Camera for a non-profit organization.

[LanaW]

I work for a non-profit sports organization and I need to replace our digital camera that "walked away."
The old camera was a Fuji FinePix S5200, 5.1 megapixels and 57X total zoom.

*About half of our shots are action/moving shots, so the old camera really didn't work too well for that.
*Also need one that will work well indoors (i.e. gyms, stadiums/arenas--a variety of lighting situations).
*It would be great to have good optical zoom.
*The camera is used by several different staff members, so it would be nice for it to be user friendly (although, the people that use it the most would be able to figure pretty much anything out).
*We don't use it daily, maybe once or twice a month and for big or "important" events, we usually hire/get a volunteer professional photographer.
*Don't want a pocket-sized camera...I can pretty much guarentee that would be gone within a month or two!

Any suggestions for a relatively reasonable (taking into consideration it is for a non-profit) camera that would meet our needs? I'm thinking $300-400-ish???
Thanks!

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.
$300-400???
Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?
larger vs. pocket-sized
Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you?
7+
* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)
Ultrazoom?
* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
10--photos used in a variety of print jobs
Do you care for manual controls?
Doesn't matter
General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?
Sports
* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
Potentially, yes.
Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
ABout 25% of photos will be indoor
Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
Yes
Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?
No preference
Are there particular models you already have in mind?
No
(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
Image Stabalization would be nice

[KCook]

Err, if you want to keep the "risks" as low as possible, then both the Fuji S700 and Kodak Z712 IS can be bought for right at $200 or even less. And both are the SLR-like form factor, not pocket cameras.

Kelly Cook

[bascom]

Yes I'd say Fuji S700, S1000, or Canon S5. The Fuji's are cheaper but have no IS. You won't get an IQ of 10 and lots of zoom for only $400.

[AndyfromVA]

I would go for the maximum optical zoom you could afford, which will give you better closeups. For less than $400, you can buy the Panasonic FZ18, Fuji S8000 or Olympus 560 UZ, all of which have 18x optical zoom.

[bascom]

But how would you rate the IQ of those 18x zooms? From what I've read I would say only 5 or 6, not close to 10. I think the Canon and maybe the Fujis I mentioned have better IQ.