Need camera purchase advice!!!

Hello!

In my line of work I often have to take pictures of the insides of homes. My current camera, a Kodak DC4800 with a 0.6x wide angle lens works decently well but I need to purchase a new camera and I'm having a really hard time finding one. Most of the cameras out there seem to be either point-n-click cameras or zoom cameras. I need a camera that can take great wide angle pictures in lower (not dark) light situations without a whole lot of distortion or fuzz yet when I take the wide angle lense off will be able to take great outside shots as well. Also because of the angles that I shoot at using the eyepiece viewfinder isn't an option. I have to have a full time LCD screen on the back (or even better one that swivels around so that I can view it from multiple angles) I don't need a zoom/telephoto camera in the least.

The only camera that I have found that seems to fit the bill is the Sony DSC-R1. Am I missing something here? Is this a good camera?

I read your post and started looking around for a camera that suits your needs and found a pretty dang sweet camera. I'm a fan of Canon cameras, and I think I found my next compact series when it's time to retire my A510, because carrying around my AE1 for the wide lens kinda bites.
Check out the Canon S80
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/co...&modelid=12074

It's got a built in 28mm-100mm equivalent lens so you wont necessarily need a wide lens, but I believe you can attach a .5x lens too for that extra wide effect.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons80/

The ISO goes 50, 100, 200, 400, but who needs grainy 800-3200iso pictures anyway?

I'd say the best option would be a DSLR with a very wide angle zoom lens. Of course a DSLR won't have an LCD preview screen and you'll have to use the viewfinder but it will give you the most flexibility and best quality images, especially in low light. I have a Sigma 10-20 zoom lens which is very wide and works well. It's hard to have a lens that's too wide with interior residential photography.

Another good option for a non-DSLR camera would be the Nikon Coolpix 8400 which has an adjustable angle LCD and is already pretty wide at a 24mm equivalent. They also have a 0.8x wide angle attachment for it which works out to about a 19mm equivalent. I have the older version of this camera, the Coolpix 5000 and it's a very good choice; just not the greatest at low light levels.

With this or any other compact camera, turn on the noise reduction function with low light interior shots. It'll take longer to write the shot to the card but it will be worth it.