it depends. Are you looking for an SLR or a compact digital? if you're taking the SLR route, you aren't going to find nearly anything in that range. Especially if you're shooting indoors, since you'll need a zoom lens with a larger aperture, and those can cost quite a bit. Taking basketball shots is tough, and I'd say that you'll want to get something that has at least a 1600 ISO speed, because I have tried shooting basketball with 400 with a cheaper lens and almost all the pictures are blurry since the fastest shutter you can get is about 90. To shoot basketball you will need either a) an f2.8 lens b) a camera with at least 800 ISO c) a flash. As far as I know, most compact cameras don't have high ISOs because the film noise is so apparent. Compact cameras are just bad for basketball, period. I'd say go with an SLR, but look to drop at least 600 on the body alone in the case of the digital rebel from canon. Nikon puts out the d-70, which many will argue is better, but more expensive.