The thing is, once you start looking at those larger cameras with long zoom lenses you'd just as well have a small DSLR with a bigger sensor with the potential for WAY better image quality and none of the picture-taking lag issues that blight compacts. Yes, I think IS or anti shake is a good idea for what you want to do..

Look at the Pentax K100 and think about putting an all-purpose lens on it, or the Sony Alpha 100. Those two have stabilisation in camera and so every lens gains the facility unlike Canon or Nikon where you have to buy expensive lenses with it built in separately..

Don't want to spend over your budget on a DSLR? Then that will leave you the Canon S5is, Sony H7 and the Panasonic Fz50. One of my cameras is a Fuji 9100 which is like those in several ways, only without image stabilisation. You can see a series of shots from it in my 'Back To The Bridge Camera' link below..

John.Please visit me at:http://www.pbase.com/johnfr/backtothebridgehttp://www.pbase.com/johnfr..

Thank you for the suggestions! I will check those out. I've never heard of the sony alpha..

I'm not sure if I understand the last part about the dslr and those other cameras though...should I be checking those out too?..

Bare in mind two things :.

1) A DSLR will give you the best image quality.

2) A DSLR will NOT give you a movie mode.

Now (2) is important if you want to video the kids, so I mention it..

As the first answer said,for a DSLR the Pentax K100D would be a nice choice..

For a non DSLR I would suggest the Canon S3, Sony H2, H5 or H7, or the Fuji S6500. The Fuji does not have IS, but it's a nice camera with the best non-DSLR low light performance. They all have movie modes, and they offer different pluses and minuses. They handle differently so I'd suggest a trip to the camera shop to try them out..

StephenG.

Fuji S9600Fuji S5200Fuji F30Fuji E900Canon A710ISPCLinuxOS..

Sony purchased Minolta's technology so you might say that the Alpha is the third Minolta DSLR. Minolta lenses fit the Sony.My humble photo gallery: http://ntotrr.smugmug.com..

I checked your "Back to the Bridge" gallery. Strange that I would come across this today. I have two DSLRs, my beloved Sigma SD9 and a Nikon D50. I will be travelling to Italy for a two-week tour soon. After spending this past Saturday and Sunday hoofing around Manhattan with my bag, I decided that I do not want to trapse through Italy with that bag. I'm getting too old for that I told my wife.

When I found out today that the temperatures in Italy have hit 100 degrees, I made my final decision and ordered an S9100. It has everything I could want with the exception of image stabilization and it is less than $ 400.00. My first digicam was the great-great grandfather of the S9100 - the S6900Z and that one cost $ 799.99..

I would need three of my lenses for my SD9 to cover the range of the Fuji and those lense are all Sigma EX lenses - heavy. There is no doubt that the Fuji will not give me photos as sharp as my SD9 but it will still do a very, very good job and I don't have to carry around all those lenses. I'm going so that my wife and I can celebrate 25 years of marriage and to enjoy the tour without being bogged down with gear. BTW, have you used both xD and CF cards in your Fuji? The dpreview test of the S9000 indicates that write times to xD cards is much faster than CF cards. I'm willing to get two 1 GB xD cards, they're not that expensie anymore.My humble photo gallery: http://ntotrr.smugmug.com..

Hi Peter. Thanks for taking a look at my 9100 shots. I think you'll find it quite liberating to use an all-in-one camera like that again on vacation, but you will need to be proactively supporting it in order to get shots that will not be too dissimilar to those you'd get from a DSLR with a reasonable lens. ISO quality always needs to be factored into the equation together with shutter speed. With a DSLR I'm an aperture priority shooter out of choice and the Minolta 5D has excellent noise control at 1600 with even 3200 being usable; and whilst the Fuji is fine using AP in bright light I find I'm often using a little beanbag on a rock or whatever for stability. A small price to pay for not needing lo carry a big bag of kit around..

John.Please visit me at:http://www.pbase.com/johnfr/backtothebridgehttp://www.pbase.com/johnfr..

Jenniel73 wrote:.

I'm not sure if I understand the last part about the dslr and thoseother cameras though...should I be checking those out too?>>.

Cameras that have an image stabilisation built into the camera body give image stabilisation to all lenses you fit onto them. If you want Canon or Nikon then you need to buy individual lenses with individual image stabilisation devices built into them. This is more expensive and arguably no better..

It may be that you do not actually need a DSLR.You WOULD need one if:.

You cannot tolerate lag in taking shots of active children and are not prepared to prefocus and pre-meter on where the action is about to occur, and then press the shutter when you judge it to be about to happen. I can recall many problems shooting carnivals at night with a non-DSLR, it takes ages for it to work everything out on top of waiting for the flash. A DSLR is really quick compared!Take a lot of photos in dim light.

Want to get into serious birding and wildlife photography. 500mm lens plus teleconverter often required.Want to sell your photos to high quality glossy magazines/travelogues..

Remember, you can use high ISO with a DSLR to keep your shutter speeds higher to stop the moving action of the subject, and if the DSLR has image stabilisation it will remove some of the camera shake component too..

See if you can visit a camera store and try out a Sony Alpha 100 or Pentax K100 against a Panasonic FZ50 or Canon s3/s5. Ask if you can shoot something moving outside; it could be that continuous autofocus mode in reasonably bright light will do the trick if the subjuect is moving across the frame. With a DSLR though you'd know you had something that can be made to do it. Try one out alongside one of the enthusiast bridge cameras..

John.Please visit me at:http://www.pbase.com/johnfr/backtothebridgehttp://www.pbase.com/johnfr..

I only use CF cards as I have quite a number of them, so I don't know about the faster speed of the smaller card. It would be great to have both in the camera at the same time on vacation though..

Enjoy your trip to beautiful Italy for your 25th anniversary! They said on TV last night that the temperature in the far south of Italy was 47 C which is nearly 120F - like a hot desert. Here in the UK we have floods..

John.Please visit me at:http://www.pbase.com/johnfr/backtothebridgehttp://www.pbase.com/johnfr..

Thanks John, appreciate the reply. I also like to shoot in Aperture priority. I do watch the shutter speed when in that mode and adjust accordingly. My Sigma DSLR is not very good in ow light. It is barely usable at ISO 200, not good at 400. In this respect, the Fuji is better..

I do plan on getting an xD card or two to try out. I believe that if I put both cards in the camera, the xD card will be used forst and then switch to CF if that card is full. If only it used SD cards too, LOL, I've got those for the Nikon DSLR..

So it's 120 degrees now in souhtern Italy? Yikes, I hate the heat. But I'll still enjoy myself. Thanks for the well-wishes.My humble photo gallery: http://ntotrr.smugmug.com..

Thanks for that break down! I have a three month old and both my cameras have frustrated me with the lag time when trying to catch those first smiles .

I am still so confused on not only what to buy, but where to buy it from! I can't seem to find any place that have actual "experts" to help me! I need to get something purchased by the end of next week for a big event...

What if I wanted to go over budget? do you think I need a ddslr?.

Your photos are beautiful by the way!!!..

If you are trying to get fast action, a DSLR would be a better choice for both speed and final image quality. The drawback is portability and the ability to do movie mode. Of course, the movie mode of most compact cameras is pretty poor anyway..

You could stay within your budget if you shop smartly..

The Nikon D40 with 18-55 lens is within your budget, The K100 is also close and the Canon 350 is too. The Sony goes a little above that price. All of these will also allow you to learn more about photography and making good images of your child..

Later you can add a flash to better control light compared to the built in flash on these cameras, as well as lenses to control the image and control depth of field, perspective and other things that make striking images. The Nikon site has a tutorial that can help you better understand these things:http://www.nikonnet.com/.

I would suggest you put these in your hand somewhere and see if the controls fit you fingers and the camera feels right. You really can't go wrong with these choices. If you can't take a good photo with these cameras, it probably not the cameras fault..

Jenniel73 wrote:.

What if I wanted to go over budget? do you think I need a ddslr?.

Your photos are beautiful by the way!!!.

Chris, Broussard, LA..

Thanks for looking at the photos. Given the need to photograph active children and that you are already none too pleased with your luck so far, I'd say a DSLR is the way to go. I mean you could make one of the other cameras do it with anticipation and pre-focusing etc, but a DSLR can do it in a program mode without you thinking thanks to the ability to use high ISO. Remember too that autofocus and auto exposure are supposed to work it all out, so all you'd really need to do is tweak the +/- EV to get it right for different situations.Kids only get to grow up once, right?.

John.Please visit me at:http://www.pbase.com/johnfr/backtothebridgehttp://www.pbase.com/johnfr..