Which ultra zoom should I buy?

[seo]

Budget

~$500

Size

Size doesn't matter;)

Features

6 MP or more

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)

Ultrazoom

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)

8 or 9

Do you care for manual controls?

Yes, need manual controls

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?

Family photos, upcoming trip to Italy

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?

Occasional 8 x 10

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?

Yes

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?

Yes

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?

No

Are there particular models you already have in mind?

Fuji FinePix S9000 or S9100 or S6000fd
Panasonic FZ30 or 50
Canon S3-IS

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)

I would like to have IS.

I really would like to have minimal redeye.

I would like a real optical viewfinder, have not used an EVF before.

Need a camera that is good for lowlight situations

Cameras I have owned

Film:

Canon Canonet GIII QL19
Fujica ST701 SLR
Pentax Spotmatic F SLR
Olympus XA
Nikon N8008S SLR

Digital

Canon A40
Canon S50




Any thoughts on my 3 choices? Am I overlooking any models?

To reiterate -

I hate redeye
prefer to compose through a viewfinder
need manual controls, especially manual focus

TIA

Scott

[David Metsky]

No ultrazoom has a real optical viewfinder. They all have EVFs because otherwise you'd have to have a big zoom lens in your viewfinder. I have found the EVF on my S3 to be OK, but it does have some limitations.

If you really want low light performance, you have to go with the Fuji or a dSLR. It depends on what percentage of your shots are going to be low light and how much noise are you willing to accept.

-dave-

[seo]

I've looked at the reviews a little closer and serached around on the forum.

I'm thinking now Maybe I should go with the S6000fd instead of th S9100.

Any thoughts? Looks like it's about $100 cheaper, but I would need to by new memory cards as I only have CF cards.

[John_Reed]

I think the FZ8 is better than the FZ7 at low-light photos, and both are extremely versatile, compact 12X zoom cameras with manual controls, but also with the ability to go "fully automatic" if you want to just snap photos and leave the thinking to the camera. See dpreview's review (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz8/) of the FZ8 for more specifics.