Stressed! Just give me one suggestion to suit i beg you!

[Fairchild]

It's sunny day outside, but i'm not out there, i am here, getting incredibly confused. I WILL buy a camera today. I'm ordering it next day delivery i'm so desperate, lol.

Ok - these are my specs

I am a serious amateur and photography student and i want lots of creative ability enabled, so i want manual control of my camera and nice (not gimmicky) functions.

Maximum budget is £200 (about $380?) but a £230 ($420) camera i could probably get for cheaper, so give or take £50 either way.

I really like the compact size of the ricoh caplio r4 but i'm not sure how this lives up to these other better reviewed cameras. but this is the least of my considerations.The camera needs to be comfortably portable ayhow.

Image quality is everything. Must have at least 5 megapixels, image stabalisation or equivalent anti-blur technology.

I specialise in: low-light and night photography and macro-shots of fine detail (rocks, leaves, hair etc)

I want a powerful zoom and i was told more than 6X is probably not enough for getting shots from afar of buildings etc. prefer 10x but might 7x be sufficient?

Anyway, name me a camera, just one!
Every camera has roughly equal good to bad reviews, i don't know what to believe!

summary:
- serious amateur camera
- £150-220
- good in low-light/night photography
- macrophotography capabilities (i.e not the kodak easyshare which is not)
- anti-blur technology
- reasonably fast shutter speed
- + 7X optical zoom
- a decent movie mode
- 5 (+) MP
- light and portable
- aa batteries prefered but not essential

i think that's it.

[AlexMonro]

See my reply to your question about the Fuji S5600. I think it'll be hard to find a better match to your needs, although I get a slightly different impression of what those are between your posts. One limitation though is the macro focus range - only down to 10cm, but you might be able to use a close up lens filter. The Fuji S9500 and the Canon S3IS will focus a lot closer, but are also significantly more expensive.

You might be able to get the camera slightly cheaper as a refurbished model through Fuji's online shop. See: http://www2.fujifilm.co.uk/shop/refurb/shop.php

[Fairchild]

I was looking at test pictures and was surprised to see that the lumix dmc-fz7 seemed to offer the best images in low light situations - this is for some reason i cannot explain, the one i am most drawn to, although out of my price range i think.
Other cameras i have looked at are
konica minolta z5
panasonic tz1 (love the size!)
Canon s2 is which i also like a lot, and the
Sony h2 - which is one of the ugliest cameras i have seen in my opinion, lol but that's not really important
and of course, the one i am considering Fujifilm s5600 - i am really put off by the lack of Image stabilisation though

[AlexMonro]

Hmm... I wouldn't have said the FZ7 was the best for low light shots. Action shots in bright light, perhaps. Here's part of Jeff's review: "The otherwise nice photo quality is marred by above average noise levels, especially at higher ISO sensitivities. Even at ISO 200, images look more like watercolor paintings than photographs, and the high sensitivity mode doesn't produce anything usable (at ISO 800-1600)." I've seen similar things said on other review sites too.

Image stabilisation can be helpful in low light, as long as the subject is static, but if the subject is moving, Fuji's high sensitivity allows faster shutter speeds, with less noise than the Panasonic, and this in turn helps freeze subject motion, as well as controlling camera shake.

You may well be able to pick up a bargain Konica Minolta Z5, and I have heard that Sony are taking over support.

The Canon S2IS is probably discounted now that it's been superceded by the S3.

Maybe it's time you got down to your local camera shop and had a feel of how the various models fit in your hand, how you like the viewfinder, etc.