Getting a new camera, I don't know much, can you guys help me?

[Heather Koch]

There are pros and cons to both, it all depends on what you want more.

Here is a comparison:
Specifications - Canon PowerShot SX280 HS vs Fujifilm FinePix x20

 

[dannylightning]

I am not sure the canon sx280 will shoot raw so that is kind of a drawback if you plan to do much editing, raw photos give you allot more room to edit. that is if you have something that can edit raw photos.

the canon 280 cost allot less and will be easier to fit in your pocket. IQ looks pretty good for a inexpensive point and shoot in my opinion.. between the photos I have viewed between the two cameras I am kind of thinking the X20 has better image quality than the canon sx260.

from what I have read about the X20 it might have better IQ and sharper images. in some of the x20 reviews they say the images are quite sharp and it has a larger sensor than the canon cameras plus it shoots raw. so those are some advantages of the X20, on paper the X20 sounds like a better camera

the X20 appears to cost about the same as the canon G16. out of the X20 and the canon G16 i would choose the G16 hands down but that is just me. I own one and know how the photos turn out, I have never used a X20 so I cant really comment on how the photos would turn out with that camera in my hands. on paper the G16 looks like its a better camera to me. when I say on paper I am referring to reviews I have read and comparison charts I have looked at.

on paper the X20 does seem to be better than the sx280, so if you want to go with one of those I would do as much searching for images from those cameras as you can and than go by that plus read a few reviews on each before you decide If you want to spend less money and have something that fits in your pocket easily that will take nice photos the SX280 will probably be a good choice for a inexpensive point and shoot.

Another rout you could go is look for a used DSLR and lens. you night find something like a nikon D3000, D3200 or D3300 used for the price you would pay for the X20. a full size DSLR is always going to be better IMO, I am not really a person who likes to buy used things, I am not sure how long camera bodys last, I know lenses last a really long time if they were taken care of. I would not think twice about buying a used lens that was in good working condition. now a camera body used I am not 100% sure how I would feel about that. but it is always a option you could look at.

 

[Solarflare]

For a small camera to take everywhere by a newbie I actually would recomment the Sony RX100 Mark 2 as the best available option.

I dont know if its inside in your budget, though.

Anyway its IMHO the best general camera out there, if you are a beginner and want stuff commonly popular among beginners, like a good focal length range. Theres a successor, but it actually had not too many improvements and the lens is brighter, but also offers less focal length range. The Mark III has an quite awful builtin EVF, but you can get a clickon EVF for the Mark 2 and its better in quality.

About the X20, well I dont own this camera so I can only repeat what others told me about it. It has a half as large sensor and the sensor tech is not as good as the Sonys, but it has phase AF pixels on the sensor (*), and personally I like the manual way you make the lens expand on the X10/X20/X30 cameras.

What I do NOT like about the X10/X20/X30 is that they are X-Trans, i.e. they produce a RAW format thats hard to properly process for general image manipulation programs like Lightroom. Theres no problem with the JPEGs of these cameras though, Fuji themselves do a really good job in processing their own exotic sensor output, they just dont tell others how they're doing it.

(*): That means you can have some sort of better performance with moving subjects in good enough light, because the camera knows if the focus is too far and has to move closer, or the other way around, while a standard contrast autofocus only tells the camera "well ... its not in focus just yet".