (min focal length not as important)[/*]
• Decent servo tracking[/*]
• Useable ISO 800 - assuming some noise reduction software. ISO 1600 would be preferable but I realize there are not many. Not interested in cameras that have only ISO 400[/*]
• Absolutely not a DSLR - yes I know a DSLR is the best option for indoor sports - I own one and use it for indoor sports. As I indicated though, indoor swimming is only one use - outdoor athletics and general vacation photography are the others.

[/*]
I'll have to check what her current digital camera is, but the main limitations are lack of zoom (I believe it's a 3x zoom and as usual, only low ISO capability). I'm not too concerned about MP as any camera with the above criteria will have the necessary mp for my friends needs. I realize these are some demanding criteria so any suggestions would be great. I realize the Canon s3-is is promissing so I'll be looking for upcomming reviews, but I don't think anyone owns it yet, so it's tough to make a call on an unknown product.

Thanks in advance, for your help.

John

[mtclimber]

John-

The cheapest solution, if you can deal with 3X optical zoom, is the soon to be introduced Fuji F-30, capable of a max ISO setting of 3200.

Beyond that you have the Fuji S-5200 with a max ISO setting of 1600. There really are not many other solutions. Really this is a job for a dSLR camera.

MT

[JohnG]

Thanks for the input MT.