Soccer Mom needs the right Digital Camera

[soccermom]

I am in the market to purchase a Digital Camera to take pictures of my kids sporting events. I have been looking at the Sony H2. I need advice on whether a P&S will be OK or if I need to spend the extra money for a SLR camera.

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.
$400 but may consider spending more if there is a good reason.
Size

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

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you?
6 megapeixels

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)
Appropriate lens to zoom into soccer pictures and waterski/wakeboard pictures

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

Do you care for manual controls?
Would like manual controls as well as auto controls

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?
Taking kids sports pictures - Soccer and wakeboarding/waterskiing

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
Yes - 8x10

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
Some - family shots.

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
Yes - theis is the primary use

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?
Open

Are there particular models you already have in mind?
Sony H2 and Nikon D50

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
No

[Duwenbasden]

Panasonic TZ1
Canon S3-IS
Panasonic FZ7

I'd buy the TZ1 (size) or the S3-IS (Good all around)

[coldrain]

In image quality the Sony H2 and the canon S3 IS will not be very different from eachother, but the H2 will be a bit cheaper.

What sports are you aiming at... indoor sports will be a bit hard for these 2 cameras (forget about that Panasonic TZ1 and FZ7 mentioned, they are too noisy) when the light is not great... You need a certain fast enough exposure time to catch moving subjects, else they will blur.

But the D50 will not get you that either indoor, unless you get an expensive lens and that may be way over budget.

So, if you mean outdoor sports, i'd look at the Sony H2 and Canon S3 IS.

[cbuchin]

what would you suggest then for indoor sports?

[coldrain]

A camera that can use high ISO without very bad noide problems.
This because antishake systems do nothing for quick exposure times, and quick exposure times are needed to freeze action.

So,, in the affordable corner you can find the Fuji S5200 and S9000 which offer higher ISO in reasonable quality, but you will want to sharpen the S9000's pics in post processing.

In the more expensive (and heavy) corner, the Canon EOS 350D/digital Rebel XT or Nikon D50 with Sigma 70-200 f2.8 HSM lens, or other light sensitive lens.

[ryanbrancel]

I would think at a soccer game you would want a more pocketable camera with long zoom. hence, the TZ-1 would get my vote. does not have aperture or shutter priority modes, however you won't miss 'em. there's more than enough scene modes and other adjustments that can be done (EV, ISO, etc.)

[John_Reed]

I would think at a soccer game you would want a more pocketable camera with long zoom. hence, the TZ-1 would get my vote. does not have aperture or shutter priority modes, however you won't miss 'em. there's more than enough scene modes and other adjustments that can be done (EV, ISO, etc.)
All those other cameras suggested were limited in zoom, and zoom is the biggest single thing I'd think a soccer mom would need. Actually, the FZ7 has more zoom and more MP than the TZ1, and both cameras offer the "high sensitivity" mode, which would let her shoot up to ISO 1600, albeit for no bigger than 4X6 printing. Also, the TZ1 has ISO 800, which my experience shows works well in decent lighting. The OP wants to be able to print 8X10 prints, which are "no sweat" for the TZ1, I've done several of them.