Point and shoot all purpose digi?? Help please.

[006r]

I am looking for an new digital point and shoot. I am not a photographer by any means but do enjoy being creative now and then. Here is a link to a comparison of the cameras on pricegrabber that are readily available and not too pricey(read cheap). Any other ideas are also welcome. I have had canon my whole life but am open to suggestions.

http://cameras.pricegrabber.com/digital/sony/p/48/compare/remove=1/masterids[]=49849904/masterids[]=48576428/masterids[]=17657005/masterids[]=37893051

 

[Pako]

It's helpful if you can give us your budget range and any specific features you would like.

 

[006r]

Well I would like to stay around $300. I want more than 6MP. A decent optical zoom (current is only x4) and probably image stabilization. I need nothing fancy as this is just all purpose, take pics of the kids, the cars/toys, vacations etc...

EDIT: some video capture would be nice, but again it need not be anything super awesome.

 

[Spock]

Canon SX100 IS
$299.99
10X Optical zoom
8mp
SD/SDHC memory
Image stabilized
decent size (for something with more than 4x optical)

Sony H3
$299.99
10x Optical zoom
8mp
MS Pro Duo memory
Super Steady shot (Sony's Image stabilizer)
Smaller than SX100 (by a hair)

Panasonic TZ3
$299.99
10x Optical zoom
7.2mp
SD/SDHC memory
MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer)
3" LCD

I recommend Canon the most, Sony second, and the Panasonic is just another choice (but don't be fooled by its Leica lens, the image processor sucks and pictures don't look to great)

 

[006r]

Thanks for the input Spock. 👍 How would you rate the SX100 vs say a canon S5 IS? That camera comes up a lot or even the S3 IS. Another bang for buck camera I come across is the A720 IS? Any thoughts on these?

 

[Spock]

Well the SX100 is really just a smaller version of the S5, just without a viewfinder and a bit less optical zoom (12x -> 10x). As far as the 720 IS, Since i don't carry that where i work I don't know anything about it really, but if its like the older a630/640 but with image stabilization, its a fairly decent camera (and I believe those models have a higher quality body build, aluminum I think, verses hard plastic in the other 3 cameras)

 

[AMG.]

I am looking for an new digital point and shoot.

Check out dpreview.com. There you'll find a lot of reviews of cameras.

AMG.