Help an absolute beginner pick a camera!

Hi everyone!

I used to have an Olympus mju600 (eugh) and I dropped it and smashed the LCD. I don't plan on getting it fixed (any idea how much that'd cost?) and want to buy a new camera but I know next to nothing about the different brands and the reading the specs for cameras makes me feel like I'm reading an alien language. So - here is my desperate plea for assistance from your much more knowledgeable selves :)

I run a food blog (www.insanitytheory.net/kitchenwench) so my main needs are:

- good macro, I need to get at least 4cm from my subject
- image stablisation
- copes well in lower light situations (not too much noise)
- fairly good colour pick-up

I can't afford a dSLR, so am looking at getting a compact like the canon g7 or nikon p5000, but any suggestions you can offer would be greatly appreciated! I'm hoping to have a camera on hand before the Melbourne Food & Wine festival starts on the 16th March :)

Thank you!

Cheers,
Ellie

Well, Nikon doesn't make a p5000 so not sure what you were looking at.
Looks like the g7 runs 4 to 5 hundred but you don't mention a price range.

If you go to this site http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp anc check off the features you want it will give you a list of cameras meeting those specs. Most of the better point and shoots have macro and optical zoom of various powers.

When you get the list, there will be a list of specs and you can pick a few of the ones that seem to be what you want and then look at their full reviews, focusing on those things that interest you, such as the macro capability or low light. If low light is important I'd look for something with max shutter of 2.8 which the g7 has but not sure about the others.
There is also a glossary on site in which you can look up terms, though even the definitions can be somewhat technical.
Those with more expertise than I will probably have better advice.

Ahh, sorry - the p5000 is scheduled to be released later this month :)

http://www.nikon.com.au/productitem....991-d48d9ef381

As for price, I'm happy to spend up to about AU$750

Thanks for the advice though! I'll check out the website now :)