Best ultra-compact digital camera suggestions based on my needs (please read all!)?

Question

i already have a $400+ digital camera, with dual lenses, 10x zoom, and it takes amazing outdoor, bright sunlight pictures...AMAZING...however, it is pretty big, and although it WILL fit in my pocket, it doesn't very comfortably. and i find myself NOT doing that because i fear injuring my pretty pricey piece of equipment. it also takes less than impressive low-light/indoor shots. i've fiddled around with the settings but i find that in most situations, i want to be able to turn the camera on at a moment's notice and snap the shot.

i'm looking for a camera that's small. i want to be able to throw it in my bag or my pocket when i go into the city with friends and not worry about it fitting in my clutch along with my, pretty big also, voyager. but i don't want it to be flimsy feeling. i don't want to feel like it's going to snap in my pocket when i sit down. i want decent optical zoom. like i said, my kodak can take care of fancy zoom situations. i want this one just for fun, "snappys". next to small size, MOST OF ALL i want it to take GREAT AWESOME SUPERB indoor pictures. i want them clear, beautiful. with my kodak, all i ever get are washed out ones with the flash or way too dark ones without. also, shutter delay is an issue. the less the better. i have 2 rambunctious nieces and my boyfriend drag races and i will not be happy with a camera that causes me to miss action shots due to shutter delay. i'm pretty good with timing and my kodak works great regarding this.

i was looking into cannons but none really caught my attention (aesthtics wise). i am really interested in their "color accent" feature and i believe i would use it a lot. i did however like the size and the color of the hot pink sony. guess it has that smile shutter thingy but a lot of the time, my shots don't call for that. i wish i could combine the two. the more mega pixels the better, but more than 5 is not really necessary for my comfort. at least 3x optical zoom, but i'm not sure they come less than that. BIG SCREENS ARE GREAT! i never use the eye hole.

i just want a sturdy, small, reliable, clear picture taking camera...oh yea...and cheap!

i'm looking to spend UNDER (well under) $300....but $300 is my max.

with what i've been seeing, i'm pretty sure i can do that. i just would LOVE personal experiences, advice, comments, suggestions, HELP HELP HELP, from people who know!

thanks so much!

Answer 1

The problem is no small camera can take really good pictures in low light. There small image sensors aren't up to the task. If you are willing to use the flash the Canon Elph series is well reviewed.

Answer 2

Take a look at the Sony DSC-T70 (Pink/Silver/Black) $279.99:

-8.1 megapixel

-3.0" touchscreen

-3X Optical Zoom, up to 15X Smart Zoom®

-Face Detection

-Smile Shutter Mode

-SteadyShot® Image Stabilization

More info and pic.: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?...

Answer 3

I'll second the fact that small cameras don't take good indoor pictures. As was said, their sensors are just too small to do a good job without much light.

If you still want a small camera I'd suggest looking at the Canon Powershot SD line. Sure, they don't look the best but what does that have to do with anything? I have the SD1000 and it's smaller than my wallet. The one problem is that I can't seem to find a small case to use with the small camera. To remedy this I made a case out of duct tape that protects it from scratches in my pocket.

I'd avoid the camera the first poster suggested. First of all it's a Sony and Sony forces you to use their crappy Memory Stick instead of the more versatile SD cards. Also, that camera has a touch screen. Touch screens are the devil because you get finger prints all over the same screen you're trying to compose your image with. How can you tell if it's a good picture if you can't see it?