Please help: Compact around £150 but have specific requirements!

[folkykate]

Please can anyone help me? I'm from England so don't know if the models below are a similar price in America. I’m on a budget and looking for a digital camera that costs up to £150 but I have some specific requirements and am finding it hard to find a camera that has them all. Is there anything out there exactly like I want, or at least a good compromise?
My requirements are:
First, I’ll probably end up mainly using the camera as a point and shoot on nights out and at festivals so need it to work well in low light (I’ve done some basic reading and 2 of the cameras I nearly went for (Pentax Optio P80/L70 (what’s the difference?!)) apparently had a lot of noise at low ISOs which I think means night time shots won’t look great).
Second, I’d like it to have a movie mode that has a decent microphone and most importantly can zoom during filming – I thought I’d found a brilliant camera (Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR) then at the bottom of the review it said it didn’t zoom.
Third, I like taking photos of landscapes and nature, specifically macro shots, so would like a macro function of 5cm or less.

Finally if possible I’d prefer it to have optical image stabilisation and a decent quality LCD screen (I was bought a Canon Powershot A1100 IS and the screen resolution was really poor), to be small and light enough to take out for an evening easily, and ideally a minimum 10 MP and 4x optical zoom.

All in all, image quality (especially in low light) is most important as that’s the main thing I’ll use it for, but being able to zoom during movie mode really is a big plus for me. I really will be using it more as a point and shoot than manually changing modes so its auto mode needs to do a good job.

I know this is incredibly demanding, but hoped that someone who knew more about cameras than me might have a suggestion. To be fair, up until recently I’ve been using the Olympus FE-210 so am hoping anything will be an improvement. I thought the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP8 was the best I'd found but would worry about scratching the lens/getting dust in it.

These are some cameras I’ve considered and their supposed problems mentioned in reviews:
Panasonic Lumix TZ5 – terrible sound quality in movie mode and noisy pictures from ISO 100.
Panasonic Lumix FS7 – can’t zoom in move mode.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP8 – lens not covered so easily scratched, image quality questionable (and often soft) – prints larger than 8x10 apparently aren’t great. Also, ‘over-cautious ISO selection’ that can’t be over-ridden in auto mode.
Pentax Optio P80 – pretty poor image quality, also thought I'd read you only had digital zoom in movie mode but now can't find any info on whether it's digital or optical anywhere!
Samsung ST50 - 3x (and not wide angle) zoom, digital not optical image stabilisation, ‘average’ picture quality.
Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR – can’t zoom in movie mode.
Samsung WB500 – chunky and heavy, not great in low light, can hear zoom motor when used in movie mode, very mixed reviews.

If you've read this far, or feel you can help, then thank you!!!

[SmartWombat]

I don't think you'll get all of that for only £150
I spent £400 on a Canon G9 and didn't get all that!
I think a small dSLR or micro 4/3 would do everything, but at too high a price.

Your biggest problem is the performance in low light, because a compact pocket camera will have a small sensor.
The Olympus E-P1 and E-P2 and Panasonic GF-1 get around that with a bigger sensor, and they have interchangeable lenses, but those features come at about 4 or 5 times your budget

All the Panasonic cameras I've owned have had issues with skintone highlights.

I suggest Fuji, because I thought zooming while filming wasn't important.
I don't think it is a killer feature, and when filming with my GH-1 and E-P1 I don't do it - even though they can because the lenses have manual zoom controls.

Screen resolution isn't an important feature to me either, as it's only a very rough guide to the image. More important would be an optical viewfinder like used on the Canons.

[readingr]

Can I suggest you get a video camera which has the ability to capture frames. You may get more of what you need from that range.

I have no suggestions as I don't use those camera's, but Canon, Sony, Panasonic seem a good bet.

Roger R.

[Anbesol]

lol the only thing that comes to mind is an old school Minolta A2 or A200. Not particularly great with high ISO, and they only go up to 800, but they have a great movie mode, even an 800x600 movie mode, and the manual zoom ring allows zooming while making a movie. The problem with zooming during filming with an electronically controlled zoom lens is that the lens makes noise right next to the microphone on the camera, so if you did zoom while filming you'd hear that noise too.

Anyway I can't really think of a model that meets all your criteria and at your budget, I think you may even have to tone down your requirements.

[SmartWombat]

I've still got the Konica A2, it's poor in low light. Worse than the Minolta A1.
The A2 was bumped up to 8mp from the A1 5mp, when they added more pixels the sensor really was not up to the job. The pixels were much smaller on the A2 and it failed in almost every respect. Otherwise it's the same body, same lens and higher resolution EVF.
But it has faster minimum ISO, more noise in low light, bad AF performance with over-brightness (software issue), and I prefer 5million better pixels than 8 million worse ones!
Overall I was much happier with the Minolta A1 than the Konica A2.

Neither A1 nor A2 is what I'd call compact, I didn't have any pockets big enough for them.

My Konica A2 never had 800x600 mode only:
• 544 x 408, 15 / 30 fps, max 15 mins
• 320 x 240, 15 / 30 fps, max 15 mins
• 640 x 480, time-lapse movie
• Normal / Night Movie / Time lapse Movie

That looks good on paper compared to the Minolta A1:
• 320 x 240, 24 fps, max 15 mins

But the noise and poor handling of highlights really put the A2 down.

I still use the A1 and A2 as "sacrificial" cameras, on Culmann sucker mounts with ball heads for movie shots while racing my smart car