Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Total consensus on the Canon name! I have never seen a web board in total agreement about anything before. EVER! I certainly know which brand to buy.
I am now more open to a proprietary battery. I hadn't realized they had improved so much. My only experience was an ultra compact digital of some sort that I used to take inspection pictures of Central Offices and the outside plant. It did about 20 pictures max if indoor with the flash before the flash switched off. Then about 20 to 30 more if you left the flash off.
In research last night, I came up with several of the same models you recommended, so that is encouraging. The only non-Canon I looked at was the Fiji Film FinePix F50fd or older 25 ver. that was said to have superior photo quality due to a larger sensor chip but I was soon swayed by the commonality of canon's reputation in reviews across so many of their models.
I found a page that does side by side comparisons so I think I'm ready to take the recommendations and make a decision.
THANKS GUYS! I have never had such an easy time narrowing things down. Availability may be the toughest thing I have to overcome, considering the time of year.
Side story if your bored enough to keep reading.....
I went into a minor panic as I started reading reviews of all these great cameras except that they all seemed to suck at higher ISO levels. After a bit more research into how ISO works, I realized that all digital cameras are weak at higher ISO levels and that it wasn't really a concern so much for our shooting habits and certainly wasn't worth doubling (or more) the price to get a moderate increase in this feature. I guess film still wins in some categories.
Shopping is only fun when you learn stuff before you buy, instead of after.
