Which ultra zoom camera for a novice?

[deb72]

I want to get an ultrazoom camera, but I want it simple enough that I will use it often. For the next year or two I'll be taking indoor sporting events, so low light is sometimes an issue, as is stopping the action. Otherwise, primarily I'll use it for landscapes, nature, people and vacation. I've read reviews until I'm blue in the face. I'm looking at the Canon S2, Sony H1, Panasonic FZ20 or 30, Konica Minolta Dimage Z6. I think I've ruled out the Minolta and am leaning toward the Canon or the Sony. We live in a fairly rural area and so being able to just go "put my hands on" all the available models is hard to do. I have seen all but the Panaxonic. I just stumbled on this site - it looks really helpful, so thank you. I hope someone has some good advice - I'm starting to really confuse myself!



Budget
* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.

Around $500, maybe up to $600.

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

Fairly compact, but not a big issue.

Features
How many megapixels will suffice for you?

5 megapixels, at least.

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)

10X, at least.


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

Image quality, especially color quality is most important - 10.

Do you care for manual controls?

I'm just a novice, so to begin with automatic settings are fine, but manual controls would be nice once I've mastered the easy stuff.

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?

I'll probably be mostly taking people pictures, both indoor and outdoor, that is why color is so important to me. I will also take landscape and travel photos as well as sports, indoor mostly. So, I also want to be able to take great action shots.

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

Probably a lot of 5 x 7 and 8 x 10's.

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?

Yes.

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
Sony H1
Konica Minolta Dimage Z6
Panasonice FZ20 or FZ30

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

Image Stabilization

[coldrain]

Indoor sports photos with "stopping the action"? Hmmm, that does not really sound like an ultra zoom with IS. IS makes longer shutter times possible, by eliminating camera shake to a certain extent. The longer exposure will make the moving subjects have motion blur, though.

So, action in lower light (indoors) does not sound like UZ IS. I guess you do not want to look into DSLR's, it would cost quite a bit more.
There is another option though. The Fuji S9000/9500 has a more sensitive sensor, that allows usage of higher ISO values. This makes quite noise free photos in lower light, and will allow for faster stutter speeds. High ISO pictures get a bit soft though, but with sharpening in post processing, you can get a lot of detail back.

What this camera does not have is IS, but its high ISO capabilities may be worth it for you. It also goes wider in the wideangle range, which will be nice for landscape photos. All in all it is a very nice camera.