What Camera in the $4-500 range?

[caveman017]

Budget - ~$4-500

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?

I dont need a point and shoot, i already have the small Canon A510, so anything

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you? 5+

What optical zoom will you need? 10x-12x

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10) 8-10

Do you care for manual controls? yes

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for? Sports photos, family vacations etc

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? Nope

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos? Not really, some indoor though

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos? Yes

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?

Are there particular models you already have in mind? Canon S2 IS, Panasonic FZ20 and FZ5

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD) Image stabilization

[swgod98]

For outdoor sports photography, I think you may have just identified the three best contenders (IMO).

If you are ok with the size/weight and price of the FZ30, I really think it is probably the best option for it's manual zoom ring.

The FZ20 is a great camera, with some benefits over the FZ30 even!! Such as F2.8 throughout zoom range...But, it also lacks a feature that I feel is useful in everyday indoor shooting; the LCD does not gain up in low light.

The S2 is the smallest of the bunch, but it's burst mode is arguably the best. I've used an S2 every weekend for the past 2 months shooting soccer games and I've had a lot of fun with it.

Many people complain about the noise levels in the FZ series camera's. I don't own one, but I also don't think it's a huge issue (not outdoors with plenty of light, at least!)...especially considering you won't be blowing up your prints much.

The S2's downfall to image quality is probably the purple fringing you will see. But, just like noise, purple fringing can be corrected in post processing as well.

After having used a dSLR at one of the soccer games I attend, I REALLY liked the ability to have a manual zoom ring...With that said (and solely based on your requirement of shooting sports), I'd put your choices in this order:

1st: FZ30
2nd: FZ20
3rd: S2 IS

The S2 is really a nice camera, but I think the other two might be better sports photography camera's.

[Gosepe]

I have experience with the S2 en the FZ5. I'm no expert, just a hobby user. I think the FZ5 is cheaper and takes better pictures. The S2 is larger and has a superb movie-mode! Also it has more "fun" controls like the color-swap function. Both are not good in low light. For the S2 you need a larger sd-card (1gb) to take longer movies. I think 1 gb let's you take 10 minutes movies.

Good luck with your choice!

[BonjiB]

I currently own an fz30 which i upgraded to from an fz20 shortly after i bought the thing. You can't really get an fz30 for less than 520 bucks from any place that won't try to rip you off so i don't know if that's in your budget cuz you'll also need a memory card. But i can tell you the ONLY reason i chose to trade in my 20 was for the manual controls and handling improvments of the 30. I like the feel/weight/positioning of buttons/everything about the 30's body. I did NOT buy it because i wanted 3 extra megapixels. To me if the 20 and the 30 took exactly the same quality pictures (which they don't) i'd still go with the 30. Basically my point is the 20 is a kickass product and you'll be most pleased with it for many years. If you don't have the extra 150 bucks to put out for the 30 don't feel like you got slighted by having to go with the 20. I wasn't clear on whether or not you wanted those special features where you have hot shoe down. The fz5 and the IS2 do not have a hot shoe. The fz20 does.