im just about to buy !.....

[crackthatoff]

a fujifilm s8000fd because of the 18x optical zoom, its 8mp which doesn't seem a lot when some compacts are 12mp, I want something capable of taking pics of cars on the track with zooooooooom. would this stand upto the job???? its £200 from jessops any other recommendations would be appreciated because I'm completely clueless about cameras
I don't really want to spend more than £200 but could go upto 300 if it was a good-un.
thanks in advance

[miniman]

I think for motorsport your biggest problem with it will be the shutter lag (i.e. you press the button - how long does it take to actually fire?) If it's anything other than instant, you'll find it really hard to get the moving cars in frame the way you want.

For £300 I would be looking for a used or reconditioned 350D - e.g. direct from Canon with a 55-200 lens:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-Outlet-Digital-EOS-350...

Much better starting camera IMHO.

[VxDuncan]

Agree an SLR really is the way to go. Whilst they may look crap for the money looking at the specs, there really is no susbsitute when it comes to handling. I've tried using a prosummer Fuji compact for motorsport (S5500 with 10x zoom) and it was useless. Cronic shutter lag meant nothing was in frame, slow lens meant motion blur and if the track had a chain link fence you simply couldn't use the camera as it would focus on the fence. Manual focus involved a combination of pressing the MF button and zoom buttons together which was effectively worthless.

The man speaks sense, buy a DSLR.

[Crazy Fool]

i was the same as you, couple of years ago i bought a panasonic FZ7 i think? (about £300 at the time)
Anyway, it was great for still shots and "macro" shots, but the moment you tried to take pictures of anything moving, be it people in the pub or cars on the track it was awefull, but no matter what i did with the shutter, apperature and ISO the pictures were always crap and noisy and blury, the auto focus was slow and the manual focus was useless.
I ended up buyiing a canon 400D, ok, that is out of budget for you. but as mentioned above a recon 350D plus a zoom lense will be worth the extra hundred quid, because it will save you spending twice as much in six months time on a DSLR.

and, there is something satisfying about having a proper camera that you just don't get with anything else, even if your photos are still crap.

[Furyous]

VxDuncan said:

Agree an SLR really is the way to go. Whilst they may look crap for the money looking at the specs, there really is no susbsitute when it comes to handling. I've tried using a prosummer Fuji compact for motorsport (S5500 with 10x zoom) and it was useless. Cronic shutter lag meant nothing was in frame, slow lens meant motion blur and if the track had a chain link fence you simply couldn't use the camera as it would focus on the fence. Manual focus involved a combination of pressing the MF button and zoom buttons together which was effectively worthless.

The man speaks sense, buy a DSLR.

Wot he said.

Also went the s5500 route, lost loads when I sold it and bought my Nikon dslr,
Which is one of the nicest things I own.I love my dslr for its control.

[crackthatoff]

thanks for the replies, I've just been in the local shop and agree that the shutter speed is absolutely cack on the fuji, Ive had a play with the sony a200 at £400 which is double the money but seems pretty nifty with the speed shot thing, I was looking also at the cannon 400? but the guy in the shop says its going out of production for a newer model so anyone had a play with the sony then?
oh also there was the samsung gl1s for £250 which looked ok..... must admit I did like the sony though

[alanw89]

I wouldnt let the fact that the 400D is being replaced stop you from getting one its still a good camera, I dont know much about its replacement but i dont think its anything major. I've been using a 400D for the last year and cant fault it for what I use it for ( motorsport mostly and some landscapes). If anything I would say it being replaced would be a good thing as you might be able to get a better deal on one and if you think you might want to upgrade in the future i think you would be best to stick to canon or nikon.