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I know that "point and shoot" does not belong in the same sentence as "sports photography". But if you only have $200-300 in your pocket and a need to photograph indoors martial arts competition, e.g. below, what camera features would you focus on? Or are all point and shoot cameras pretty much hopeless for keeping blur to a minimum in highly mobile low-light environments?

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PS: I ended up going with a Canon ELPH 300 HS in September 2011, but of course, the thing about cameras is better ones come out every month ;-)

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  • \$\begingroup\$ hey lex, thought about a second hand dslr. not sure where you're from and the prices there, but a friend of mine had a d40x with an 18-70 lens for that money, and something like that will be better for a few reasons. it is more responsive than a point and shoot,and will take the picture when you press the button. 2 it will be better in low light than point and shoots in that price category. \$\endgroup\$
    – rapscalli
    Sep 3, 2011 at 20:47
  • \$\begingroup\$ @rapscalli, interesting idea, but I'm looking for something very portable and also something that doesn't look too expensive. I know that sounds strange, but it's a camera I'm looking to bring to tournaments and toss in my bag easily while I'm fighting out on the mat. \$\endgroup\$
    – Alan Turing
    Sep 3, 2011 at 20:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ If you could post some of your results with the Canon Elph 300HS, that'd be great! \$\endgroup\$
    – Imre
    Sep 4, 2011 at 19:04

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Shooting indoor fast action is hard enough with a dSLR, asking that from a medium-price point and shoot is quite much. At least try to get a front row seat, so you would not have to amplify blur with a long focal length.

If you only need to shoot one event, you could rent a dSLR with a fast tele lens for considerably less than your budget.

You could also have a look at models suggested for question "What point and shoots are good for low light?", but those all seem to be selling over $300. Maybe you're lucky enough to find a used Canon S90 that fits your budget.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Indeed. Indoor sports is probably the most difficult condition for any camera to operate. Even you do do not care about IQ, focusing will be truly problematic. +1 for renting. \$\endgroup\$
    – Itai
    Sep 3, 2011 at 13:40
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This is fundamentally impossible equation, but what I would at least try to get is a physically big sensor. Not all 200-300 currency unit cameras have identical sensors, and when it comes to capturing as much light as possible in brief moment, physical size cannot be beat.

Another thing to look at is level of noise on high ISO values.

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