Best Digital Camera for $200 or less

[thecritic]

I'm looking for the smallest, most up-to-date camera providing the best image quality for less than $200.

So far, here are the candidates:
1) Canon SD200
2) Canon A520
3) Sony DSC-S90

Most of my photos will be less than 5X7, though I may rarely take an 8X10. I'm not an advanced user (though I may become one at some point), so the extra manual controls aren't a must, but nice to have.

It'd be great if someone could tell me how high of a megapixel rating do I need for my uses as well. (mostly web posting, 5X7s print at most, an occassional 8X10)

Thanks in advance,
Michael

 

[mect]

I have the A85 which is pretty much the same as the A520 and I love it. While I'm not familiar with the other cameras, I love the manual settings available on the a520. It allow you to manually control the iso in low light settings if you can brighten things up with the flash or are shooting still enough to use a slow shutter speed where most cameras will just increase the iso and therefore the noise in the picture. It also takes double A batteries which I like so I can just keep double a rechargeables around to use in any of my mobile electronics. While Li might be technologically superior, until they can standardize the batteries I'm sticking with nimh double a. also, the a520 has a 4x optical zoom which is a little better than most. I also like the 3 drive modes. 2 second delay in low light with tripod, 10 second for timer, and also repetitive shooting mode works pretty well in daylight with no flash (1 fps is pretty good for a camera under 200 I think.) I've printed lots of 8x10 with my 4 megapixel and I think they look great. Also, the manual controls are pretty easy to use, especially with the lcd to kind of help you out. I'm not an advanced photographer, but anymore I'm amazed at how often the manual settings allow for a better picture. I don't think I could ever go back to a purely point and shoot camera. Those are my opinions.

 

[thecritic]

Well, I'm not exactly an enthusiast though I hope to become one someday, so the lack of manual controls don't bother me, significantly. I'm currently leaning toward the SD-200 as it contains the latest Digi II processor, which promises almost no lag according to reviews, as opposed to the A520's last-generation processor.

I think 3.2mp is sufficient as I plan on mainly using the camera for web posting, 5X7s, with an occassional 8X10...but please let me know if you think differently. I also dislike the fact that the SD200 lacks an AA battery system, but I guess its a reasonable trade off for a better processor and smaller size.

Thanks,
Michael