Is this a good camera for taking action sport pictures in a gym? What would be good camera settings in low light conditions, also wich lens to use for close-ups? I can see why this camera has appeal to you. A low price DSLR with two lenses giving you a moderate wide angle lens and a relatively long lens (2x focal length multiplier) .
It does use the Compact Flash memory card which is almost bullet proof when compared to the xD card the camera also supports. Stick with the CF cards.
The camera will shoot with an ISO up to 1600, which should be fine in a well lit gym. The two lenses are just 2/3rds of a stop slower than most good sports lenses (f/3.5 vs. f/2.8) so you should be able to stop some of the action, but you may find using a flash system more effective.
Outdoors, there is no problem with using the 40-150mm zoom exposure wise, but you may find yourself wishing you had a 300mm lens instead.
If you mean by closeup photography, macro, then you may want to just buy some close up diopter lenses for the front of your lens.
When you look around at the sporting events, you will probably see photographers with Nikon and Canon cameras with at least 300mm lenses ... sometimes with 400mm or 600mm lenses. There is a reason for this, but on the other hand, you do not have a budget of up to $12,000 either.
If you do purchase this camera I would like to know about your successes. I own a E-500 and I love it!
It will take Great photos will all sports events outside.
If the gym is not dark you should be able to get some good photos. I went to a rodeo in a arena and the lighting was low and not many photo turned out very well. I always use the 14-45mm lens for portrait shots but you might want to get a macro lens if, you want to take very close up shots. I also bought a 600mm-1300mm lens for this camera and have taken some photos that I could not have taken with out the lens. You can e-mail me if, you would me to send you a few of my sports photos taken with the E-500. I have a portfolio online also with several portrail photos.http://www.modellocate.com/action/goto/u... My wife has the E300, and she enjoys it.
I would concider (if money wasn't much of an issue) upgrading the 14-45 kit lens to the 14-54 f2.8-3.5 (for closer Gym shots) and/or upgrading the 40-150 to the 50-200 f2.8-f3.5 (for longer distance sports like football) | 