Good small entry - mid level camera for travel photography?

One HUGE negative was it was nearly impossible to find someone that could operate the nikon to be able to take a picture of my wife and I even in auto mode; no one uses a viewfinder anymore.

It's not the viewfinder.
Even DSLRs have menu driven features & they are all slightly different. Even if everything is set to auto, I would be more comfortable shooting with a manual film SLR.
 
Well I know opinions on this vary, a lot - but I guess a lot depends on what type of photography you do most. If you want my unabashed opinion I think pound for pound the Panasonic Lumix FZ200 I have is one of the best all around cameras I've ever used. It's small and lightweight compared to a DSLR so it's easy to travel with or take on long hikes. The 24x optical zoom gives me the equivalent of a 600 mm zoom on a 35 mm camera, and the Leica lens can maintain an F 2.8 aperture throughout it's entire 600 mm focal length. It takes great pictures, has the advantage of being ridiculously simple to use for beginners if you use the auto modes but you still have all the high end features for more advanced users, allowing you to set/control most any setting, shoot in PASM, etc.
For me it's just a much better option than a DSLR, I do a lot of wildlife photography and a 400 mm F2.8 lens is not exactly cheap, even used. Worse yet even if I were to spend that kind of money on one, I'd have to carry it - and man those things are heavy. So for me, the FZ200 is by far the best solution for my needs. Gives me the capabilities I want in a nice, lightweight package.
 

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