lovealways1221's advice column

I'm just an average person. I love to help people out :) it makes me feel better about myself. I've been in a lot of situations so I can most likely relate to a lot of your problems. I know what it feels like to not have anyone to talk to about your problems, which is why i'm an advicenator. I'm ready to help people and be there for everyone who needs advice or just a companion to speak out to. I'm always here if you need me, don't hesitate to drop a question or even just a vent/rant note about a problem to my advice column inbox. I respond to all of them regardless of the topic. I'm upfront and abrupt about my answers and never sugarcoat. Take my advice or not, but i'm just doing my job :)

Played volleyball for over 10 years, also a coach. I love to try new things. Currently I'm trying the new sport of tennis and learning about my passion of photography.

advice

This question probably is best answered by a photographer or someone who is extremely tech savvy. I'm in need of an easy to use likely point and shoot digital camera with a lens that cannot come close or exceed 10" in length.

It cannot be a professional camera and cannot have detachable lenses. This camera needs to be able to take pictures of race cars for personal use which the event allows that will capture them at 200mph from a grandstand without blur. Stop action is what I need as well as regular photos.

How many mega-pixels will I need? I don't want to spend above $200+ because I don't have enough money before race day. Also, this has to a camera security people won't object to hence the lens and other details. It MUST fit into a small case and my pocket per their policy and yes in the past they've confiscated all sorts of things including this.

Also, I tried using single use cameras and it was hit and miss all the time with me never getting the shots I took at the race.

In the past i've used small portable digital cameras from Nikon. One of my favorites is the Coolpix brand.

This one is the Coolpix S630. Its affordable, has high speed capture mode for sports, 7x zoom, lightweight, small. It can be found at typical camera stores like Ritz Camera or even Target.

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/nikon-coolpix-s630.jpg

I used to have the one above, but then I got really interested in photography and using different techniques like messing around with the aperture mode (this allows you to focus on 1 object and make the other stuff around blurry. It looks professional) So I bought a new camera, one that was more professional, yet affordable. So i bought the Nikon coolpix p100 (below)

http://www.letsgodigital.org/images/artikelen/35/nikon-p100.gif

It was a little expensive, it cost me total about 250 dollars. it would have been around 300, but I got a special deal on it. I'm sure if you go to a local camera store and ask for special deals, they can hook you up with one. This camera is absolutely my favorite and totally worth it :) I take it with me everywhere I go. Its small enough to fit in a little camera bag (like a purse size), its lightweight, zooms in 26x, has more modes/options to play with, there is an option to use video (cant hold more than 30 min at a time), the screen can be pulled out and tilted down (so if you are at a concert or something, you can raise the camera high but tilt the screen down so you can see what you're doing). The only bad thing I can really think of is that it was above my price range/budget but let me tell you, it was completely worth it :) I would rather spend a few extra bucks for a really nice camera than to be a cheap head and buy something i'm not very satisfied with :)

good luck and let me know if you need more help! oh and the lens for each camera does not have detachable lens.

Oh and you can also go to a camera store and just ask around what a good camera is and they will for sure help you :) the guy who helped me at my camera store talked to me for an hour just explaining the different types of features and camera types lol.

EDIT-

ok so I really don't understand why you gave me a 3 rating... whatever... anyways. If they want you to use a cheap point-and-shoot camera to capture a racecar that goes 225 mph... well thats pretty damn hard if you ask me and any professional photographer. There's no way to get a good quality picture of a car racing at 225 mph without a good quality professional expensive camera. If you use a cheap camera for something going that fast, it will look terrible and blurry. Just sayin. Good luck with that...

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(Rating: 3) I'm rating this a 3. While I appreciate the camera suggestion and will look in to them you didn't tell me whether these cameras would capture a picture of a car at 225mph because not all can do that with shutter speeds. Been to camera guys who have confused me to no end. Looks like I need a DSLR but the venue only wants people taking stuff from a point-and-shoot.

Also lens can't be over 10'' and their security rigidly enforces every last policy too or requires a permit.

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