Which Point and shoot is best for taking pictures of kids?

[jward1352]

I have two kids under the age of 4 and I am in need of a new digital camera. I need a point and shoot that takes a fast picture. My current camera takes a long time and I often miss that perfect picture.

Thanks You

[cicopo]

One of the Rebel series with the kit lens. Why? Because they are far better suited to what you want to capture & can be used as a P&S. They have much faster AF systems, far less shutter lag & produce a better image. They also can do many things a P&S in the same price range cant so don't shop just by the mpixel rating. Use P mode to start with along with setting the AF system to AI Servo & learn to track the action with the shutter half pressed. Then learn how to do Exposure compensation & Flash Exposure Compensation by instinct based on how the first shot looked on the LCD. Once you're comfortable with using it that way & when it's "fun" time play with Av & Tv a bit & really get into mastering your camera.

(That advice is based on having to teach both my daughter & stepdaughter how to capture their kids in action and both have done a great job thanks to AF.).

[Skirball]

Point and shoots are getting faster, but they still can’t come close to match an SLR when it comes to speed.  Shutter lag and burst shooting are both getting a lot better on the P&S, but without a mirror you’re stuck using the sensor and contrast to determine focus.  SLRs have dedicated sensors for this and it allows them to track moving subjects and achieve faster focus.  I know you asked about P&S, but I just thought I’d put this out there since SLRs are getting so cheap.  P&S are great, and there are many areas where they can match an SLR, but this isn’t one of them.

I don’t know the latest P&S offerings, but I find the specs in the latest models to be pretty close to the same.  I’m actually a big fan of Canon P&S, I think they’re a bigger leader there than they are in the SLR field.  I love my S95… but again, if I’m shooting something moving I’m grabbing my SLR.