I'm looking for a new camera... (long story included)

[Zwaf]

You're probably thinking... ohhh another one of them who's looking for a new camera.
I wish I could say I'm different but I guess I'm not.. well I did read the sticky about posting :idea:

Let me first tell you that I'm not an expert at digital cameras. I know what ISO and exposure is. I know that HDR has something to do with taking photos with different exposures and DOF has to do with one range being sharp and the rest blurred .

Whenever I go somewhere I always take a camera with me and people ask me to make pictures for them. I'm not an expert.. but more like someone who likes to take pictures.... hmm no wait.. an expert were say the same .. I take about 10 pictures a day if that is more usefull.

Anyway nuff of that stupid talk ...
I've been using a digital camera for about 3 years now. It's the first digital camera we (my family that is) own. It's a 5MP Slimline X5, which is quite crappy. Well.. my family likes it.. but they dont take pictures like I do so..
It has been returned 3 times. The first time it suddenly starting causing weird interlaced lines in pictures (it still does that now and then), the second time it just went dead, and the third time all pictures were in negative. It has an ISO of 200 .. which is appaling for what I'm not trying to use it for.
About 1/2 photos I take is too blurred. I take 3 photos of every situation in the hope one of them is not that messed up by motion blur.

So .. what AM I trying to use it for?
I like taking pictures of nature (including macro, not that much tho), friends and parties, and pictures in poor light conditions like indoors or at night or dawn. MP doesnt have to be that high but pictures do have to be pretty sharp. I normally dont print photos.. I leave them on my computer and place them in an album online (without shrinking tho) like Panoramio (google earth) or a social network (like you have Facebook in America)

I like effects like DOF and manual focus and stuff. I consider it pretty important since I think it makes a picture a lot more realistic because its much like the human eye works... parts out of focus are blurred. Manual exposure would be nice too.
Im a bit of a Photoshop Phanatic and I can achieve DOF in Photoshop as well but creating it afterwards isnt always the best of ideas .. and it takes time.
The pictures I take are also usually dark although there is no light source messing with the scene (dont really know how to explain it) so I need to use Photoshop to dramatically adjust levels.

I would also like the camera to have the following:
A high ISO, because of the bad light conditions I mainly use them for (like at parties or in a bar or something)
Motion Stabilizer. The camera I got hasnt got any so I'm not really sure how good the stabilizer has to be.
Compact. Need to take it to places. When I go to a party or with some friends on a day off.. I dont want to take some heavy SLR.
Dont really care about the zoom. The one I got now is 3X and its not like I sometimes think it should be bigger.

I dont necessarily need functions that I can replicate with Photoshop (cant really tell which one that should be)

I had a look at the Sony W300, which is a 14MP ISO 3200 compact camera. I dont really need that much MP though. The ISO looks pretty good and picture quality does too.
I dont mind buying an SLR if it aint possible to get a compact camera with the features I told you about.. but I still prefer it to be compact and easy to transport.. like in my pocket.
I willing to pay about 150-250 euro (200-400 dollars)

I hope you guys understand my situation and thanks for reading this story (which is probably longer than any other by someone who's looking for a new camera) .

Thanks in advance!

THANK GOD I always copy my messages before I post them... when I tried posting it said I had to log in again and caused the message to get lost :cryin:

[mn shutterbug]

I don't believe there is a camera made that will fit your requirements. Point and shoot cameras are generally not worth a diddly in low light conditions and none of them will give you the shallow DOF that you would like. However, you can't buy a DSLR with a lens in your price range, and even if you could, it would take one heck of a large pocket, to fit it in.

[Zwaf]

Yea was already afraid of hearing that.
Anyway... lets take the fact of it being small and compact as a variable.
If I definitly want it to be small and compact.. but dont need functions like DOF, what would you advice.
And vice versa, what if I dont care about how big it is?

Oh wait you said there isnt any SLR or DSLR in my price range.

EDIT: I didnt mention SLR in my post but whats the difference with an DSLR apart from being Digital (automatic). Is it cheaper and can it supply me with the things I want?

[Anbesol]

The Sony DSC-R1 and F828 are great options, too big for pocket but much smaller than DSLR. The R1 will do great even at 1600, and goes up to 3200 (though not very usable, could work for most web shots though).

SLR utilizes larger focal planes, translation -much better resolution on the lens, and much better sensor development, a fraction the noise of point and shoots. SLR also has virtually no shutter lag, while even the most advanced non-dslr still has some sort of shutter lag.

The R1 however, is the closest point and shoots have come to DSLR, it actually uses an almost full size aps-c sensor and an incredible Zeiss lens, so many of the benefits of SLR are seen with the R1. The R1 is slightly above your price range, but you can get it used on ebay (good condition) for really close to the top of your price range ~$450. It is really the only way you can get the narrow DOF that SLR has as well. Other ones that might be worth looking at are the Minolta A2 or A200, and the Sony DSC-F828, they will be right in your price range.

*edit - also, all of the cameras I mentioned have manual zoom and focus rings, those sound like something you would want based on what you said, I wouldn't want it any other way. Most (98%+) point and shoot/compact cameras have electronically controled zoom and focus.

[Zwaf]

I checked them out but they indeed are a bit too steep for my pocket.. and so are all DSLR's, that's why I'm going to sacrifice most cool functions you get with them at look at the cheaper point and shoots

I'm now looking at the Coolpix P5000 and the Canon Powershot G7. They lack most of the functions a (close)DSLR would have but I can live with that. I'm more of an enthousiastic casual shooter anyway.. and I'm a student so I should check my wallet.

What do you guys think of these cameras? I looked around the internet (dpreviews.com) and find out the Powershot outperformed the Coolpix (no far though). The Powershot is more expensive though and it lacks RAW.. but I dont really need that I guess.
The apertures vary and both have manual focus.
How do these variables relate to making pictures with shallow DOF? Can these cameras do a pretty well job at that? Does it mean these cameras can only produce the DOF-effect at distances between x and y etc... Cos too be honest, I have no idea how aperature actually relates to what area of a picture becomes sharp.
So how does the DOF of one of these cameras relate to that of a higher model (or DSLR) in terms of sharpness (if you understand what I mean). I'm pretty much at a noob at this stuff so . I just want to stay in control of what my camera is doing.

Or do you guys know of a good alternative? (I didnt check out that much cameras since there are a lot)

thanks!

EDIT: I just found out there's also a Powershot G9 which apparently does have RAW, I'll dig into it in a moment.

[Anbesol]

the A2, A200, and f828 wouldn't be too steep, check them on ebay.

[snoid]

Your best bet would be to find a decient used pentax *ist with a 40mm pancake lens.
As long as your pockets are roomy it would fit and give you many more options than any p&s. That combo has to be the smallest dslr ever made.

[Zwaf]

Yea I se.
But the fact is also that my family now wants to buy a new camera as well, and I think they dont like using a DSLR or anything else for that matter.
So according to what I said in my previous post, would that be a good camera partially for what I want to use it for, and partially what they want to use it for (simple, compact, point and shoot)