Given your budget and low light requirements try the Fuji F30, F31 or S6500. They have the best non-DSLR low light performance. The S6500 is the super-zoom ( 10.7x starting from a decent wide angle )..

StephenG.

Fuji S9600Fuji S5200Fuji F30Fuji E900Canon A710ISPCLinuxOS..

The Fuji's will fit you're budget, but the F30 and 31 do not have the zoom you're looking for. The S6000 might be a good match although it goes for about $300 U.S. I think, but you're going to have a hard time finding a low light/ long zoom at a better price than that..

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Mike.

Http://www.liquidartgallery.com.

'For every complex problem there is a solution that is obvious, simple..and wrong'..

Thanks for the fast responses. I posted this same question on Steve's digicams what should I buy forum and still have not gotten a response..

The Fuji S6000, 6500 has really peaked my interest but does the lak of an image stabalizing system mean I am going to get blurrier pictures than say the Panasonic FZ7 which supposedly has a great image stabalizer with all else being equal. Say for example shooting my kids playing soccer..

What kind of pics can expect from the Panasonic Lumix FZ7 in low light situations like I described in my original post..

Thanks..

Not having both I'm going by reviews and comments. Basically the Panasonics have a noisy reputation. Now whether this affects you depends largely on how often you use high ISO and shoot in low light, as well as how large you print..

For low light the S6500 is simply in a different ballpark. It's not a contest..

IS is useful, but is not going to help freeze action in low light. Only better low light performance will do that. IS will help if you need to capture hand held shots in low light and do NOT mind moving objects in the scene blurring..

My view is that the noise on the Pannys is too much at all levels, but I am only one side of that argument, and other people say that while they are relatively noisy this does not affect final image quality ( small prints )..

Given the choice between IS and a good sensor I go with a good sensor. Other people take the opposite view and I'm not (quite) conceited enough to claim they must be wrong, just that I don't agree. The better sensor is always useful, whereas IS is useful in some circumstances, but not all, is my thinking..

IS is useful, but I have found it possible to live without it. Would I prefer to have my Fuji and IS ? Yes..

I see no reason for you to fear the lack of IS..

StephenG.

Fuji S9600Fuji S5200Fuji F30Fuji E900Canon A710ISPCLinuxOS..

Thanks Stephen G. This is exactly the kind of input I am looking for. I had a sneaky suspicion that a better processor is better than a not quite as good processor with IS..

Just to make things a little more confussing some mentioned the Kodak Z712, as possibly a comprimise between the IS capabilities of the Panasonic FZ7 and the Low Light capabilities of the Fuji S6500. Any coments on that senario?..

Purely a matter of personal preference, but if I were going for a 10x zoom and I were not going to carry a tripod or monopod with me most of the time, I'd go for the stabilized lens camera over one with a better high ISO sensor. The Fujis with the Super CCD do have a good sensor for a non-DSLR (I have an F30), but I'd simply prefer the stabilized lens on a superzoom camera. The Fuji sensor is good, but don't think you'll be able to shoot ISO 800 or 1600 and get the detail you'd get with a DSLR. To make the most of good daylight shots, I'd want a stabilized lens if I'm using a superzoom..

-Good shooting,.

GeneNorth Carolina..

I would go with the FZ7 for two reasons the one not mentioned is that the Panny has a much faster lens at the long end f3.3 vs. f4.9. This takes away some of the ISO advantage of the Fuji. With Fuji at 300mm you have a slow lens with no image stabalization..

You should visit the Panny Forum there are a lot of FZ7 users there that would be more than happy to post images..

Don't forget the Fuji is 28-300 vs. 36-432 for the Panny. Having wide angle is quite nice but do you need the zoom range for the bands or soccer?terryhttp://tbanet.zenfolio.com/..

I am commenting on this as you have explicitly asked me to. However I have no reviews to go on except some other Kodak models. So what I am saying is based on my "estimate" as to it's behavior..

So all I have is my impressions..

In general I think the Kodak sensors are no better than the Panasonic ones, possibly worse. The Kodak IS system seems about as effective as others. However, Kodak seem to employ extremely high noise reduction in-camera, which is a negative, as it reduces detail drastically from out-of-camera JPEGs. RAW is generally useful, but I have a general reservation about the value of RAW with a noisy sensor..

I think comment from Kodak users, and perhaps examples, might help you, but if I were faced with the same choice the lack of quality reviews and the general brand impression would turn me elsewhere, to the Panasonic or the Fuji or the Canon. I would never purchase a camera I could not get good independent reviews of..

I'm sorry I can offer no better information and I'd caution you about attaching any weight to those comments, but you asked for a view from me, and courtesy demands a response..

StephenG.

Fuji S9600Fuji S5200Fuji F30Fuji E900Canon A710ISPCLinuxOS..

Hi Stephen G. Again thanks for your info it's really appreciated...

Hi Terry. To answer your question I would be using the long end of the lens for a variety of shots which would include the band. To give you a better understanding I was recently at the Toronto Zoo and I took a pictur of a Red Panda up in the tree, my guesse is it was 20 to 30 feet away and I had my 80 - 200mm lens on my Minolta Maxxum. When I processed the film I wished that the panda was a tad bit closer in the film. I find that alot, that I want that little bit more than my 80 - 200mm can offer..

By the way thanks for your advice I will check out the Panny forums...