best compact camera with manual functions

[manomaceta]

I'm planning to backpack europe, and I will need to buy a camera for the trip.

I'm looking for a compact camera (I don't want to carry a bag for the camera)
With manual settings (I'm an advanced amateur)
Optical or ccd image stabilization (I'm not going to carry a tripod)
800x600 & 30fps for video recording
I don't care about megapixels, I do care about image quality (6 mp is more than enough for me)
Under US$ 400

Do you have any suggestion?

Thanks in advance for any comments.

 

[Easy_Target]

hm...closest I can think of is the "advanced P&S/SLR-like cameras"

 

[flygning]

I've got the advanced P&S sort of camera, and if you're not carrying a bag I would suggest to avoid one like this. It has a lot of flexibility but can really take a beating on a backpacking trip, and the upper end of the zoom is pretty much useless without a tripod.

I would suggest taking a look at the Canon Powershot line. I'm not sure what they've got out right now, but I had an A610 and it was great- manual settings (including focus), video, decent zoom (4x...not sure the 35mm equivalent). Best of all, it was tough. That thing took a lot of abuse before I upgraded, and it never complained a bit

 

[Bifurcator]

You can get an Minolta A2 used for about $175 that has manual everything. Manual Zoom, Manual focus, manual exposure modes, an awesome Anti-shake mechanism (better than most or ALL DSLRs!!), fantastic button ergonomics and functionality, shoots 12bit RAW, has wireless flash and wireless image forwarding, has a 28~200mm lens with macro at either end (165~200 macro and 28mm macro), has a hot shoe and tripod mounts, has a PC accessory socket, very nice tracking AF/AE for a P&S, a "great in it's day/good for today" HQ LCD that flips up and out, and a 90 degree swiveling EVF. It's also FULLY controllable (except for zoom) from a laptop if you ever need tethered remote in a lab or something.

The only thing it falls short on (from your list) is the movie mode you mentioned. It does 544x408 or 320x240 motion video, 30/15fps with audio.

If you want to see what it shoots like just look at any of my photo threads (except "The Exit" thread) linked to in my sig just below.

 

[Samriel]

Any advanced P&S is usually not a compact P&S. I'd suggest the Casio Exilim Hi-ZOOM EX-V7 , it goes for about USD170 here. Also, the Canon Power Shot series has usually some good models, but they are not ultra-compacts. There really is no reason to invest more than USD200 into a P&S IMO - you will (comparatively) pay a lot for minimal improvements with compacts.