Express Action Sports

from a Fuji Finepix 5100 and it is great for general use. However the bulk of its is within hockey areas and it just dosn’t get the job done under those lighting conditions. The image becomes blurred as you follow the action of the game with the 5100 fastest F-stop. We need a camera that will "track action " well.

I don’t have the $1000.00 for the Nikon which will really do the job and after a shoulder injury weight is an issue. Will the smaller lighter Sony so the job or is there another make or model under $500.00 you would suggest?

I also like the feel of the old SLRs in my hand so does my husband. We are not looking for one of the tiny boxy cameras, they are nice, but we want the new baby to have more of the look and feel of the Sony or the Fjui.

To tell you the truth,..I’m quite partial to the Fuji’s and Olympus..(5200 and 9000, and the Olympus E-500)
Never shot anything in a Hockey venue(we just do football) but i have shot at night with the 9000 and the 5200 with good results(at outdoor concerts) As for
tracking the action" your not going to find anything in a "prosumer" Ultra zoom camera that will do that, except for the Fuji 9000 series or Maybe the Cannon S3. I have a bad back, and i manage with the E-500 and 4 lenses….

I have an Olympus SP-600 UZ digital camera, and am having difficulty taking action photos at night under stadium lighting. I’ve tried increasing the ISO but get a lot of graininess. Please advise as to the settings I should be using. Thank you!

Unfortunately there is not a whole lot you can do. You will have to jack up the ISO. This is going to increase the noise or graininess. The only other advice I can give you is to use the largest aperture you can (smallest F#). This will allow in the most light.

There is a reason why sports are shot with very large expensive lenses. It is simply too dark for most cameras and lenses.