I have been wanting to buy a camera for a while now. i loved taking action shots at my brothers high school football games. only problem was that our camera at the time sucked, so im getting my tax return back on monday and im interested in grabbing a camera. just not sure where to start. my grandmother who is an avid photographer loves her lumix g3 and recommended that to me, but our shooting styles are very different and wondered if it would work well with what i want to do which is action shots of sports/ activities and beautiful landscapes. i have a budget around 500 usd. if anyone can help me out, it would be greatly appreciated.

wow that is a challenge for under 500 usd.

its going to cost a little bit more, especially if you want a nice zoom lens for sports, but i'd recommend a sony alpha series camera, like the a57, simply for its 12 fps!

hopefully someone can also put in a bit more knowledge and recommend an alternative for less $$

yeah at that price range there isn't much choice
prob is when shooting sports you generally need a decent tele lens, and they get expensive
so unfortunately I cant recommend much, you going to have to start with an entry lvl camera and lens, upgrade the lens later when u can

any of the older rebel models/used easily under 500

or basic as fuck d40/40d