What do I buy ?

[cahoone]

I am a dad that wants to take some decent photos of my son playing basketball. My current digital camera is simply too slow. In searching the web, I saw a recommendation of the Fuji Finepix S5700 as a low budget camera that does a decent job of sports photos. Can anyone confirm this ? Or possibly recommend a low cost alternative ?

[JSPhoto]

I can't really help other to tell you to look for a camera that has high ISO up to at a minimum of 1600 and an f2,8 lens, but I doubt there is anything cheap in that area.

JS

[dhyravy]

To take the comment from JS one step further, I tried last year to see of I could get an "advanced" point & shoot camera to take decent BB pix. But the reality is that indoor sports is one area that DSLRs and fast (i.e. f2.8 or lower) lenses own the show. There's a reason why parents pay someone like me for shots of their kids. Some of it is about the $3,000+ minimum investment in equipment, and some of it is about knowing how to use it to get the kind of shots that people pay for. If you are willing and able to spring for the gear and want to take the huge amount of time and shots to learn to do it well you can get shots that are keepsakes.

[Old Timer]

My first digital was a Fuji S602Z. It was a great camera for everything I did but sports. The shutter lag and inability to stop action in low light gym conditions just didn't make it. I don't know what your budget is but if you want to stay on the low end and you have access to court side you might go with the entry level DSLR (Cannon Rebel or a used Nikon D70 for around $400) and a 50mm f1.8 lens (around $100). Not the ideal setup but if you can get close enough to the action it's a good low light solution.