Features to look at for outdoor action shots

Greetings,

I'm in the market for a low to mid-priced digital camera, in the
$300-$400 (USD) range. I'd like to know what features I should look at
most carefully, particularly as I'm perusing the digital camera review
websites.

My primary use will be for taking stills of outdoor and
indoor/arena/barn canine sporting events, such as canine agility and
sheep herding trials.

I'd like a decent zoom, but more importantly something that will take
nice clear pictures of fast moving dogs.

Should also be reasonably easy to use, and suitable for casual family
snapshots, etc. 3 to 4 MP should be quite sufficient.

Not looking for an underwater camera, but rugged enough to be ok for
outdoor use in the Pacific Northwest (US) drizzle.

Thanks much,
--
Stafford A. Rau

"Stafford A. Rau" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...

Greetings,

I'm in the market for a low to mid-priced digital camera, in the
$300-$400 (USD) range. I'd like to know what features I should look at
most carefully, particularly as I'm perusing the digital camera review
websites.

My primary use will be for taking stills of outdoor and
indoor/arena/barn canine sporting events, such as canine agility and
sheep herding trials.

I'd like a decent zoom, but more importantly something that will take
nice clear pictures of fast moving dogs.

Should also be reasonably easy to use, and suitable for casual family
snapshots, etc. 3 to 4 MP should be quite sufficient.

Not looking for an underwater camera, but rugged enough to be ok for
outdoor use in the Pacific Northwest (US) drizzle.

Thanks much,
--
Stafford A. Rau

As you will likely need higher ISO (400 and above) to capture action with
zoom somewhere in tele range you should look for a cam with a larger
sensor than usual ZLR's or P&S's in order to keep noise low. I guess, if
you want to have good results you'll have to go for a DSLR like the Canon
300D and similar.

Kind regards

robert