Studying Abroad - need recommendations!

[mstaten]

I'm going to be studying abroad in Chile this September (through December) and I'd like to take a camera along with me to document my trip. I don't have a camera right now, so obviously I'll need to get one. Any recommendations you guys can make would be awesome.

Budget

I've got a lot of money saved up for this trip, some of which I will use for a camera. I wouldn't like to spend more than 300-400 on the camera, but if you really think I should, I may be able to swing something.

Size

Size isn't particularly important, though because I will be spending some of my time backpacking (Inca Trail) smaller would be better. No large format cameras on this trip ;)

Features

The more megapixels, the better. I'll likely be looking at these photos for the rest of my life, showing them to my (potential) children, etc., so image quality is an utmost priority. As far as optical zoom is concerned, I don't need anything too fancy.. the standard 3x-4x will be fine.

Do you care for manual controls?

They'd be a nice addition, but not worth going out of my price range for.

General Usage

The primary purpose of this camera will be to document my trip, taking photos of myself, my traveling companions, the people I meet in Chile, my host family, etc.. I'll also be using it to take photos of the scenery, so things like the Andes, Machu Picchu, the Atacama desert, Easter Island, and so on. I won't be using it for professional-looking portraits or high-end macro photography, though I may dabble in both if the camera has appropriate settings.

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

Most likely, yes.

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?

I may, though they will not be common.

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?

I'm open to everything.

Are there particular models you already have in mind?

I was looking at the Canon Powershot SD950 IS...

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

I would love to have image stabilization. I've seen how it improves picture quality and I think it is almost a necessity. The rest, not as important.

[KCook]

You can now buy the Panasonic LX2 for the same money as the Canon SD950. And the LX2 has the Canon beat for IQ.

Kelly Cook

[mstaten]

Kelly,

I took a look at the LX2 and noticed that it has 10.2 megapixels while the SD950 IS has 12... from my very limited understanding of digital cameras, I always thought more megapixels = better camera? And the reviews I read said that the LX2 is pretty noisy, even at ISO 100, while the SD950 IS only started showing serious noise at ISO 800.

I'm not trying to champion one or the other.. just trying to understand why the LX2 is better?

[AndyfromVA]

No, more megapixels does not equal a better camera. Unless you heavily crop your photos or want to blow up your photos to poster size, anything over 7 megapixels is a negative as all it does is overcrowd the small sensors in most point and shoots and lead to noiser pictures. More megapixels must be accompanied by a larger sensor, or very noisy photos will result.

[KCook]

What AndyfromVA said. If you really need 12Mp, then you really need a DSLR. Plus, soft image resolution in the corners of a picture is a very common issue with zoom lenses. Online tests I have seen show this is significantly worse on the SD950 than on the LX2. If there really is too much noise with the LX2, there are software tools to fix that. I don't know of anything that will fix soft corners. Short of just reducing the image size.

Kelly