Best digital camera in the $150-$200 range

[Zardnok]

I am looking to buy a digital camera prior to my vacation to Florida at the end of the month and was wondering if anyone had any advice on something in the $150-$200 range. If there is something significantly better in the $250ish range, please make a case.

I have been looking at Canon, Nikon, and Olympus units. I have owned all 3 brands in the past and been pleased with all of them. Unfortunately, all of my old cameras were stolen and I am looking for something that will last me a while. I plan on using the camera for some nature shots as well, so the bigger the zoom the better.

 

[xgsound]

I got this Canon A630 2 weeks ago for $194 with a free 1 GB card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16830120069 Check out the combos if you need tripod/case. The A630 takes 4 AA (use Nimh please) batteries which makes flash recharge shorter. The only thing it lacks is optical IS, and for a similar quality picture, that's a lot more money.

This is bulkier and $285. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16830179055 A sony DSC H-2 with 12x zoom, IS, and still takes 2 AA. The only reason I mention it is my boy has the H-1 and it works very well. The package comes with 2 AA Nimh batteries and charger. All you'll need to start is a pro duo card. Sony's newer Super zoom models (h-7, H-9) use $50 lithium batteries, are said to have lousy jpg compresion, and cost $400 and up.
Jim

 

[Krioni]

There's a Panasonic (DMC-LZ7) I've been looking into that seems to fit the bill nicely. It has a 6x optical zoom, image stabilization, etc.

Here it is on Amazon

 

[Zardnok]

I ended up with the Canon Powershot A570-IS from Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16830120194

It seemed to get decent reviews in various forums around the web, so I decided to go for it.