What's the best camera for indoor sports action without blurring?

I'm trying to find a quality camera with at least 8 megapixels that can take quality digitial photos of indoor actions sports, like basketball, without the blur.

first off, more megapixels isn't necessarily better megapixels. I came across an interesting article today about how more mega pixels is not necessarily a good thing. According to Image Engineering – a company that does testing of digital cameras for photo magazines in Germany – the quality of digital pictures has steadily decreased since the state of the art was six megapixels back in 2004. And because they don’t have a “dog in this hunt,” they put forth a compelling argument for buying new digital cameras with less mega pixels and not more.

The argument is essentially this: CCD chips on point and shoot cameras a smaller and as such, fitting in more pixels causes them to lose light sensivity. Sure, there’s more data on the chip, but the chip can’t absorb the light data and what it ends up with is a picture that has more noise than image quality. In addition, the more megapixels a camera has, the larger the lens it needs to provide the clarity it deserves and prevent diffraction due to a loss of detail with smaller apertures. But since we’re talking portable point and shoots here, those large lenses simply aren’t being made.

Finally, with larger mega pixels comes longer saving time due to their requires huge storage capacity, or more compression if not storing images in RAW format. The result is a noisier image and a dissatisfied camera user who thirsts for high quality and speed but fell into the trap of "more must mean better."

In the end, relying on a smaller MP that can balance all these needs may indeed be a better answer.

Next, you're not goin to get SLR quality sports shots with anything but an SLR camera. Especially when you're looking to eliminate blur that is associated with sports shots. You can use a flash to freeze the action, but these days most don't allow it due to the interference in the game itself. Then there's the shutter lag that comes with point and shoot cameras. When you're trying to grab an action shot, if you don't anticipate the action, the shutter lag can kill you and blow the shot. You can mitigate this by prefocusing and panning with the action. That will reduce shutter lag by as much as 80%.

But for what you're looking for, I'd be going with a Canon Digital Rebel XTi or Nikon D40 with a good long range zoom. No lag, better signal to noise ratio, faster lenses.

Hello James,
Thank you for such a great evaluation. I didn't realize that the megapixels weren't as important because the last camera I bought was about 8 years ago. So much has changed. As for your recommendation of the SLR, I have been researching best options and found the Nikon D40x to be suited for the indoor action pictures. I will write back in and give more info once I receive the camera and start taking better pictures. Thank you again for taking the time to thoroughly explain.

hi. I am looking for a camera to take outdoor sports action pix. I really dont want to spend alot of money. Can anyone recommend a less expensive camera then the Nikon D40? Or is the Nikon my only choice to get really clear sports shots from across the field.
thank you!

i want to take pictures indoor and with a camera that takes quick pictures for sports event that is easy to use.