Want to upgrade camera

[tarajohnson61]

I've had a pocket camera for a while now currently i have a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 I love the camera but I'm starting to take a lot more pictures and I'd like something a little better. With good image quality. But no SLR. I'd prefer something kind of small a can take with me. Maybe keep in my purse. I've been checking online but I don't know much about this stuff and I haven't seen them in person yet.

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.
no more than$500

Size

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

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you?
7 or 8

* 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)
9

Do you care for manual controls?
doesn't matter never use them but I'd like to learn someday

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?
friends/family, vacation, usual stuff

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

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

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
my husband plays softball other than that no

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?
i had an olympus once and i really didn't like it it was too slow but it really don't matter
Are there particular models you already have in mind?
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8, Canon G9, Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd

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

[AndyfromVA]

If you're a fan of Sony, it also makes ultrazooms, the 10x optical zoom H3 (has received good reviews) and the 15x optical zoom H7 and H9 (mixed reviews).

[KCook]

The Canon G9 has an optical viewfinder, where the other 2 cameras on your list play the SLR-like game.

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_g9-review/

Thus the Canon is a little less bulky, should be easier to slip into a purse. Most all of the superzoom cameras are feature packed. Plan on spending a lot of time reading the reviews/tests to sort out the features and performance that is most important to you.

Or at least see how easy their controls are organized for those features you need frequently. Personally I hate menu diving.

Kelly Cook

[pas49ras]

The Canon G9 is not considered a ultra zoom only having a 6x zoom. The others that you listed are ultra zooms but I don't think they will slide in your purse, they are bigger and more bulky. You need to decide..do you want the ultra zooms or a smaller camera with less zoom and a more pocket able design. Its best to go to a store and take a look at the cameras available if size is a factor.

[tarajohnson61]

Yeah thanks guys. I didn't realize quite how big the the 2 were until I seen someone holding them in one of the video reviews.

[KCook]

I just got a Canon S3 IS, and having all the SLR-like features is terrific. But for a busy vacation day, I can see that the bulk of this thing is not going to be a plus. At that point I will be wishing I had gotten the much lighter SD850 instead. I don't really need extreme zoom.

Kelly

[AndyfromVA]

Yeah thanks guys. I didn't realize quite how big the the 2 were until I seen someone holding them in one of the video reviews.

The Sony H3 is an ultrazoom but is much smaller than most. The Canon SX100 and Panasonic TZ3 are also smallish ultrazooms.