I'm looking at replacing my current digital camera..

[kesuki]

What I want in my next camera is simple. I want Long Battery life, Optical Image Stabilization, and a Price under $400, although I'd prefer under $200 but under $400 is the most I'm willing to spend. Camera Body Size doesn't matter, having an optical view finder is essential, because without holding the camera to my head my hands shake like a crack addict in need for a fix.. I've tried taking pictures on those annoying LCD only view finders, and they always are so blurry I have to trash them. Zoom is irrelevant to me, because zoom always comes at the price of blurry, trashed photos. I'd prefer an 8 mega pixel camera, most are at least that big nowadays anyways. Although I am flexible, if for battery life, or better image stabilization i have to go down on resolution... Image quality? well, I will be viewing most of my pictures in 1080P resolution on a 46" HDTV that is going to be connected to my new PC when i get the new PC and the new HDTV. so i would imagine that at 1960x1080 resolution on a 46" screen that's 3 feet away from me, i would notice if image quality is bad. Still I am not a professional digital camera user, and know nothing of ISO or such features, and all that matters is that the camera is capable of producing crisp clear pictures without playing too much with the cameras default settings.

I will take both indoor and outdoor photos with the camera, in particular we go to theme parks usually every year, and i enjoy taking pictures of both the park, and the people with me at the park, which is why battery life is such a killer feature for me, the last time i used a digital camera at the park i had 6 sets of rechargeable AA batteries, and had to charge them every night, it drove me crazy i had to have 2 chargers to charge all the batteries, and as such i stopped brining my digital camera along (and now its worse my camera doesn't even work with the same batteries anymore(although i could buy new batteries i was holding off until i knew what camera I'm getting))

typically at a theme park i will take between 100-120 snapshots per day, with the camera needing to be able to be in standby mode for most of an 10-12 hour day (if such is possible, with my last camera i lost so many shots because the camera had to be in the 'off' position to conserve battery life)

I tried looking around at review sites, but battery life is like a deep dark secret that digital camera companies are hiding from their consumers... sigh.

[David Metsky]

If you had to change your batteries 6 times in a day shoot either your camera was broken or your charger/batteries were bad. No camera with NiMH rechargeable batteries does that poorly; at least no recent camera. So, any camera you choose will meet this requirement. However, keeping the camera in standby mode for 12 hours will kill any batteries. Newer cameras with faster startup times may allow you to turn the camera off.

Zoom doesn't equal blurry shots. Not enough light equals blurry shots. If you are just shooting in auto mode you'll need to push up the ISO when zoomed in fully because you're going to lose some light at the long end of the zoom. Also, IS will help eliminate hand shake at full zoom. That is a factor, but again, if there is enough light the shutter speed will be fast enough to eliminate any blur.

Honestly, any camera from the major brands will meet these basic requirements. If you want under $200 look at the Canon A720. If you want to go more expensive there are dozens of good options.

[kesuki]

well, the NiMH batteries weren't 'new' they were about 2-3 years old by the time i was on the trip in question, and the camera was an older model 4 megapixel, when 4 megapixel was a 'big deal' also, now that the batteries are 7 years old, they no longer even properly power up the camera for more than a few shots, but yeah i had to change the batteries as many as 6 times in a day of shooting... and that trip i missed many shots... well, expecting rechargeable batteries to last forever is a pipe dream, but NiMH loose power every year, i really don't want to be buying new NiMH batteries ever 3 years to get decent charge duty from them..

[AndyfromVA]

I used to use NiMH rechargeable AA's and they drove me crazy too because they all lose their charge even when the camera's not being used. Fortunately, there are two ways to get around this now.

One is to buy AA hybrid rechargeables, such as 2000 mAh Sanyo Eneloops (available online and at a few stores), and an Eneloop charger. Unlike NiMH AA's, the Eneloops will not lose their charge and they last a long time between uses. If you put 2 Eneloops in your camera and have 2 charged ones as spares, you can shoot for a week without having to recharge. Another alternative is to purchase nonrechargeable Energizer E2 AA lithium batteries. The E2's are more expensive than AA alkalines but last 7 times as long.

[KCook]

Also check out the cameras noted on this thread - Need experts help Canon or Sony (http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36772)

Kelly Cook

[hikerpaul]

check out a hood for your lcd, and you might not need a new camera.

check out hoodman, their loup for lcd works great.

http://www.hoodmanusa.com/products.asp?dept=1017

[kesuki]

[QUOTE=AndyfromVA;304819]I used to use NiMH rechargeable AA's and they drove me crazy too because they all lose their charge even when the camera's not being used. Fortunately, there are two ways to get around this now.

One is to buy AA hybrid rechargeables, such as 2000 mAh Sanyo Eneloops (available online and at a few stores), and an Eneloop charger. Unlike NiMH AA's, the Eneloops will not lose their charge and they last a long time between uses. If you put 2 Eneloops in your camera and have 2 charged ones as spares, you can shoot for a week without having to recharge. Another alternative is to purchase nonrechargeable Energizer E2 AA lithium batteries. The E2's are more expensive than AA alkalines but last 7 times as long.[/QUOTE

eneloops are nimh, but they don't loose capacity as fast as normal nimh, because they're made differently.. I was reading another site, http://www.greenbatteries.com/ and i've decided that i'm going to buy a fancy full featured nimh battery tester/conditioner but even what i've read is that even the best conditioned nimh are only going to give me about 30-40 shots per battery charge, and only then if the battery is charged within a week of being used.. my old nimh charger didn't have conditioning or testing capabilities, although it did have a 'smart' charger, apparently without reconditioning nimh batteries will eventually have far below the rated power level, and since my old ones started at 1600, this explains why they no longer run my camera, i often let them sit for long periods of time without recharging...

also, the site seems to also verify that batteries left at room temperature for a few years will loose rated capacity. so from now on all of my batteries will be stored in a refrigerator, and charged days before use, and reconditioned if they've been neglected for more than 3 months, and matched to batteries with ratings that are close to one another.

but i will still need 4 sets of batteries, to take the number of shots i typically take, but looking into cameras that use li-ion, most of the ones in my price range have nowhere near the shot capacity i'd like... sigh, it would be nice if a camera took 'real' c cell nimh batteries, and i would only have to change them once all day long (real c cells are rated with double the capacity of aa nimh, batteries, but no cameras i've seen use c cell, as always most people want 'small' and so larger battery cells are avoided...

[AndyfromVA]

eneloops are nimh, but they don't loose capacity as fast as normal nimh, because they're made differently.. I was reading another site, http://www.greenbatteries.com/ and i've decided that i'm going to buy a fancy full featured nimh battery tester/conditioner but even what i've read is that even the best conditioned nimh are only going to give me about 30-40 shots per battery charge, and only then if the battery is charged within a week of being used.. my old nimh charger didn't have conditioning or testing capabilities, although it did have a 'smart' charger, apparently without reconditioning nimh batteries will eventually have far below the rated power level, and since my old ones started at 1600, this explains why they no longer run my camera, i often let them sit for long periods of time without recharging...

I've never heard of anyone who's gotten only 30-40 shots from a fully charged set of NiMH rechargeables. Based on my personal experience with Eneloops, I've found they last from 300-500 shots per charge.

[David Metsky]

I've never heard of anyone who's gotten only 30-40 shots from a fully charged set of NiMH rechargeables. Based on my personal experience with Eneloops, I've found they last from 300-500 shots per charge.
Agreed. Whatever you read is most certainly wrong by about an order of magnitude.