I am looking for a better camera to carry around on vacation.

My current "back-pack" camera is a 3.1 mp Kodak that takes good pix, but eats batteries at a terrific pace. That is my real reason for looking for another camera. (Suggestions on how to fix that are welcome too)

I have some criteria listed below. I don't want to spend a ton of money on something that may get dropped, used by kids, and get stuffed in a bag with little care. I take around 50-100 pictures per day. Some days more, some days less, depending on what we are doing.

It would be better if it were closer to $100 than $200, but I want to get a decent, reliable camera.

My criteria include:
- Less than $200
- Flat format. (ie. No boxey machines that take up too much space. I know that zoom may add some depth and that is ok. I will have to fit into the backpack or fannypack that we use to tote all of the stuff through attractions and theme parks.)
- Good battery life
- Low shutter resonse delay. (I want to take the picture I see, not the one 2-3 seconds in the future)
- Optical zoom of at least 3X and preferably 5X+
- Lens cover, but no separate lens cap to hang in the picture
- Not be pink, or Red
- Uses SD cards. (I have a bunch of them and don't want to have another format to buy or fiddle with)
- Minimum of 7 megapixels of resolution
- Splashproof. Waterproof is better, but I wouldn't trade other features for it.

That is about it. All opinions and suggestions are welcome.

I just bought my wife the Canon SD1000 or something like that. Nice camera, suits us.

I've had a couple different Olympus cameras and have been more than satisfied with them. Two of them were the "C" series, which is more geared toward the professional amateur I'm told. If I get a couple minutes later, I'll post some pics I've taken with my C-60.

That is a whole lot of requirements!!! The only weatherized cameras I know of are by Pentax, Olympus, and Vivitar. And the Olympus all use the unpopular xD memory card.

As it happens I was just in the market for a camera in that price range myself. First tried a Sony S750. Very nice design, but I could not get its USB connection to work with my Win2000 computer. So returned that one, now trying a Fuji F45fd. The Fuji is a very respectable camera, but not particularly weatherized. Other nice cameras I considered were the Olympus Stylus 820 and Panasonic FX12 (both leftover stock, no longer current).

I really don't think a fannypack requires a slim ultracompact. The regular compacts will fit those quite easily. This opens the door to the Canon A-series (top choice), Kodak M-series, Nikon P-series, and various Panasonic models.

Have a play with all of these in the store. They do differ in how easy their menus, etc, are to use.

Kelly

I know my requirements list may be a little demanding for a <$200 camera, but I can wish can't I?

I don't think I require an slim ultracompact, either. I didn't mean to push it that far in the fanny-packability direction. Normal compact is fine and I expect that is what I will end up with based on features.

The real bottom-line criteria are 1) better battery life, 2) 7+ MP, and 3) Zoom minimum 3X+. If my current Kodak camera had better battery life, I wouldn't look for another, even at 3.1 MP.

That should help narrow it down to about 23 possibilities

First off, I assume you are currently using rechargeables, right?

Any run of the mill rechargeable will last times longer than any alkalines....

Said another way:

a) They are not only rechargeable/reusable, they store more energy....

I started off with the wish list. I was narrowing it down so that the priorities were obvious.

That is not exactly the whole story. Rechargeable NiMH AA batteries have POOR self life. So you can give a set of these a full charge, put the camera away, grab the camera a couple of months later for a quick photo, and find little charge left in the batteries. The dedicated ion rechargeables do MUCH better in this scenario.

My Canons had AAs. I gave the rechargeable NiMH AAs a try. And gave up on them. Much less hassle to just simply slam in a fresh set of 1-shot Alkalines or Lithiums than worry over recharging. My current Fuji has a dedicated ion rechargeable. Got my fingers crossed that it lives up to the reputation for long life.

Kelly

I am using rechargables. They are not name brand ones though.

I got some with the charger that are about 2500 mAh. I think those are a reasonable capacity. They are supposed to be made for electronics like cameras. I have not been impressed with life compared to the ones that Kodak puts in their cameras that sit on a docking station and recharge. I go all day with no thought of a recharge or battery exchange with those.

Perhaps I need to go upmarket in my rechargables. Any recommendations?

2500 should be pretty good capacity, even if as a cheap brand they only get 10% less than rated would be effectively 2250.....still pretty good and way better than alkalines.

Maybe it is a bettery eater.

Recommended Brands are:
Powerex
Energizer
Sanyo
Sanyo Eneloop (supposed to also have high shelf life addressing the concern KCook mentions with rechargeables)