Too much choice! I'm getting confused...

[bennygill]

Hey all,

I've been wanting a new camera for a while now. But every time I think I've got it narrowed down to a few, I stumble accross something else. I need one asap cos I've got a music festival on the weekend and I want to get some good shots.

Ok so its cruch time. This is my thought process so far.

1) Compact, small enough to fit in your pocket. The smaller the better but I realise that the more features I want the bigger it gets.
2) Zoom. About 4x or larger. I realy like big zoom, but cant have too much cos I want a small camera.
3)Image quality. I DO want good quality photos.
4)Manual controls would be nice but not essential.
5)optical image stabilization
6)And the cost US$300-$450. I'm an Aussie but I'm guessing most people here are from the states thus the us dollars conversion.

Its mostly needed for snap shots, and for use as a travel camera (South America, YAY!). I'm somewhat interest in photography, wanting the manual controls. I've never had a camera with them before but I guess I have to start learning sometime. But it wouldnt be a disater if it didnt have them.

I've been looking at:
Canon PowerShot A710IS - good zoom and controls, but getting a bit bulkier.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 - awesome zoom! but getting a bit bulkier and no controls.
Canon PowerShot S80 - Sounds great. But too expensive
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2/1 - Sounds great. But too expensive
HP Photosmart R817 - good zoom, controls, but i think crappy quality.
Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS - Dude at shop likes this one. Says good quality. But lacks controls.
Casio Exilim EX-Z850 - maybe ok. zoom a little on the small side.
Ricoh Caplio R4 - sweet zoom. Some limited manual controls. Could be the one? Not sure of quality.
Kodak EasyShare V610 - Zoom good. Camera bad. (or so I've been told)

There is more... But i guess that'll just bore the heck out of you.

So by now I've got a million and one things running through my head. Cant rememeber what did what. Which is good. Which is bad. The bloody camera model numers. ARGHH!

Someone help!

[bennygill]

Ok. I've just decided that it all sounds way too complicated. I'll try to make it simple (more for my-self than anyone else).

BIG zoom, small camera.
Toss the manual controls if I can use the scene modes and stuff to get longer shutter times etc.
Good image quality
Image stabilization

Sooooooo... what do you recon?

[unix04]

i think you'll have to compromise between small vs big zoom, considering you thought the tz1 was bulky, and not willing to fork over the extra $$$ for the lx2.

i'd suggest the following...

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7
Canon PowerShot S3 IS

and there are deals out there that literally give out 1GB cards for a few bucks extra with a purchase.

it's a matter of if you're willing to put up with this 'super' bulky camera

[bennygill]

Ok. Yeah I'm been a bit unrealistic. How bout we just pick the best camera out of all the compact big zoom cameras.

Like;
Panasonic TZ1
Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Ricoh Caplio R4
Kodak EasyShare V610

Whats your picks?

[bluevellet]

The Canon PowerShot A710 IS is probably the better camera.

[tim11]

.....
Panasonic TZ1
Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Ricoh Caplio R4
Kodak EasyShare V610

Whats your picks?

Forget the V610....

R4 has 28 wide angle. Not sure about functions and image quality. Need to investigate further.

TZ1: 10x zoom IS. Compact. Manual controls: Exposure compensation, white balance. No viewfinder.

hmmm... It's the A710 IS for me. Okay, let me justify. I prefer to have more manual controls.