I'm looking to buy a camera within the £300 (approx. $570) range for myself since my last one, a pentax, was stolen. the majority of pictures i would be taking would be for horseriding, especially action shots of show-jumping and cross-country jumping. i've been told that this would require a fast shutter speed but i don't have a clue. Other than horse-riding, i'd be taking photos at indoor concerts, usually in bad lighting, but this isn't very important to me as those photos wouldn't leave my computer, whereas i'd like to print out the horse-riding ones. A long battery life would also be quite important, but i'm not minding about other features like movies and stuff.

any feedback would be much appreciated, thanks very much!

Action photography is one of the hardest photo subjects. In the price range you're looking at, you're not going to get a camera that's perfect for sports. So photographic technique is going to be important. It sounds like you might regularly be shooting from a distance, so a camera with a long zoom and image stabilization would be a good thing. I think you should look at the super zoom cameras from Canon, Panasonic, Sony, and Kodak. Here is a page from our review section that compares some of those cameras >> (http://www.photographyreview.com/ProductComparecrx.aspx?pid=30041967-28809439-30041933-25784597-29008604&befid=7185)

I would also consider the Kodak EasyShare P880 and other cameras that have long lenses and image stabilization. But if I'm way off in my recommendations, let me know how I'm missing the mark and I'll see what else I can recommend.

Hope that helps.

Actually, most of the shots would be up close, does that change anything?

Actually, most of the shots would be up close, does that change anything?

The cameras I listed will all allow you to shoot from close distances, too. But they're designed to allow you a lot of reach and be more stable. The image stabilization will help if you shoot concerts or in other low light situations, like a horse show in a stadium or covered ring. The super zoom cameras also usually have more exposure features so they'll offere you more flexibility. They're the closest you can get to an SLR in a compact digital camera. And the two subjects you say you want to shoot are both technically difficult. So the more camera you have, the less likely you'll be disappointed and frustrated.

How close will you be, anyway? I've been to some horse shows and unless you're in the ring, you're not that close. Our eyes and brains do a lot of compensation that cameras can't do. So sometimes when we feel like we're close, the camera will show us that we're really not. I think that if you're shooting horse events, the long lenses will make a big difference. Next time you're at a show, take a look at what the pros are using. I would bet that most of them are using telephoto lenses - probably 70-200mm zooms.

I love taking pictures of horses and horse back riding, and I've taken a few at a hunter jumper horse show with my Kodack EasyShare Z650 on the sport mode. Its an awesome camera and works very well for just about everything. I went to a gig and took photoes and they turned out well. With all the different modes its really easy to take pictures of just about anything, just about anywhere.