What should I get?

[Ryddle]

Hello, I want to purchase a camera soon (December-January) that will hopefully help me a bit. I know a little about cameras, but pretty far from a pro level. I want to take better than average "snap and its done". I want to take some good pictures (even with movement, low light, or a little far away) Help would be greatly appreciated:
Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.
-Hard to be specific, I suppose around 250$-300$, maybe 350$ but nothing much over that.

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?
Its a camera I want to carry around, but I dont want to sacrifice quality and features to size. As long as its neither huge nor too heavy its fine.

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you?
I would really like 8 or more megapixels, not much less (you lose a lot of quality).

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)
-I prefer the ultrazoom obviously (but I guess there is nothing between 4x and 10x) but if the budget does not cut it...

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
Hmm, hard one, maybe an 8? As long as pictures dont look noisy (remember I want some movement, low light, and far away pictures)

Do you care for manual controls?
Um, what are those? Just the camera is not too complicated to use, I can use the different modes, and I want to take pictures rather quickly, so if these manual controls slow me down... the answer is no.

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?
Everyday pictures, some movement pictures, low light, far away, etc. I want a better-than-the-average-camera, that gets me good pictures. =D
And the battery HAS to last a little long, I dont want a camera that loses its power every hour and a half.

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
Rarely.

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
Yes, both I think.

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
Yes! Photos with moving subjects!

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?
Yes, I am pretty sure I want a Canon, they are the best.

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)
I dont need any (or necessarily want it), but if its possible to get any, sure!

Thanks in advance

[yopro08]

well i would recommend a Sony Cybershot, FujiFilm, Nikon, or a Canon. those are like the top 5

[David Metsky]

As we'll be typing many times over the next month, no P&S camera on the market today works exceptionally well in low light. You'll need to use the flash or push the ISO up so high as to make your images grainy. Some models are a bit better then the average, but nothing is going to come close to what a DSLR can do.

Without using manual controls you're going to have some troubles getting clear shots in low light. But given that, something like the Canon A1000 or A2000 might be a good choice. You'll want to buy Enloop NiMH rechargeable AA batteries or similar brands to get long battery life. Canon is good, but depending on the application there are certainly other models I'd recommend as well.

[Ryddle]

Hmm, alright, thanks a lot. What about if I choose to sacrifice the low light then? And what are the manual controls? And what are they for? And of course, any other brand you think might be better by all means suggest it!
Also, I dont think I can neither afford a DSLR nor have the time and space to be worrying about lenses, flashes, etc.
Arent the A1000 and A2000 like "average" cameras? I checked the canon web page, and they are in the basic category. Or is this what I am looking for?
Thanks in advance

[David Metsky]

Your requirements are pretty basic. Better then average shots come from the photographer, not the camera, in most cases. The current crop of cameras are pretty good, and a good photographer can get excellent shots from them.

Manual controls are the ability to set the shutter speed and aperture by yourself, rather then the camera choosing. Learning even a bit about that and when to use various setting will go a long way towards improving your shots. If you're going to rely on the camera to choose them it's going to try and guess what you are trying to do and sometimes it's going to be wrong, especially in low light.

You can spend more for a camera. A Canon G10, Fuji F100, or Panasonic LX3 will more features, a bigger CCD sensor, and some other nice things, but you haven't really said anything that would make me recommend one yet.

If you really want an ultrazoom I'd look at the Canon SX10, the Panasonic FZ28 or the Sony H50. I can't tell if they're too huge or heavy for you, I don't know what your breakpoint is. If you want a lot of zoom in a smaller camera a Panasonic TZ5 or Canon SX110 would be a nice choice.

Bottom line, you haven't really made enough choices yet to pick a few cameras to recommend.

[Ryddle]

Alright, I did my research on the manual controls, and that is precisely what I want. I want to learn a bit about taking better pictures (which is what you said that controls will really improve my shots), having read about the ISO, shutterspeed, contrast, etc.
I noticed that low-light pictures can only be taken with a tripod or by placing the camera someplace (otherwise they get noisy) and setting low ISO. For moving subjects I need a higher ISO. I really care about the moving subjects so the camera has to be able to take action photos.
So, still applying my answered questions in my 1st post, does these new choices help a camera to recommend, or do you need more choices to help?
Thanks a lot, you really are helping me a lot

[AndyfromVA]

Canon makes four point and shoot cameras with manual controls - the A590is, SX110is, SX10is (SX1 in Europe) and the G10. All are very good. The A590is is the cheapest (under $150) and has the least optical zoom. The SX110is is under $250 and has a fairly long 10x optical zoom. The SX10is looks like a DSLR and has a very long 20x optical zoom. Its price is under $350. Finally the G10 has the best picture quality in good lighting conditions. It has a 5x optical zoom. It's also the most expensive at about $450. All except the SX10is are considered "compacts" and can fit into a large pocket.

[Ryddle]

The SX10is sounds fantastic: I already checked it on the canon webpage, it has a 20x zoom, wide, and image stabilizer, everything I could wish for! However, it costs 400$, or can I find it for 350$ somewhere else?
Is the SX110is good, or what about the S5is is it good? Which of the 3 do you recommend? Or perhaps if you think adequate another model?

[SpecialK]

Don't know about shipping to you, but here's a link.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Powershot-SX10IS-Digital-Stabilized/dp/B001G5ZTZO/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1228021831&sr=1-5

[AndyfromVA]

Is the SX110is good, or what about the S5is is it good? Which of the 3 do you recommend? Or perhaps if you think adequate another model?
The S5is has been discontinued - it's been replaced by the SX10is.

The SX110is is very good. It's smaller and less expensive than the SX10is, but it has less optical zoom (though still more than most cameras) and lacks the flash hotshoe, optical viewfinder and twisting LCD of the SX10is. Picture quality is similar.

[Ryddle]

. Sorry double post

[Ryddle]

What is optical viewfinder? I now narrowed my choices to 2: SX10 and SX 110, I guess I will try them and then decide (or my budget). Are both cameras good?, i.e. would you buy them? I think I will go check the reviews

[AndyfromVA]

An optical viewfinder let's you see the scene you're photographing directly, rather than an electronic representation of the scene that you see with the LCD. However, when I used the term earlier in connection with the SX10is I was wrong - the SX10is has an electronic viewfinder, rather than a true optical viewfinder. An electronic viewfinder is a small LCD that has the same information on it that the large LCD has. Both an optical viewfinder and an electronic viewfinder are useful when the larger LCD is hard to see in the bright sunshine.

I think both cameras are very good.

[David Metsky]

What is optical viewfinder? I now narrowed my choices to 2: SX10 and SX 110, I guess I will try them and then decide (or my budget). Are both cameras good?, i.e. would you buy them? I think I will go check the reviews

Optical viewfinders (or in this case an electronic viewfinder) are when you place the camera up to your eye to view the scene. I find it critical for shooting moving action where the LCD, held out in front of you, makes it very difficult to track moving objects. Depending on how you plan on using the camera this could be critical.

Both cameras are good, they both have similar image quality and similar limitations (low light, high ISO), but frankly all cameras in this class have the same limitations.