death, but dpreview has a limited selection of reviews, although extensive, I don't think I myself can afford those blang blang 12,000 dollar cameras. I like their reviews though, but none of those cameras appeal to me (except the S60). Cnet's review I can't always trust, but I look at them anywyas.

So anyways.

I'm looking to buy a digital camera for myself and I am absolutely baffled at all the choices there are today. Nikon, Canon, Sony, Konica Minolta are just a few of them. I'm kind of picky because this is going to be my own money I will be spending so bare with me.

My requirements are:
-Small and light (like the Canon A95 is a little too big)
-Manual Controls (at least let me control the shutter speed and aperature, man)
-Good quality pictures (i don't care for megapixels as much as I do picture quality)

I think that's it. of course, those 3 are probably the hardest one's to find together, but I've found a couple that I've narrowed it down too.

-Canon Powershot S410: most manual features, best picture quality in this group, uses the cheaper compactflash card, but it is the biggest in this group and it has a small 1.5 inch LCD, but it is also the least expensive of the bunch at 310 dollars.

-Canon Powershot SD300: pretty damn small, enough manual features though not quite as much as the S410, a nice 2 inch LCD to view pictures on, but the picture quality is a little worse than the S410 (just because it's smaller I guess) and it uses SD cards (which I don't have a reader for )
$359

-Sony DSC-T1- sexy, 5 megapixels, a monstrous 2.5inch LCD, good battery life, but the picture quality may not be as good as it's canon counterparts, red-eye, shutter speed is only controllable to 1 second maximum, other manual controls are lacking (because it is just so thin and small), memory card is the most expensive of the bunch, but I do have a reader for it already, and it is pretty expensive (I found a deal on it that makes it a lot cheaper) 449 is amazon's price.

Right now the S410 looks like the best bet for me, but I'm open to any suggestions you may have. My price cap is about 400 dollars

Thanks.

 

http://www.imaging-resource.com/MFR1.HTM

 

I haven't done much research on digital P&S cameras in a few months, but what I noticed is that you have to kind of choose between size and control. I found last time I shopped (for my mom) that the super compact cameras are pretty much auto only (maybe with a few modes to choose from). In that type, we found the Pentax S4(or S4i, can't remember) to be the best deal.

I have an older olympus C3000, and I've used the newer C8000 (I think). Both offer full manual control which is great. I use mine in manual mode more than auto, and at 3MP, I still don't have any problem getting prints big enough to use for my advertising portfolio (9x12 or larger).

Hope this helps a little.

 

Now I'm thinking about the Canon S50, but it may be out of my range a little bit. With the "manual" controls on these Canon's, you can access "slow shutter", and the camera will decide how much shutter it will allow up to 15 seconds.

Now, how much will I miss the true manual exposure and aperature control over automatic?
I guess that depends on how well the camera will be able to read my mind.
sigh

 

where did you find SD300 for $359?

 

this might help
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=246997