Being a spectator can be hard work, just ask Cynthia Huynh. Exhausted from running up and down the sidelines to get shots of her eight-year old, Brian, she needed a high-zoom camera to capture sharp, stable pictures from afar. We gave her three popular cameras--the Canon Powershot S5 IS, the Kodak Z812 IS, and the Olympus SP-560 UZ--to take to Brian's championship game, and asked her to tell us which ones could keep up with her son.

Huynh soon learned that the ingredients of a stellar zoom camera include more than just the lens. Aside from zoom factor, a detailed action shot from afar would be impossible without image stabilization and rapid-fire shutter speed. And since high-zoom lenses are most appropriate for people who do lots of outdoor shooting, vibrant colors and natural light filters are essential. This, Huynh found, is easy to find; image stabilization, not so much. Read on to find which cameras made the cut, and which just couldn't keep up with the action.