I'm in a point & shoot daze!

[Elinor Dashwood]

I have spent hours looking for a new point and shoot camera and I think my eyes are beginning to cross. Here's what I'm looking for:

$200-$250 price range

ease of use

good battery life (this is important to me!)

good picture quality for low light situations

easily portable, not too clunky or bulky but doesn't have to be slim as a credit card either

I don't need anything super fancy, like an HD movie mode (don't need that when I have a camcorder). I just want something straightforward that won't drain the battery in an hour. Suggestions, pretty please?? I need help as I'm clearly a novice camera user.

 

[photo_chick]

good picture quality for low light situations

The quality in low light will vary a lot depending on the user. The more you know the better low light shots you'll be able to get with any camera. Look for a camera with a wide maximum aperture (f/2.8 or a smaller F number) and look for a camera with a broad ISO range. Both will help with low light.

dpreview.com has fairly unbiased reviews and tends to have some good sample images that show you noise and such at various ISO settings.