Help with buying a new camera

[Chino-san]

About a year ago, I bought a Nikon Coolpix 7600. I thought it was going to be an awesome camera because of the fact that it was 7.2 megapixels. But little did I know that when I started to really take pictures of it, the shutter speed was so slow that even pictures around my house were blurry. I noticed that the camera performed it's best when it was outside with a lot of sunlight. Recently, I have been trying to buy a new point and shoot camera. I want a point and shoot camera that gave me great quality of pictures, a fast shutter, worked well in the dark, durable, less battery consumtion, and easy to carry. I perfer to buy somewhere along the lines of a canon, so can someone help me choose a camera that is right for me?

[battaglin]

If you're looking along canon line, your best bet would be the powershot S2 or the newer S3. both have image stabiliztion to help lessen blurry pics due to camera shake. I'd also look at the Panasonic Lumix F30 or Fuji S9000. one big advantage (for me) over canons is the manual zoom function. it gives a pro feel to it and is considerably faster zooming in/out than S2/S3. I have the S9000 for couple months now and is very satisfied with it. between the 3models, try out each of them to feel which seems better to your hands. They are the top models today in their category. you wont go wrong with any of them.

[another view]

One thing you have to realize is that longer shutter speeds are required in low light, such as inside a building without flash. A faster shutter speed isn't better than a slower speed; it's just a setting. That's like saying that a freezer is better than a refrigerator because it's colder. You could raise the ISO speed which will help the shutter speed but that can add some digital noise (looks grainy). This is true of all of them - to some extent.

Another good option, like already mentioned, is a camera with built-in IS or VR. This will help keep the camera steady during longer shutter speeds. I think the new Nikon "P" series Coolpix cameras have it too.

[Chino-san]

If you're looking along canon line, your best bet would be the powershot S2 or the newer S3. both have image stabiliztion to help lessen blurry pics due to camera shake. I'd also look at the Panasonic Lumix F30 or Fuji S9000. one big advantage (for me) over canons is the manual zoom function. it gives a pro feel to it and is considerably faster zooming in/out than S2/S3. I have the S9000 for couple months now and is very satisfied with it. between the 3models, try out each of them to feel which seems better to your hands. They are the top models today in their category. you wont go wrong with any of them.

I can't seem to find the powershot S2 or the S3 can you help me find it?

[Chino-san]

Nevermind, I found the cameras. I think the S2 and S3 are pretty large cameras to carry around. If I want to go somewhere I perfer not to have something large and bulky like those two. A point and shoot would be just fine for me.