Need Buying Advice

[dixieman]

Ok, I'm looking to buy a new digital camera, and I found this forum. I thought it would be a great place to get advice on which camera to buy.

I'm looking for:

- BIG optical zoom

- Good resolution. Don't need A LOT of megapixels, just a solid number.

- Good image quality

- Image stabilization (I think). Most reviews I've read (and some posts on here) make it sound like this is a good feature to have on a camera with a long optical zoom.

- Good image in semi-low light conditions.

My main reason for buying this is a bodybuilding competition I will be attending. This is my last opportunity to go to this show for a few years, and I want to take some good pics during the comp. The competitors are on stage with plenty of light, but there isn't much light where I'll be sitting (about 30-40 feet from the stage).

I'll also be using the camera to take still shots at a football game next month.

Right now, I'm looking at either the Canon Powershot S1 IS or the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3. I'm leaning towards the Z3 because of the higher megapixel number.

Any opinions on which would be better, or does anyone have another camera they might recommend??

Also, if I were to get a wide angle lens add on would I need a lens converter kit??

Thanks ahead of time for the help.

[dixieman]

Anybody???