Hi All,

First of all, this site is fantastic. It has all the information I need to get some specs, reviews, etc for cameras. I am in the process of replacing my old Nikon Coolpix 775 with something newer. Through this site, I have narrowed it down to 3 cameras. Here is what I plan to use it for:

1. Familyparties (indoors and outdoors) [/*]
2. Family vacations.[/*]
3. Kids events (sports, recitals, etc

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Here are my requirements for the camera:

1. Takes good quality pictures. The current camera does not take great pictures.[/*]
2. Zoom with Image Stabilization[/*]
3. Decent flash. We take a lot of pictures indoors with less than ideal light. [/*]
4. I don't want to spend more than $600 US on the camera (not including memory card, batteries, etc)[/*]
5. Easy to use. I want to be able to give it to family to have them take pictures without them being overwhelmed.

[/*]
Here are the 3 models I have narrowed it down to:

1. Canon Powershot S2 IS[/*]
2. Sony DSC H1[/*]
3. Panasonic Lumix FZ5

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Does anyone have recommendations why I would choose one over the other? Any others I am missing that I should be looking at?

Thanks,
Tim

The H1 has a large 2.5" screen and (I believe) the brightest flash of the three. But, I've never ran into a situation that I felt a (slightly) brighter flash would help (I own an S2). Keep in mind, none of these camera's you listed have a hotshoe for an external flash attachment.

When I purchased my S2 a few months ago, these were among my choices as well. I was actually going to purchase the FZ5, but wanted the good video mode of the S2. If you're not interested in the video mode, maybe the FZ5 is for you.

The S2 seems to be the best all around camera IMO, hence why I bought it. Though it is the most expensive also.

I can't honestly say which one will be best for you, but I'm sure all of them would do you good! You will love the 12x zoom!!

As a final note (to answer your question about other camera's)...You can consider the FZ20, the P850, the S5200. All of those are about in the same price range.

I suggest you do a little searching in these forums for all these models. There is a lot ofdiscussion and advicegoing around.

I have FZ5 and happy with it. use mostly for outside stuff. For inside it is ok ok. Wish it had performance of something like fuzi f10.

Like other poster said, external flash on hot shoe performs much better than on camera flash. Something liek panasonic FZ20. The newer FZ30 is very nice though more noise IMHO and bit bigger.

What about the new Fuji S9000 everyone is talking about?

It has 9MP and ISO ability up to 1600 which helps in low light. It also has a 10.7x zoom, starting at a 28mm wide angle. It also has the good video mode, but does not have image stability. It relys on it's high ISO to compensate for that. If zoom wasn't important, I would say go with the F10.

All the cameras listed here are great choices, but IMO, it's hard to ignore Fuji's low-light performance.

new P850 pics for you at

http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/v...mp;forum_id=18

Cheers nugget