Please, help picking a camera!!

[cowboy0143]

My current camera (which is at least 4 years old) takes horrible low light pictures. I would like something that can take pictures at dusk and when lights are low; but also take great beach shots when the sun is shining bright.

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Less than $350.

Size

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

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you? 6 or 7 would work

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

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10) 9-10

Do you care for manual controls? Don't care, can learn if necessary

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for? Family & vacation

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? mostly just 4X6 (once in a while maybe 8X10)

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

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
Miscellaneous Will be shooting sporting events (ie: Kids soccer & baseball)

Are there particular brands you like or hate? No

Are there particular models you already have in mind? No

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

[keepcoding]

I think Fuji F50fd / F100fd or Canon PowerShot SD850 IS / SD950 IS could suit you. All of these are compact point-and-shoot cameras with above average image quality. Canon doesn't have wide-angle.
But I have to warn you: I think there is no (ultra-)compact camera on the market yet which really producted great low-light photos (except perhaps the Leica DP1^^). If you really want great photos, I recommend a DSLR.

greetings

[jekostas]

There really are no good current-model compact cameras that are good low-light shooters - it's just not something point and shoot cameras do well.

As to used, you could try and find a Fuji F30fd, F31fd, or F40fd, or an old-stock camera in those models.

Otherwise for low-light, you should think about a dSLR

[KCook]

I agree with the others here. If you can swing a DSLR, that would be best. For a low light P&S I'm not sure I would throw $$ at the problem. Instead make this a low-ball experiment. Line up a couple of stores who make returns easy and try out cameras until you hit on one that is Ok for you. Some budget candidates would include the Fuji F40fd (aka F45fd), Panasonic FS3, and Sony W130.

Kelly Cook
(Fuji F45fd)

[Turn]

everyone wants a good low light compact...

I don't think it will happen any time soon

[KCook]

The coming Panasonic LX3 could deliver on this. But it won't be cheap.

Kelly

[jekostas]

The coming Panasonic LX3 could deliver on this. But it won't be cheap.

Kelly

Could is the operative word here. The LX1 and LX2 had interesting specs but were pretty disappointing cameras in the end.

I think the Micro Four/Thirds cameras *hopefully* being introduced sometime soon could work.

[KCook]

Those new Micro Four/Thirds are interesting to me as well. But if they can't deliver any for under $400, then they won't have much impact on the compact market.

Kelly