There are a few basic things we look for in a camera. Image quality is probably the most important thing for the most people. Cameras tend to vary in quality for outdoor, indoor and action shots. Outdoor daytime shots are the easiest, and it gets harder as the subject moves faster or the light gets dimmer. Image quality includes things like the effective number of captured pixels, the maximum zoom and focal range, and highest usable ISO settings.
Another general comparison is the size, shape and weight of the camera. Most cameras of a given class are similar, so this is more picking the class of camera. Still, a smaller camera will usually beat a larger when all else is about equal. And all else is often fairly close.
A big issue is the speed of the camera. Speed comes into play at every stage of camera use. How long between turning it on and taking the first shot, assuming the settings were good. How long between shots. How long between hitting the button, focusing, and actually capturing the shot. Some cameras are fast in a few areas, other are generally fast or slow. A fast camera is much more satisfying, as long as the shots come out.
And finally I will lump in everything else. Features like image stabilization, manual focus, burst mode, aperture and shutter priority. Things that matter to some people and not others, that are sprinkled almost at random through all the camera models. For me, manual focus would be nice. All the cameras I looked at could capture movies, but being limited only by available space is important. Time lapse recording is showing up in a few models and sounds fun.
The best place I found to look at the specifications of cameras such as the lens, screen and body size and weight was dpreview side by side comparison. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sidebyside.asp allows you to see up to 10 cameras and has most models. But there are some missing details, so for specific features be sure and check the manufacturers site. The reviews are very in depth, but it takes a while for some cameras to be reviewed. No complaints for a free site, but you will have to look elsewhere for in depth reviews of recently released cameras.
So I looked at reviews, both from reviewers and owners, at various sites. I also summarized all the details from dpreview for what I was interested in, but I will leave that to you. The cameras I looked at are roughly pocket size or a little larger, released in the past 12 months, priced between 200 and 400 USD.
| Camera | cost | cnet | dpreview | newegg | amazon | costco | dc-hq | photoxels |
| Canon PowerShot SD750 | 260 | 7.8 (8.0) | 9.5 | 10.0 (260) | 9.0 (260) | (290) | 9.5 | + |
| Canon PowerShot SD800 IS | 300 | 7.8 (7.9) | 8.5 | 10.0 (320) | 9.0 (305) | (350) | 9.0* | |
| Canon PowerShot SD850 IS | 400 | 8.0 | 8.0 | (400) | 8.0 | + | ||
| Canon PowerShot A640 | 280 | 7.6 (8.1) | 8.5* | 10.0 (280) | 9.0 (260) | (290) | 9.0* | |
| Casio Exilim V7 | 300 | 6.6 (5.4) | 8.0 | (330) | 7.0 (295) | (380) | 7.0 | |
| Casio Exilim Z75 | 170 | 6.6 | 8.5 | (180) | 9.0 (170) | (205) | 9.0 | |
| Casio Exilim Z1050 | 250 | 6.6 | 9.0 | 8.0 (250) | 9.0 (220) | (270) | 8.0* | |
| Fujifilm FinePix F40fd | 230 | 7.2 | 8.0 | 8.0 (240) | 9.0 (235) | 8.0 | + | |
| Nikon CoolPix S50 | 250 | 7.2 | 9.0 (250) | 9.0 | + | |||
| Nikon CoolPix P5000 | 340 | 6.9 (8.5) | 8.5 | 9.0 (340) | 8.5 | + | ||
| Panasonic Lumix TZ3 | 290 | 7.0 | 8.0* | 10.0 (290) | 9.0 (315) | (320) | 9.5 | + |
| Sony CyberShot DSC-N2 | 300 | 7.0 (8.2) | 7.5* | 10.0 (320) | 9.0 (320) | |||
| Sony CyberShot DSC-T100 | 370 | 8.2* (8.0) | 8.5 | 8.0 (380) | 8.0 (360) | + | ||
| Sony CyberShot DSC-W200 | 370 | 6.4 (8.8) | 9.0 | (360) | 7.0 (370) | 7.5 | + | |
cost is a rough estimate of street price
cnet has reviews and consumer ratings
dpreview has consumer ratings
newegg has consumer ratings and price
amazon has consumer ratings and price
costco has price but is fairly picky
digitalcamera-hq has ratings
photoxels has a pass fail on best cameras
* is an editor pick
Each camera vendor has a bunch of letters and numbers that have some semblance of meaning. Here is a quick summary of the order of model letter names from novice to advanced. The numbers within a letter are usually not as clear. To decipher the numbers, look at all the cameras released at the same time by a specific manufacturer, and compare the prices of those.
| Canon | SD TX A S G D |
| Fujifilm | A Z F E S |
| Kodak | C O V Z P |
| Nikon | L S P D |
| Olympus | FE AW SP E |
| Panasonic | L FX TZ LX FZ |
| Sony | S T W H R A |
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