Is this camera a good buy?

[Politically Incorrect]

As a matter of fact it is a S3000.
I didn't notice until reading Riflemans reply that it was the type that you has to look on screen instead of a viewfinder.
The reason I dislike the screen is because it is dfficult to see depending on how the light hits it.
And the shutter delay is annoying, my biggest pet peeve of digital! You can tell by the photos of the airshows how this affects to outcome of what would be a awesome photo if using 35mm.
As far as video with or without sound I  really don't care about. I'm planning on a video recorder in the near future
Any other suggestions for a decent camera 3-4MP, 6X + zoom, viewfinder, video doesn't matter, works good for action shots, around $300 or less??
So I guess I look for something else, in the mean time my Kodak Easy share is fine for static display shots but fails at moving objects

[Hagar]

I can't help by recommending a camera. I'll leave that to the others but I'd like to make a few observations for discussion. I agree that a proper viewfinder is essential for taking photos of moving objects - whether this be aircraft, cars or anything else. I dislike the idea of using the screen as a viewfinder. Having used conventional & digital automatic "point & shoot" cameras I think they both suffer from the "delay" Ken mentioned. Some might be better than others in this respect & I suspect some problems are not caused by actual shutter delay but the time taken between focusing & taking the actual shot. A moving subject can be much closer (or further away) when you take the shot depending on how quick you are on the button after setting the focus, especially if it's moving directly towards or away from you.

Digital cameras tend to be worse as they seem to take some time to process the image after pressing the button. Mine does anyway. This will depend to some extent on the image resolution. The higher the resolution, the longer it takes to process the image. My camera has a continous shot function which will take 4 shots in quick succession before processing the images. I'm still experimenting with this feature & have yet to decide whether the focus is reset in between each shot. If it is, this could be very useful at air displays & other events. The only drawback would be that processing 4 images will obviously take longer than one & this will affect the time delay before you're ready for another shot. It will also use more power & memory than taking one shot at a time so would need using carefully.

I'll be interested in any comments from the more experienced photographers.

[Rifleman]

[quote]
........and euh Ken, EVERY compact digicam has troubles with shutter lag...you won't get rid of this, you'll have to buy a (D)SLR!

[Rifleman]

. My camera has a continous shot function which will take 4 shots in quick succession before processing the images. I'm still experimenting with this feature & have yet to decide whether the focus is reset in between each shot. If it is, this could be very useful at air displays & other events. The only drawback would be that processing 4 images will obviously take longer than one & this will affect the time delay before you're ready for another shot. It will also use more power & memory than taking one shot at a time so would need using carefully.

I'll be interested in any comments from the more experienced photographers.

One thing I have noticed on this feature is that my camera won't give me as many images as I might like to shoot, but some models after mine like the 3040 and the 4040 by Olympus, were made with a 10 meg buffer in them to increase this ability......

One of the biggest reasons I chose Olympus in the first place was the XX40 series of cameras  2040 for 2mp 3040 for 3mp and 4040 for 4mp....even the 5050 (5mp)shares the same lens as my 2megapix 2040.....these all have a 1.8 max aperture, which is invaluable in getting those low light/fast action shots which a 2.8 just can't bring home......always remember, any image you capture is only a set of light values which all enter the camera through the lens, before stopping at the CCD and being recorded.......the lens is the first and most basic element of all picture taking......if things are not the best they can be here, its gonna take a whole bunch of software to digitally assist the final image.....