How goes the selection process '510?
It sure becomes obvious that there are many many routes to get you to your final destination - the picture.
How about looking at things from the reverse direction?
With digital photography developing so quickly, there is Sooo much diversity out there (which is good And bad for us consumers).
When I was choosing my new camera this fall, it seemed the question I was always coming back to wasn't about features, memory, lens, etc. It was what pictures WON"T I be able to take with a particular camera!
* Is it too big to take with me wherever I want to go? (Think of the shots you'd miss if that were the case)
* How closely does it focus in Normal (not macro) mode? (So many of the pictures I took with the Sony (P30) were from Very close range. The perspective and compositional possibilities would be entirely missing in a camera that only focused as closely as say - 2 or 3 feet. Focusing to 1 foot or less really opens up some possibilities)
* And how well does it shoot in Macro mode? (The Sony was absolutely outstanding in macro mode. The transition from regular mode to macro was completely seamless, and the picture quality was nothing short of astounding. My Minolta on the other hand is only good for still-lifes in macro mode. I REALLY miss the close up capability, and miss shots due to that)
* How well does it focus in low light? "Low light" in digital photography really means indoors in ambient light. (The Sony could focus in almost absolute dark (and sometimes did!) WITHOUT its focus assist lamp (I never had to use the lamp! believe it or not). There's nothing more frustrating than losing a shot due to the camera not being able to focus lock. So ask yourself, how many indoor shots will I be taking? Do I want to exclude "X" many shot possibilities?)
* Night Shooting. (These can be awfully fun (with fill-flash or without). Will the camera take nice clean night shots without the darks turning to mush? (something few cameras could claim as recently as last year). There are Several factors that go into this: CCD performance, lens speed, slow enough shutter speeds, anti-noise algorithms, lens flaring, etc, etc. Read the reviews, take a look at people's sample pics)
* Specialized scene photography: Action pics, scenics, stitched panoramics, etc. (Does the camera offer some control over apertures and shutter speeds? (either manually or automatically via "scene modes?") One of the big reasons I switched from a point/shoot was to get the Aperture priority, Shutter priority, and Manual modes. I shoot almost exclusively in the Aperture priority mode. Often the settings that the Sony came up with were not the ones I would have selected. This feature really affects how "special" your photos may turn out. Are all of your photos going to look like "snapshots?")
* How well does the flash work? (Not just its range. How well does it fill-flash? How well does it expose (at very close and very long (over 10 feet) conditions? Is the white balance correct in flash pictures (the Sony P30 was bad at white balance (this has much improved in the newer models). Ask yourself, how many (and types of) flash pictures will I be taking? Some of my best pictures were indoors with flash - very close up (within 3 feet). The subject tends to stand out, and the background goes very dark)
* How long does it take to start up? (How many fleeting moments will you miss?)
* Similarly, what is the shot to shot delay? With flash or without?
* How long can your movies go? How good is the sound? (Will all of your movies be just a bunch of clicks and muffled mutterings?)
* How good will the print quality be? (Will ALL of the pictures you take from this moment on be limited to 8 X 10 max? Will you NEVER want one of them blown up bigger?)
* How quickly and easily can you move through the menu system? (This week I just lost a shot of an astounding sunset while I was driving home from work. I couldn't get the settings set quickly enough (and my window rolled down, and avoid a head-on.. it was extremely frustrating) In retrospect, if I had just turned it to "full auto" mode, I would have had it (I was getting too fancy for my own good). Alas, the parting clouds closed again, and the moment was gone forever
Well, there are more factors that can determine just what photo opportunities you will have to live without (given whichever camera you choose at this time and date). I hope looking at things from this perspective helps you in your selection process some. It did me.
Good luck,
R2