Looking for some input...

[fluffhead817]

well it is now time to get a new digital camera since my old one seemed to crap out on me and stoped working entirely when the telescope jammed and couldnt unjam it.

i previously has a sony and therefore preferibly would like to get a camera that i will still be able to use my 2gb SanDisk Memory Stick Pro Duo since i only bought it in july.

a guy in circuit city told me to check out dpreview.com to look at peoples reviews of cameras. he also gave me 3 cameras to look at: panasonic dmctz3k, sony dscw200, canon powershot a720. when looking around at the reviews of these i could not find a single person happy with the sony. i have used the panasonic as one of my friends has this exact model and i did like it. it seemed like the majority of the people who reviewed the canon did like that one.

while i was on the site i also looked around at the sony dsc-h3 and dsc-v3. both of these seemed ok in the reviews. the problem is that most people are only taking day shots of action, or still shots in the low light. never both as i would be.

with all of this being said i am idealy looking for a camera that will work exceptionaly in low light and action shots. this is because i am a rather large concert goer and found that my previous sony i was only able to keep half of the photos that i took. the camera was at least 4 to 5 yrs old though so i assume quite a bit has been upgraded.

any input would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

[fluffhead817]

i just read the other concert photo post and will look into the cameras mentioned there. although i am not quite the country music guy. the shows that i go to are more of the jam band/psychedalic music. so the lights are constintly changing colors and moving. i like to try and get pictures of the different effects that they use. i am as well usually in the front of the crowd more often then the back. here are a few quick crop jobs just to give ideas of the lighting, both indoors and outdoor festivals.

[Photo-John]

I'm glad you read Alicia's thread. Even though she's shooting country, the basic challenges are going to be the same. So unless you have better access than she does, I think a superzoom is the right thing for you to do, too. If you do have better access and can bring in a bigger camera, then it might be time to at least take a look at a digital SLR. Budget is a consideration, too. How much do you have to spend?

As far as Sony goes, take a look at the Sony H-Series cameras. Those are Sony's superzooms. They'll take your Memory Stick and they have the same basic features as the cameras mentioned in Alicia's thread. Sony makes very good digital cameras, in my opinion. I don't like the proprietary memory, though. And if you look at the user reviews here for the H3 and the H5, as well as the Sony forum, you'll see there's a well-documented problem with the shutter release button. But Sony's Super Steady Shot image stabilization is excellent, as is their image quality - if you turn down the sharpening and saturation. Low light performance on pretty much all cameras introduced this year is very good. And if your old camera was 4 to 5 years old, don't even worry about it. You really can't go wrong. You're going to have better shutter response and better image quality in all types of light.

[fluffhead817]

well as for the better access i am still just a normal audience member. although i am pretty sure that all cameras, with the exception of video, are allowed. the majority of the bands are very open and fan friendly when it comes to pictures. they also allow audio taping of the shows, which is very nice as i have all but about 3 or 4 of the shows ive every been to. so i guess if you could recommend a few slr cameras to look at as well?

i will look around at the canon s5-is, olympus sp-560uz, panasonic lumix dmc-fz18, and sony's h series today. i guess the memory card isnt that much of a major issue as i can always sell it to my parents for some cash since they have a few cameras that use that type of card. thank you for the help.