Overwhelming Choice of what to buy!!

[adamsfamily]

I had a Canon Powershot S30, which gave me great pics, but on upgrade, I wanted more Mp's and bigger zoom.
I plumped for the S2is which was a great camera, but let me down on one of it's uses... indoors at my sons Tae Kon-Do gradings. With help from plenty on here, I tried lots of different settings to no avail... just grainy blurred shots. The Mrs said take it back if it's not going to do what you want it to do!

So now I find myself looking at the internet daily at whats on offer, whats coming out and comparing what the Manufacturers say they can do, to what the reviews say they can REALLY do!!!

So here goes my list to see if anyone can come up with some suggestions....

Budget

£400.00. Could squeeze an extra £50 at a push.

Size

Ideally the biggest would be similar to the S2is. Had a look at Fuji S9500 but it's a tad big for the kids to be able to use "occasionally"

Features

I'm only printing A4 max pictures so 5-6mps would be fine... anything more is a bonus (or is it?)

I would like a zoom that gets me closer, so anything greater than 4x would be good... 4, 6, 10 or 12!

Image quality? I guess as most prints are 7x5 then I guess about a "7" on the scale, but most of my shots are of moving subject...so I guess I will suffer slightly, but would prefer not to.

Manual controls are not essential, just a bonus.

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?
Kids - indoors and out
Holidays

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
A4 Maximum, mainly 7x5's

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

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
Of the kids on their bikes, and the occasional race day out!

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?
Likes: Canon, Panasonic, Casio (for specs) and Fuji (boasts low light)

Are there particular models you already have in mind?
Canon - Current Range - S Range, but they are limited on Zoom
- Upcoming - SD Range

Panasonic - Current Range
- Upcoming - TZ1, LZ5, LX1

Fuji - Current Range - F11

Casio - Z600, Z750/850

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle NO, Image Stabilization Would be nice, Weatherproof Not Necessary, Hotshoe NO, Rotating LCD Useful)


In short, I have decided that htere is no camera that will be able to cope with my sons TKD, so I will use the Video Camera.
For everything else, I want a camera that has very fast response times for continous shooting and start up. Takes good pictures indoors whilst keeping the ambience of the situation, and will give me great clear true pictures outdoors.

I guess it's over to you to see what you think.
Thanks all.

[P_Schneider]

While I cannot speak to the others I own the Fuji F10 and love it. If the F11 would have been available at the time of purchase I would have gone with that for the extra manual controls. If you can wait a bit the Fuji F30 will be out which is a step above the F10/F11 with full manual controls, ISO3200, and a better flash system. (reportedly) The strength of all 3 of these is the low light / low noise capabilities and the continuous shooting speeds. Plus it's very portable.

[sjseto]

I own the Fuji F10 as well and love it, but it might not have enough zoom for your needs. The Fuji FinePix S5200 has similar low light capability and a 10x optical zoom lens, and is smaller than the S9000 (Did you mean the S9000? You said S9500.), but no image stabilization.

Canon has the PowerShot S3 IS coming out soon, which features ISO 800 to help you with action shots. Although I suspect that you'll need at least ISO 1600 if the shots are taken indoors with artifical ligiht.

I think the Panasonic DMC-TZ1 that you mentioned looks very promising. High ISO capability, image stabilization, and 10x optical zoom, in a very compact body. Unfortunately no optical viewfinder (handy for action shots) or much in the way of manual controls. But otherwise, promising. It might be worth waiting for the reviews on this one.

Stephanie

[adamsfamily]

Thanks for the replies....
Paul, I nearly plumbed for the F11, but after my experience of the S9500 (S9000) I am airing on the side of caution. Theres a lot of good reviews on it, but I'm hesitant, and need the asurance of the high ISO/low light combo!! Also, the quality issues I had with the S9500 are still in my mind!

As Stephanie said as well, I really would like to up my zoom a bit... especially after experiencing the large zoom of both Canon and Fuji!
The S5600 is smaller, but with a large zoom I reckon IS is a must.... but again, hesitant due to my experience.

The TZ1 is really looking promising, but I have never owned a Panasonic and want to get more information and reccomendations on them before I commit.
The Canon S80 I have reviewed further and it's a contender, although it doesn't have the zoom... or the high ISO.

Another one I hadn't thought of, is the Sony DSC H2. The specs look good, so I may research this one further.

Basically, I want a camera that will zoom, is fast response and is fairly good indoors!
Come on, point me in the right direction someone!!

Cheers!