Recommened me a pro camera for action shots!

[cameraShy]

Hi, i am after something compact, small enough to put in a saddle bag and mainly be used for action shots (ie horses jumping, sports, running etc........) needs to be very good quality and be able to take the pic straight away soon as i press the button so no time deley. Fast shutter speed.
Looking for something with at least 10MP and an optical zoom of at least 7x.
Haven't got the biggest budget in the world - can buy second hand.
Have been looking at the canon powershot G9.
Thanks

[daft_biker]

Have been looking at the canon powershot G9.

I think you've found what you need

The trick to minimising the shutter lag on compacts is switching the flash off and using the pre-focus technique. To do this I'd suggest setting the camera up to lock the focus (AF lock) and lock the exposure (AE lock) when you half-press the shutter button. Then when setting up for a shot you need to think ahead to where the action is going to be when you take the shot and focus on it. Keep your finger half-pressing the button until you take the shot and you should find the picture is taken immediately.

It's the camera 'thinking' that causes most shutter lag so to get round it you need to do that thinking before you want to take the shot.

When used that way many compacts become useable for shots that require precise timing - I used an ultra-compact Casio for this shot:


The G9 should be even better