Please help me find a camera

[sportsmom]

Budget: $200-$600

Size: Doesn't matter

8 Megapixels or higher

optical zoom-ultrazoom

image quality- 8

manual controls- no

usage- football games, wrestling, softball games, family events indoors

big prints- yes

sports/action photos - yes

miscellaneous - none

I recently bought the Kodiak EasyShare camera and I am not able to zoom in like I would like to. I think I need to invest in a higher quality camera just not sure which one. I have two active kids that I take pictures of and just want to get that close up shot if possible. Thank you for your help.

[AndyfromVA]

Kodak cameras, like other point and shoot digital cameras, have scene modes that are made for taking photos of moving objects, like kids. Have you tried shooting in the "sports" scene mode?

[KCook]

Canon A720 IS has 6X zoom, popular choice for a family cam. Available everywhere, buy it from a store that makes returns easy, just in case.

Kelly Cook

[David Metsky]

I'd start with the Canon S5, the Panasonic FZ18 and the Olympus SP-560/570. The biggest problem will be wrestling, which being held indoors is going to have the worst lighting and you'll still probably be outside of flash range.

I'd go to a store and play with these three in your hands and see if any feel comfortable to you. If you find what features you like (such as the fold out LCD of the S5) we might be able to refine things further.

Your Kodak (you didn't say which model) may not be the problem. It may be that you're not using the modes correctly or you are expecting too much from an all-in-one digital camera. For some shots, a dSLR simply can't be beat.

[pas49ras]

Take a look at the Fuji 1000fd..a nice 10mp,12x zoom camera on sale at Dell for 199.00 with a 2 gb SD card.


http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Digital_Point_Shoot/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A1660971