Trying to Choose a Camera...

[Serpentine]

I want to buy myself a good-quality, easy-to-use digital camera for going overseas and, like, taking pictures with and stuff. But I don't really know much about photography, so I could use some help with picking one.
My requirements were this:
Under $300 (well... $350ish, as it turned out).
High megapixels - at least 10.
High zoom - at least x10.

Bonuses include:
Fancy effects.
Weather/shockproofing.
Video.
Ionno, other stuff.


Here's what I've found in my local stores (prices are those in local shops. I'm not opposed to getting them from other places - and I don't have my heart set on one of these if there's something better elsewhere):
- Olympus VR310 (http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod7396.htm). 14mp, 10x optical zoom, 24mm wide-angle lens, 3" LCD screen, Li-Ion battery, HD video, several fancy effects things, 128mb internal memory. Comes in purple! :O $198
- Sony Cybershot H70 (http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod7359.htm). 16.1mp, 10x optical zoom, 3" LCD screen, 25mm wide-angle lense, HD video, a crap-load of fancy effects things (it detects smiles. Smiles.). $278
- Nikon S 8100 (http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/CPS8100/CPS8100A.HTM). 12.1mp, 10x optical zoom, 3" LCD screen, 102mb internal memory, Li-Ion battery, HD video. $329
- Fujifilm T 200 (http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod7397.htm). 14mp, 10x zoom, 2.7" LCD screen, HD video, HD video, 28mm wide-angle lense, Li-Ion battery. $199
- Canon PS SX230HSBK (http://www.canon.com.au/For-You/Digital-Cameras/SX230HS). 12mp, 14x optical zoom, HD video, 28mm wide-angle lense, GPS for some reason, bunch of fancy effects stuff, 3" LCD screen. $350 (on sale)

So. Someone make my decision for me. Pretty please?

I'ma overanalyse things, now:

{table=head]Feature|Olympus VR310|Sony Cybershot H70|Nikon S 8100|Fujifilm T 200|Canon PS SX230HSBK
Megapixels|14|16|12|14|12
Zoom|10|10|10|10|14
Lense type/size|wide-angle 24mm|wide-angle 25mm|30mm?|wide-angle 28mm|wide-angle 28mm
Internal Memory|128mb|?|102mb|?|?
Price|$198|$278|$329|$199|$350
USB Charging|Yes|?|Yes
[/table]

edit: Holy crap. Did you guys know these tables can be put in order? :O

[Phishfood]

I used a fuji finepix for many years and got some good photos, the cards are propriety but relatively easy to obtain.

Second choice would probably be the canon.

I think I'd go with that one in terms of best value.

I tend to make a point of choosing cameras that take AA batteries or similar though, I got sick of trying to replace the built in ones and its nice to be able to have several sets of batteries you can swap rather than having to recharge.

[Serpentine]

I was tossing up between the skinny recharged battery and the chunky AA battery cameras. I was going to go with the latter because I'm going to the UK and other places, and I'd have to get a power adapter for the charger for the skinny ones. My sister pointed out, though, that to get your value for money with the AA batteries I'd have to get rechargable batteries, which would mean getting a power adapter or buying a new battery recharger thingy in every country I go to, and also they're fat and heavy.
Thus: I'm going with the skinny cameras.

[Phishfood]

A pack of 8 single use AA batteries is not a lot. Probably cheaper than buying transformers for the 240V we have over here.

[Serpentine]

In my experience cameras eat up battery power like nothing else, and batteries are not cheap.

[Phishfood]

It depends on the camera.

My dad had a crappy HP thing that would take about 15 photos then declare the batteries flat, but if you put those same batteries in another device like say my mini-disc player they would go for 24 hours of use.

My Pentax ISTdl2 takes 4 AAs and can take ~300 shots, then the batteries go and the card is full. Dependant on excessive reviewing of photos on the camera of course.

Interesting stat I just checked, they all seem to have the same size CCD. I would have expected more variation, so still going with fuji first and canon second of the ones you picked.

[Serpentine]

I should point out that the price isn't really something I'm concerned about - I'm prepared to pay up to about $350, and within that I want the best camera I can get. If it's much cheaper than that, sweet. If not, oh well.
Does that change your recommendation of Fuji at all?

(thanks, btw)

[Phishfood]

Yeah quite possibly.

Its just a case of I know fujifilm and have used them before, never really used canon.

The boss has a canon that seems to work well enough.

All this talk of cameras is making me want to dig mine up and go take some photos, its been a while since I took any, even longer since I took some for pleasure not work.

[Erloas]

I have an older version of the Canon Powershot that I like and has served me well.

Megapixels effects how big the image is saved as but doesn't really relate to image quality or sharpness. It used to make a bigger difference and used to be a big selling point but any more its just a marketing number and not much else. The optical quality, which unfortunately doesn't have any good way of finding out, is much more important in how good of pictures a camera takes. Thats the sort of thing you have to find out from professional reviews.

When I was looking one of my main requirements was normal AA or AAA batteries because no matter where you are replacements can be found. I use rechargeables in my camera most of the time but I've always got a set of new batteries around just in case. The spare batteries for the Sony and FujiFilm are $80 and $66 respectively and you want a spare battery and you can buy a lot of regular batteries for that price. Not sure about Australia, but here I could get probably 2 dozen rechargeable AA batteries for that price.

I also made sure they all used SD cards, because they are more universal and cheaper then other types. Usually thats only an issue with Sony, since they have their own memory card format, but I see even they have went to SD cards as well, so that might be a moot point anymore.

[Archonic Energy]

as we discussed on FB.

canon sx230 (http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/7/0300004757/01/PSSX230HS_SX220HS_CUG_EN.pdf) USB charge: no unless additional ad on purchaced
fujifilm T200 (http://www.fujifilm.co.uk/media/dContent/157504/productFilesManualsFile.pdf) USB charge: Unsure, it uses the usb port to charge but doesn't say if you can charge if from the USB port... assume No until verified
Nikon s8100 (http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/noprint/S8100_ENnoprint.pdf) USB charging: Yes

and yes, those are links to the product manuals...

also are those 10x zoom optical or digital?

[Warlawk]

The following advice is purely anecdotal and not based on extensive research of the current market.

Olympus or Nikon.

I worked in a Kits Camera as lab manager and lead tech for several years. From our regular customers who did lots of prints, we got the best pictures and most consistent quality from customers who stuck to those two brands.

Additionally, from the front side of the store in sales we had the least returns, problems etc with Nikon (Our store didn't carry olympus).

Like I said, purely anecdotal, but that was what I saw when I was working with cameras. I had an olympus 3.X MP point and shoot for a long time and it served me VERY well. They tend to have excellent value for mid price cameras. You get more for your buck as far as lens quality in the point and shoot cameras.

Currently I've got a Nikon D3000 and love it. Great camera over all and I've always seen good results from Nikon cameras in the past and have seen nothing but the same from my own.

As noted above, it is VERY important to distinguish between digital and optical zoom. A traditional optical zoom lens is exactly what you would expect. Digital zoom is basically just cropping your picture. You zoom in on the part you want, and everything outside of that is cut off, so basically you are cropping off part of the resolution you paid for to get the zoom.

[Serpentine]

also are those 10x zoom optical or digital?Definitely optical. I checked - my sister warned me about that early on.

Think I'm leaning towards the Nikon at this point. The USB charging is a big bonus, and it seems to have the reputation behind it (it was also the one the shopkeep was pushing, even at the expense of more expensive ones). It's on sale for a week and a half, too, and as an added bonus if I buy it I go into a draw for $500 :smalltongue:

Anyone think I'm about to make a bad choice?

edit: Okay, scratch that (ish). After discussion with my housemate, I'm considering this Fujifilm FinePix F550EXR (http://www.cnet.com.au/fujifilm-finepix-f550exr-339316976.htm), especially if I can track one down within my price-range.
Thoughts?

[Archonic Energy]

no USB charge, but otherwise a good camera.

manual linkie (http://www.fujifilmusa.com/shared/bin/finepix_f500exrseries_manual_01.pdf)

[Serpentine]

Goddammit.
Oh well, I think it's still the best...