Can the good people of Yahoo help me choose a good digital camera for sports action shots?

There are so many reviews at all the different web sites that sell cameras. Some people love the camera's they bought while the person reviewing right after them will absolutely hate it. I'm on a budget up to $500. This camera will be for sports shots of my kids participating in soccer, hockey, and baseball. PLEASE HELP Thanks!!

At that budget, you may be looking at purchasing a used DSLR with something like a 55-200mm or 70-300mm lens.

A DSLR because they are the only cameras that have a small enough shutter lag to "catch" the action when you press the shutter release.

A long lens to be able to get good tight shots of the players.

You can buy a new DSLR for under $500, but it will not have THE lens you really need.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.asp...

To successfully photograph sports requires a DSLR. The best digicam still has too much shutter lag.

Take a look at the Sony A100, a 10 megapixel DSLR. Since it is based on Konica-Minolta DSLR technology (Sony bought the DSLR rights from K-M when they quit the camera business in 2006) it can use every Minolta Maxxum AF lens made since 1985. The A100 also has the Sony version of image stabilization in the camera body so any lens you use will be stabilized. No need to pay for image stabilization in every lens you buy.

Buy the A100 body with kit lens and then look on eBay or at keh.com or bhphotovideo.com or adorama.com for one of the Minolta Maxxum AF zoom lenses that will fit your needs. You can find a complete list on wikipedia.

Good luck and happy shopping.