Thank you for any suggestions towards our purchase!

Which camera should I buy?

Budget

$200-300 USD

Size

Small enough to easily carry to events (like in a bag or purse). My husband has large hands and finds a tiny camera hard to use.

Features

8 or more??

* What optical zoom will you need?

The ultra-zoom (at least 10x) has interested us.

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)

9-is this possible without going DSLR? We do not want to go with a DSLR. #1 we don't know enough to use them, then there is also the size and expense that make it impractical for us.

Do you care for manual controls?

Not necessarily, I play with controls a little. My husband prefers to use the camera totally on automatic.

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?

Pictures of children and pets in/outdoors, travel, hiking, close ups of items for ebay.

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?

8x10 occasionally (child). Often 5x7 (child, nature, animals).

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?

Half, or less, of the time

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?

Action- children and pets

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?

We have a Sony DSC-P10 (5MP 3x zoom). We've never really liked it. Active shots are usually blurry, flash causes a lot of red tint and red eye. Indoor shots can get blurry and yellow in lamp light. Sometimes we do pull out a winner. Several of the shots are good enough to mark the event, but not nice for framing or enlarging. It does have a lot of manual controls which I have played with some to improve shots. We'd like to try a different brand this time around.

Are there particular models you already have in mind?

We've been looking at Panasonic TZ5 and Canon sx110. Leaning towards the panasonic of these two because the battery situation sounds better (comes with its own rechargeable).

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)

Image Stabilization sounds like it will help produce a better picture of kids/pets.


THANK YOU!!!
  
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where the red fern grows
Heel Pad