Which camera should I buy?

[jeannine]

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible. $300-$450

Size doesn't matter

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you? 7

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

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

Do you care for manual controls? haven't tried yet, but willing to learn

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for? family photos, travel, kids' activities

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? mostly 4x6, 5x7 some 8x10, but not bigger than that

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?

Are there particular models you already have in mind?

Canon S5 IS
Olympus SP-550 UZ
Sony Cybershot DSC-H7 or H9
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18
Fuji Finepix S700
Fuji S8000f

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

Thanks!!!

[jeannine]

anyone have any suggestions??

[bascom]

That's a good list but the Oly SP560 sounds better than SP550, and Fuji S6000 may be better than S700 and S8000. How about Canon G9?

[TheWengler]

The Canon S3 or S5 and the Panasonic FZ18 if well lit situations are the primary use. The Fuji S6000 if poorly lit situations are a priority.

[jeannine]

Thank you for all of the help so far. I do have another question in regards to the Panasonic FZ18:

I've read that there is "noise visible throughout ISO range".

I'm a little unsure how to word this, but I'll try: I'm going to be printing the photos for scrapbooking, usually at smallest 4x6 and sometimes maybe at 5x7. Once in a while maybe at 8x10, but not sure yet. Pretty standard picture stuff as a 'newie' I guess.

As far as I've read in reviews, it seems that the noise is worst when viewed on the computer, versus the printed photo, as far as I can determine. I might be on the correct path here, or I could be totally lost.

I would be soooooo greatful if anyone can help me understand my seriously, confusing question...:D

[TheWengler]

I think noise appears worse on the computer because the image is as large as it can get while still fitting the screen. As you make larger prints the noise will appear worse.

[bascom]

The Canon S3 or S5 and the Panasonic FZ18 if well lit situations are the primary use. The Fuji S6000 if poorly lit situations are a priority.
Why would the S3/S5 and FZ18 do better than the S6000 in well lit situations? Because they can do lower ISO?

[TheWengler]

It's more like, I would rather have one of those cameras if lowlight shooting wasn't a priority. I'm not really saying the Fuji can't take good picture of well lit scenes. The only one I have first hand experience with is the S3 which I found to be great for outdoor use.