Canon s95 amateur using full auto looking for something faster for fast moving toddler. Ideas?

I had the same problems you're having a few years ago - I had fast-moving targets and poor indoor light. Believe me - 16 months ain't that fast compared to 3, 6, 12 years old.... Even a top of the line prosumer camera wasn't cutting it - shutter lag, poor high ISO, inaccurate WB, slow RAW write times, and slow electronic zooming dogged me mercilessly. Looking back at those shots  - when I pinned the kid down and took my time to think about the light they're fantastic; when I try to catch the joy of play - nothing much. A couple lucky shots.

I bit the bullet and bought a consumer-level dSLR with a 2-lens kit, cheapest on the market at the time, put it on "P" and shot away - and now I've got some great memories. IMHO, you should too. A big-arsed pro-level external flash is also worth the money for indoor shooting - more so than an expensive, fancy dSLR or lens.

Colin.

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unus pes præ altero....