Express Action Sports

do you think it’s a requirement or just a marketing tool?

It’s like autofocus and autometering. The greatest photographers in history didn’t realize they had lousy cameras and took magnificent pictures anyway!

I love the VR (vibration reduction) in my Nikon 18-200mm lens. And I recently bought an HP point & shoot for a relative that had built in IS. After all, she’s 80+ and isn’t the steadiest when taking pictures.

If you’re taking action shots, it’s a plus. If you’re taking portraits or scenics, it’s not. Here’s some sports photos I took WITHOUT any stabilization, except for using good photographer’s techniques.
http://www.spmsportspage.com/images/college/football/2007/California-45-Tennessee-31-09-01-2007/DSC_0065_GHYoung.html
http://www.spmsportspage.com/images/college/football/2007/California-42-Louisiana-Tech-12-09-15-2007/DSC_8135_GHYoung.html

That being said, I would still look for it, just as an added feature. Many wouldn’t live without it.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/image-stabilization.htm

I hope you find this helpful.

I mainly want to take pictures of my kids but also want it to use for sports (myself and theirs when they get older). I am worried about the blur that occurs on sports pictures sometimes. I play tennis and get a lot of that on any camera. Does anyone have this and have good experience with sports pictures. Also, had a question about the quality and stability of the zoom. Thanks in advance.

My daughter has the Canon S2, and has very good results with it. Outdoor or flash pics with lots of light are excellent. Low light pics with no flash tend to have some noise. I get similiar results with my Sony H1. These "ultra zoom" cameras give you great flexibility without having to carry around a lot of separate lenses for a d-SLR camera.

The camera does a good job with sports pics as long as there is good lighting. The 12x zoom lets you get close to the players, and the autofocus can track moving objects.

However, there is no predefined high shutter speed Sports Scene mode. You have to learn to use the Shutter Speed Priority mode. Then you just set a shutter speed that is fast enough to capture the action (usually 1/200 second or faster), then the camera will set aperture wide enough to get a good exposure.

There have been no problems with the zoom, and the image stabilization really helps avoid camera shake when using the long telephoto.

Other similar cameras are the Canon S3, Sony H1/H2/H5, Panasonic FZ7/FZ30/FZ50.

Good Luck

I have been taking photos off and on for about 17 years now. I am starting to do more photography part time and am getting jobs taking photos of youth sports, both posed and action photos. Also I am having people asking me about senior photos. I am looking at purchasing a Nikon D40, D40X or D80. My funds are tight, so I was wondering if I really need the D80 and if the 40’s will work?

There is not that much difference between the D40 or D80 when it comes to getting good action and sports shots. Back when 35mm SLR’s ruled, we used cameras that had NO autofocus and shutterspeeds that topped out at 1/2000th of a second and manually advanced the film. We had NO problem getting great shots.

As you can see the D40 has twice the shutter speed (1/4000th of a second) than the old 35mm cameras.

Just be sure you have a long enough lens for the distance from you to your subject. Most of the time a 70-300mm zoom will be find.