First time poster looking for info on point & shoots.

[Gmichael]

Hello all, welcome to.... Ooops, that's your line.
Hi photo type people. Hope all is well. This is my first post here as I'm sure you can see. I am a semi-long member of Audio Review. Ericl & JohnMichael both suggested that I post my request here. So here goes. Please be gentle.

Who makes a good point and shoot camera?

I am hoping that you can help me pick out a camera. I am a total beginner so I'm looking for something small to point and shoot and still get good pics. There are a few models that I'm looking at. Do you know much about these? Is there something else I should take a peak at in this range? Looking to spend $300 - 400 unless a lot more can be had for very little extra. It needs to be very small or I just won't bother to carry it. It's gotta almost take the pictures for me or they won't come out clear. I like zoom but not digi-zoom. Here are the one's I've been peaking at:

Olympus Stylus 1000 10 megapix seems like overkill. Stabilization is a program that changes shutter speeds & helps correct it later. (not a true Stabilization?) Only 3x zoom
Olympus Stylus 750 7.1 meg seems like plenty. A little fuzzy on the Stabilization on this one. 5x zoom...
Canon Powershot SD800 IS 7.1 meg again. Stabilization, 3.8x
Canon Powershot SD900 10 meg!, no stabilization? What the...?

Does anybody know how to help a complete nube? Are any of these good? Are any of them lemons? Remember to keep it simple for me.

Thanks,
Mike

[Canuck935]

I don't know specifics on point and shoots, but what I can tell you is that you shouldn't worry so much about who makes a good camera. The truth is, it's pretty hard to find a 'lemon' of a camera these days unless you go with some off-brand cheapo camera. The better idea, is to go and play with some of these in a store somewhere, and find the one that works the best for you. Play with the controls, the menu, take several shots, then see which one you liked the best be it a Nikon, Canon, Sony, whatever...

Hapy hunting!

[Gmichael]

I don't know specifics on point and shoots, but what I can tell you is that you shouldn't worry so much about who makes a good camera. The truth is, it's pretty hard to find a 'lemon' of a camera these days unless you go with some off-brand cheapo camera. The better idea, is to go and play with some of these in a store somewhere, and find the one that works the best for you. Play with the controls, the menu, take several shots, then see which one you liked the best be it a Nikon, Canon, Sony, whatever...

Hapy hunting!

Thanks,

I'll be playing with a few this weekend. Should be fun.

Mike

[Gmichael]

OK, I pulled the trigger on the Canon SD800 IS. After a lot of digging, this one seemed like it was the most idiot proof. Perfect for me. I went out to a few stores and found many that I liked in my hands and this one seemed just as good as the others, so I went with the reveiws I had seen. I did a lot of searching and reading on this site as well as others that helped me make up my mind. Thanks for all the help.

[Canuck935]

Fantastic! Don't forget to share some of your images from your new camera!