Since people seem to think that the off-topic section is for political discussion, something that is frowned upon, I have temporarily closed the section. ANY political discussions in any other forum will be deleted and the user suspended. I have had it with the politically motivated comments.
        
        
        Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:21 pm
		
			
			I bought a new point and shoot camera at the end of last year to upgrade from what I had.  At the first airshow I went to this year I found that I didn't have enough zoom capability to get shots of anything in flight, and I have a hard time getting a picture that isn't blurry when trying to shoot a moving airplane.  
So, I'm back in the market again and I'm looking to have something decent before leaving for Thunder over Michigan.  I can't spend a ton of money and don't expect extreme professional results.  Does anybody have any recommendations for a decent camera in the $500-ish range?  I'm looking at this one:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Olympus+-+P ... Id=9769158Ok?  Bad?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Greg
			
		
 
	
        
        Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:07 pm
		
			
			Not the best choice.  It's a great general purpose camera, but the lens that comes with it won't be long enough.  You'll need to buy a second lens.
I wouldn't get the PEN for ground-to-air anyway though.  Notice how it has no real viewfinder, only a screen on the back.  It is very tough to take long tele shots without a viewfinder.
At your budget, consider a megazoom point-and-shoot in the 12x or more range.  Examples would be Nikon Coolpix P100, Canon Powershot SX20-IS, Olympus SP-800, Sony DSC-HX1, Kodak Z981, Pentax X90, Fuji HS10.
Try to practice as much as you can before you leave for Michigan.  Airshows are a reasonably demanding shooting environment, and both practice and familiarity with the equipment will help get good results.
August
			
		
	 
	
        
        Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:15 pm
		
			
			Thank you August!  I'm going to look into all of your recommendations.
Greg