Which camera should I get?

[zeruty]

I am going to get a digital camera... free to me, just costs me points on a training website (gotta love these types of incentives)
There are 26 cameras to choose from that I have enough points to get.

Here are my hopes for the camera I get, in order of importance:

• Takes good pictures at concerts, including high optical zoom, fast shutter, good in low-light conditions (including dark background, with bright spotlight on performer)
• Takes decent video, including audio, with no ridiculous 30 second or 60 second limits.
• I would prefer standard batteries (ie., AA) or if it's a custom battery, I want it to have a large capacity (ie., take pictures all night without worrying about a dead battery) or be reasonably priced to purchase spare batteries.
• Smaller size the better, I'm taking it into concerts after-all. I know I probably won't get this wish with the cameras I'm considering

Here are the cameras I'm currently considering:


Panasonic® Lumix® Digital Camera (DMC-LZ2)
327 points
6x optical/4x digital 5 mega-pixel

FUJIFILM FinePix S5200 Digital Camera
487 points
10x optical/5.7 digital 5.1 mega-pixel

Casio EX-P505
519 points
5x optical/8x digital 5 mega-pixel

Olympus® SP510 UZ Digital Camera
540 points
10x optical/5x digital 7.1 mega-pixel

What are the pros/cons to these cameras? Does anyone have experience with any of them? What are reasonable retail values for these cameras?
While any of them would be free to me, if I save points, I can use them to buy other things. But I can use all my points on the camera if thats the best choice.


Here is a partial list of all the choices, excluding the ones without model numbers listed:

FUJIFILM FinePix A345 Digital Camera
Nikon® Coolpix L10 Digital Camera
Olympus® FE210 Digital Camera
Canon® PowerShot A460 Digital Camera
Nikon® Coolpix L11 Digital Camera
FUJIFILM FinePix A700 Digital Camera
Canon® PowerShot SD400 Digital Camera
Olympus® FE230 Digital Camera
Nikon® Coolpix L6 Digital Camera
Panasonic® Lumix® Digital Camera (DMC-LZ2)
Canon® PowerShot SD1000 Digital Camera
FUJIFILM FinePix F470 Digital Camera
FUJIFILM FinePix S5200 Digital Camera
Canon® PowerShot A630 Digital Camera
Olympus® Stylus 800 Digital Camera
Casio® Exilim Digital Camera
Olympus® SP510 UZ Digital Camera
Olympus® SP-350 Digital Camera

 

[beatle]

Why not a Canon S2 IS or S3 IS? They have the reach you'll want (12x), and they take 4xAAs. They also have a flip-out LCD which is perfect for shooting overhead or even around corners. IS will be very helpful on telephotos if you can still manage to have a decent shutter speed to freeze the action. They're a bit larger, but they're still smaller than an SLR. You should be able to find an S2 for a little more than $200 used.

 

[alaricljs]

Because he can only pick from what's on the list. Those aren't.

 

[nerp]

Shame he can't get an S3. It's a fantastic camera. Holy cow.

 

[Rottie]

and I am disappointed