buying a new camera - overwhelmed with options!

[subobeyliminal]

so its been a few years but i'm finally in the market for a new compact camera. to keep this short and sweet my basic, basic needs are good image quality (especially in low light!!) and preferably a minimum optical zoom of 10X. i am, unfortunately, one of those indecisive people who tends to over analyze things and i've done a fair amount of research already

. i ended up making a chart of about 21 different cameras from 6 different brands. after sifting through a bunch of reviews i've narrowed it down to the following:

Canon PowerShot SX700 HS
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ40
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V
Nikon Coolpix S9700

now i come to those with experience, which of these would you recommend? or throw me for a loop and recommend something you think will meet my needs.

thanks for now!

 

[runnah]

What is your budget?
What are you wanting to take pictures of primarily?
What are some feature you must have?
What if any brand do you prefer?
How would you rate you skill level?
Are you going to use this as a stepping stone towards a more advanced camera in the future?

 

[subobeyliminal]

-when i first started looking i was thinking of getting a compact with changeable lenses just to try something different and before committing to a full on DSLR so i was thinking max of $700 but i've changed my mind since researching, deciding on sticking with a compact (most likely a travel zoom) so max budget is going to be i'd say $500
-most photos i take are either landscape/nature, occasional "people photos" (not necessarily portraits, just your family/friends getting together), and then alot of concert snap shots (hence the low lighting) as i volunteer at a number of music festivals throughout the summers and am usually close to a stage
-features i'm looking at would definitely be optical zoom (like i said earlier preferably minimum of 10X), good performance in low-light settings, decent battery life, ability to manualy change settings (ie. shutter speed and what not)
-i'm not brand picky/biased. i really only have experience with Canon but was interested in trying out something different (unless the Canon i mentioned above is the one to go with, lol)
-skill level would probably be amateur/novice. i've had some experience with DSLR's but mostly compact style camera's
-and yes. i've always had an interest in photography. i havent done too much with it the past couple of years but would really like to get back at it and save up for a nice DSLR in the future.

 

[robbins.photo]

What is your budget?
What are you wanting to take pictures of primarily?
What are some feature you must have?
What if any brand do you prefer?
How would you rate you skill level?
Are you going to use this as a stepping stone towards a more advanced camera in the future?

Ya.. heck with all that. Buy the black one.

 

[runnah]

Ya.. heck with all that. Buy the black one.

Sigh...

 

[KmH]

Everything you need to know about buying a camera | The Verge

 

[goodguy]

Any compact campact you plan on buying will be a compromise, if you want a long zoom camera you will pay for that in low light performance.

If you want good quality pictures, low light performance and telezoom your best bet is getting a DSLR and get the lens you need.

If you want the comfort of compact then you will have to decide what is the most important thing for you and stick to it, if yuo want low light performance get a camera with a big sensor and fast lens and if you want long zoom then get some bridge camera, good luck.

 

[BGeise]

Have you looked at mirror less cameras? better quality and interchangeable lenses if you decide you need it

 

[Ido]

None of these will give you the low light performance you want. None.
Perhaps the cheapest option for that, with a broad zoom range, is the Olympus Stylus 1. That costs $649.99. But even then, you won't get great results in low light. Better than a typical superzoom compact, but still far, far away from more advanced, and more expensive options.
The natural step-up is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000, which isn't even out yet (currently available for pre-order), though at $897.99, I imagine it's more than a stretch.

 

[Dao]

I think it is hard to find a low light + super zoom combo. Even if a camera manufacturer is able to make one, it is going to be quite expensive to a point that it is hard to sell.

If you want to stay with Point and Shoot type camera, I think you may need to choose either Good low light performance or Super zoom.