Looking for a good action camera

[CadenJace]

Hello Everyone!

I'm a avid sports fan and love taking pictures at the events. My HP 735 just doesn't cut it for sport shots and in need of a good action camera.

Can anyone give any advice on what is good for a action shot camera.

(I'm looking for a point and shot, with some manual settings).

What is good to have for action shots in a camera?

Thanks for all the help.

Jen

[AlexMonro]

You need low shutter lag, fast autofocus (or practice using half-press prefocus), and depending on the lighting conditions, high ISO sensitivity (image stabilisation isn't much help when your subject is moving). You might also want a fast burst mode with a large buffer for plenty of shots. Depending on the type of sport, you'll need a lens that zooms to 200-300mm (35mm equivalent), and a fast aperture at full zoom might help in low light. You might want a fast burst mode to get a lot of shots quickly.

Unfortunately, point and shoots don't tend to be very good at this kind of thing, generally being rather slow - you'd almost certainly do better with a DSLR if you really want quality images, with several grand's worth of fast zoom lens.

A more affordable compromise might be something like the Fuji S6000 / S6500. Shutter lag (from prefocus) 0.06s, though the AF time can be up to 1s. 2.2fps for a 3 frame burst, or 0.6fps continuous. ISO to 3200, and manual zoom to 300mm equiv (f/4.9 though).

Another possibility is the Panasonic FZ8. Shutter lag 0.07s, AF time 0.5s (fast mode). 2.8fps for a 5 frame burst, or 2.1 fps continuous. ISO to 1250, though it might be a bit noisy. Zoom to 432mm, but it's a power zoom, so you have to use fiddly buttons, which can slow you down.

[CadenJace]

Thanks for the advice.

Those camera are a little outta my range but great choices.

I have come down to these...

Panasonic 7.2 MP Digital Camera (DMCLS70)
http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vModelDetail?storeId=15001&catalogId=13401&itemId=107045&catGroupId=24999&modelNo=DMC-LS70S&surfModel=DMC-LS70S&cacheProgram=11002&cachePartner=7000000000000005702

Pentax Optio 7.1 MP Digital Camera (M30)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10084982&catid=23570

Kodak EasyShare 7.1 MP Digital Camera (Z710)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10084055&catid=23570

Panasonic 7.2 MP Digital Camera (DMCLZ7KKIT)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10085900&catid=23570

Panasonic Lumix 7.2 MP Digital Camera (DMCFX07A)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10079370&catid=23570

Kodak EasyShare 8.0 MP Digital Camera (V803)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10084548&catid=24255

Canon Powershot 8.0 MP Digital Camera (A630)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10079371&catid=24255

Can any offer advice about good action shots with these?

Thanks!

Caden

[undefined]

Indoor or outdoor sports? That makes a world of difference...

Personally, I would not buy any of the cameras you listed except maybe the Canon A630. For sports you need a fast lens, good high ISO performance, and fast auto focus. That combination doesn't usually come in a compact camera, and definitely not in the more budget oriented cameras such as Kodak, Pentax, or the Panasonic LS/LZ models.

You may also need long telephoto, depending on where you will be taking photos from. If you're on the sidelines of a football game (on the field) you can get away with less tele than if you are 10 rows up in the seats.

A DSLR is really the only solution that can do everything you want, but a good body and lens combo for sports shooting can run $2k - $6k. As for compact cameras, the quality of the shots will be an order of magnitude less, but sometimes they can get a decent shot.

I'd look at the Panasonic TZ3 (280mm max, f/4.9 @ 280mm, usable up to ISO 400, Canon A710IS (210mm max, f/4.8 @ 210mm, usable up to maybe ISO 800). Those are probably your best bet for budget shooting.

Just for fun, let's look at what happens when you want to take a sports photo. Let us say that you are outside on a sunny afternoon and want to photograph a baseball game. You're sitting in the stands 10 - 20 rows back, so you really want a good zoom lens to get in close on the players. 300mm would be a good start, although you'll be wishing it were 400 - 500mm once you start shooting the guys in the outfield. During a daytime game, this is possible with most of the superzooms on the market. The catch, however, is when the sun starts to set. You're shutter speed will start dropping.... at full sun you may be capturing images at 1/250s, but at dusk you'll be down around 1/4 - 1/30s. Even with field lights you'll have issues stopping the action.

Compare that to an indoor game such as hockey or basketball. No matter the time of day, you'll probably be metering around 1/30s at full zoom and wide open aperture. That is nowhere near fast enough to capture a player as they make a shot.

The only way to increase that speed is to increase ISO speed (like faster film). The downside to this is that this increases digital noise, the grainy and splotchy appearance of the photo. While a DSLR can easily go up to ISO 1600, a point and shoot will generally look quite terrible at that speed. You'll want to cap your ISO speed on a Panasonic to about ISO 400, and on the Canon you might get away with ISO 800. Each time we double the ISO speed we can also double the shutter speed. What that means is that if the camera selected 1/4s at ISO 100, at ISO 200 it would select 1/8s, and at ISO 400 it selects 1/15s. Still very slow!

A DSLR gives you the option to change lenses, thereby allowing you to select a fast(er) lens. If we drop from f/4.9 to f/2.8 we should see 'about' 2 stops increase in speed, so a shot that meters at 1/4s at f/4.9 comes in around 1/15s at f/2.8 (technically it is not two full stops, but let us keep this simple). So, at ISO 100, on a DSLR, with a f/2.8 lens, you are already two stops faster than you were with a point and shoot. If we increase the ISO speed to ISO 1600 on the DSLR we will see 4 more stops of speed, or 1/250s - a good speed to stop the action and 'freeze frame' the shot.

This may be more information than you cared to think about, but the truth is that point and shoot cameras have limitations. Outside on a sunny day, you should be able to shoot to your hearts content. As the level of light drops, so too will your success rate at capturing those pictures.