I’ve been looking at point-and-shoot digital cameras lately. I recently bought my younger brother a new camera (for what it’s worth, Canon’s SD1200 is a great camera.) It’s now time to upgrade my mom’s camera. I had the same model for several years, and loved it, so we’ve limited the scope a bit:

• Excellent zoom, on the order of 10x zoom.
• The price has to be under $500.
• The camera cannot be total junk, which is where my gut’s “Naw, not going to bother looking” bias was allowed to creep in. I’ve seen some cameras that took awful pictures for their short life, and then they just gave up the ghost. This maybe isn’t fair to Kodak and some brands you don’t normally associate with cameras, but, well, I’m not going to take the risk.
• I made image stabilization a requirement. It seems common on most new cameras.
• An LCD big enough to actually see things.
• High ISO support, so that the camera won’t yield blurry shots when you’re in the shade.

There are some things I don’t care about:

• Megapixels. I’ve ranted about this for a long time, but the short version is that 6 megapixels is plenty, unless you plan on doing some serious cropping. Every camera in this list is higher-resolution that is needed. I don’t list the camera’s resolution below.
• Digital zoom. This is a scam. “Digital zoom” means it just starts cropping your image, which means you get a smaller, lower-quality image. You can do this in Photoshop much better, and without any constraints. (1000x digital zoom — crop down to just a few pixels in the center!) Many cameras support digital zoom; it’s not something I reject, just something I wholly ignore.
• Zoom measured in x’s. You more or less have to go by this metric to find anything, but it doesn’t convey a lot of useful information. A camera could have 18-180mm zoom, which means that it would go from a very wide-angle lens to a moderate telephoto, and have 10x zoom. It could also go from 45-450mm zoom, which means that it has no wide-angle range, but quite a strong zoom, and also be 10x. The “X-factor” doesn’t interest me as much as the actual range.

Here are the cameras I looked into, and short observations on each. Note that I used B&H as a store to window-shop, which is where all the links go. I’m not endorsing them as the best choice, though. (Some cameras ask you to add them to your cart to see the price, meaning that the price is lower than the manufacturer allows them to advertise, or that they’re pulling some sort of gimmick. I did not add anything to my cart, so some prices may be slightly lower.)

Canon PowerShot SX10 IS – $400
This is the bigger camera form, with a fixed (i.e., always-bulging-out) lens. This is probably because it has tremendous zoom, going from 28-560mm equivalent, and extends to ISO1600. It looks like the macro feature will operate down to 0.39″. It has standard 640×480 video capabilities, and a 2.5″ LCD. Takes normal AA batteries.

Canon PowerShot SX110 IS – $250
This is a smaller camera, but not as pocketable as some of the really small ones. It comes with a huge 3″ LCD, 36-360mm equivalent zoom, and can focus down to 0.4″ in macro mode. ISO sensitivity extends to ISO1600, and video recording is at the standard 640×480 resolution. This camera takes normal AA batteries.

Canon PowerShot SX200 IS – $350
I’m not going to lie: I’m biased. Something about this camera seems totally awesome. It’s a nice, small form factor, but sports a big 28-336mm equivalent zoom, giving both decent wide-angle coverage and good telephoto coverage. Macro mode will focus down to 0.8″, although “Super Macro” mode will focus down to 0.0″, whatever that entails. ISO1600 sensitivity. And HD video at 720p (1280×720). And a big 3″ LCD. This comes with a Li-Ion battery.

Fuji FinePix S1500 – $200
This is quite like the camera we have now, except way better. It’s got a fairly large body, so you won’t be able to slip this into your pocket, but it’s got some great features. For one, monster zoom, from 33-396mm equivalent, and a 2.7″ LCD. Macro mode will focus down to 5cm, and Super Macro to 2cm. ISO sensitivity extends to an extreme ISO6400, far better than most of the competition. (But, bizarrely, ISO3200 and ISO6400 only work when the camera is dropped down to a 3-megapixel resolution.) In shooting bursts of shots, it can do so at up to 13.5 frames per second, though the product description fails to mention that it does this by lowering the resolution substantially. Video is recorded at a standard 640×480, and this camera takes AA batteries.

Fuji FinePix F70EXR – $280
This is a small, pocketable camera. The lens extends from 27-270mm, and macro mode can focus as close as 2″ at the wide end and 3′ at the tight end. Wholly unmentioned anywhere but the specs is that ISO goes way beyond ISO1600, all the way to ISO12800, which almost no other camera is able to do. It is quite noisy (grainy) at the setting, but it’s kind of like sixth gear: you rarely need it. (Quoting the only article talking about this that I can find, which happens to be translated from Japanese: “Portrayal of ISO12800 is high, I have to say ’emergency’ as difficult.”) Standard 640×480 video. The camera comes with a Li-Ion battery.

Kodak EasyShare Z980 – $350
Make no mistake, this is a big, ugly camera that looks more like early digital SLRs than anything else. Part of the size probably has to do with the zoom, which ranges from 26-624mm, an absurdly huge range. Macro mode will focus down to 0.3′, and Super Macro at 0.4″. ISO sensitivity goes up to ISO6400, which is quite good. The camera records HD video at 720p (1280×720), and takes AA batteries.

Nikon Coolpix L100 – $250
Just as I’m biased towards Canon, I’m biased against Nikon, since the two are always in head-to-head competition. It’s a trivial and pointless bias, though, like that between the Red Sox and Yankees. And if I could get myself to root for the Yankees, I’d be impressed with the Nikon’s specs, especially given the price. It’s a big camera, though not as absurd as the Kodak. 28-420mm zoom, and macro mode will focus down to 0.4″. ISO sensitivity extends to ISO3200. Standard 640×480 video. The camera takes standard AA batteries, with a bizarre note that using rechargeable batteries is not recommended.

Olympus SP-590UZ – $330
First impressions: the camera looks to have had one side lopped off. It’s in the “mini-SLR” size bracket, but it just looks extremely lopsided. If I were able to get beyond the unconventional looks, I might note that it, like the Kodak, has incredible zoom, from 26-676mm, high ISO capabilities to ISO6400, and macro capabilities down to 0.39″. Video is still at the standard 640×480, and the camera takes AA batteries. Of note, this camera uses xD cards, while most everyone else has standardized on SD. The only real downside is that xD cards are harder to get, but hardly obscure.

Olympus Stylus-9000 – $250
A compact, pocketable camera. 28-280mm zoom, but otherwise, unremarkable expect for its use of xD cards instead of SD. ISO1600, 640×480 video. Li-Ion battery.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 – $250
I’d prefer this over the Olympus above any day. A slim, pocketable camera. 28-280mm zoom, and focus down to 2″. Like many of its higher-end digital SLR cousins, the TZ5 has a “standard” ISO that caps at ISO1600, but “High ISO” mode can be enabled, which adds ISO3200 and ISO6400. (The reasoning is, presumably, that those higher ISO modes are very grainy, and people might be mad if they advertised them as features, but would be happy upon trying them.) This isn’t noted on any other camera, but Panasonic specifies shutter lag (the time between when you push the button and when it actually takes the picture — frustratingly measured in seconds on some cameras) as 0.006 seconds, something in the “Effectively nil” range that digital SLRs have. As if I wasn’t sold yet, HD video recording is available (1280×720). This camera takes standard SD (and SDHC: “High Capacity” SD), but can also use MMC cards if you like swimming against the tide. A Li-Ion battery is included.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ50 – $300
This one looks a lot like the DMC-TZ5 I raved about just above. Indeed, most of the specs look the same. The difference? This one adds Wi-Fi.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 – $300
I’m starting to like Panasonic. This is another slim, pocketable camera, this time boasting 25-300mm zoom: both wider and longer than the aforementioned Lumix cameras. There’s no mention of the shutter lag time, so I presume it’s not as good as the DMC-TZ5. Video is recorded at an odd 848×480 resolution (640×480 is also available). ISO sensitivity extends to 6400. A Li-Ion battery is included.

Sony DSC-H20 – $280
This is ugly. It looks almost pocketable, except not quite, largely due to a big bump on the top. The specs aren’t bad, though. Zoom is from 38-380mm: plenty long, but not as wide as others, so you’re prone to have to back up to get everything into the picture. ISO3200 support, and 1280×720 recording in a few different modes. Of note, this uses Sony’s wacky card formats: you’ll need to buy a Memory Stick Duo or Memory Stick PRO Duo card instead of the standard SD. An “InfoLITHIUM” battery is included.

When it’s all said and done, there are a lot of cameras here. Here are the ones I’d single out:

• Canon’s SX200, a pocket-sized camera with good zoom, HD video, and more.
• The Lumix DMC-TZ5, which boasts excellent specs, not to mention the near-zero shutter lag. But the reviews suggest that it’s actually very slow.
• Both of the Fujis, with the caveat that looking at reviews seems to suggest that both have subtle nuances not covered in the spec sheets, like the high ISO features and burst modes requiring a lower resolution.