My family take alot of pics and we do alot of fast, action sports and i need a camera that has a time lapse setting too. My old camera is a canon power shot sd700. Its pretty good but doesn't do time lapse and a doen't take fast shots . Also my new camera will need a movie setting. If it doesn't have one its ok. Oh, And it needs alot of optical zoom, so don't suggest aa small poket camera likd my old one. Please Help! I have a Cannon Power Shot S3 IS and really love it. It has all the requirements you state above and is under $300.00. I purchased mine from Amazon I agree with the Queen. The Canon s3 i is an excellent choice it has a 12x zoom, and movie mode it also has a large lens so it should do great with action as well.
ps I have 5 different cameras and they are all Canon, I tried the rest, but Canon overall is the best!! I really believe buying a camera is an individual choice.
The person needs to read alot of reviews on cameras and learn as much as they can from the internet.
Go to the store and hold them and try them to see what they feel like and how they take pictures.
I can only give a suggestion of what to look for in a new digital camera.
Good Luck
my suggestion
go to yahoo shopping
digital cameras
digital camera GUIDE
be sure to check titles on the left side
the guide should answer your questions | 