My wife's film cam is dying.  It is honestly too old and worn to consider repair.  She wants a digital and I need advice! Sure, it is generally the newbie to photography wanting advice on a camera and I do use two Nikon DSLR's. 

So, I know those cameras quite well but **what I do not know is the non DSLR digital cameras on the market today.

If you use a good quality NON DSLR digital camera**, one with manual over rides and hopefully a choice of aperture and shutter priority...and with a decent zoom (but need not be excessive), please tell me about your camera.  I need to get the wife a new camera before our Thanksgiving holiday on the last Thursday of this month.  **When it comes to what is out there today in fine quality non-dslr cameras, I am wandering in a fog.

**Help!    Thanks a bunch.      Tom.

http://www.dpreview.com/

Hi Tom
There is so many compact cameras on the market, that it would be impossible to recomend
any specific one. I would choose Canon (great camera and easy to operate software) but other camera makers like Sony, Panasonic Lumix. Nikon as an example making very good cameras too.
My advice would be - please look at 'dpreview' side check the latest models and futures.  I'm quite sure you'll find one for your wife.
aleks

I have a 4MP OLY...I still use it, and enjoy it..

I see a lot of nice stuff in the gallery done with Sony Cybershots..

I have and use a Canon G9.

The final image quality is excelent,  I cannot find fault with it . 
What I like most about it is the build quality. It is a very solid little camera and feels good in the hand.  It has all the features which you would find on a non pro dslr.
Limitations - ocassionally the auto white balance is out in difficult artifificial lighting, it can shoot RAW though. The internal flash is not very powerful. It does not have a tilt/swivel lcd screen like my older G6 had.  It is not a lightweight as far as compact cameras go.
Other people when they see/use it always comment on how solid it feels and the picture quality.  
There is a new Canon G10 coming out now. 

The panorama image of Greenwich in my gallery was shot on the G9,  using the G9's auto panorama feature.

I cannot say how it performs against others as I don't have personal use of other compact cameras.

Ones to consider - I looked at a Panasonic G1 in a store the other day. It looks a fine little camera and has interchangeable lenses it uses the 4/3 system.   

All my pics in my gallery here are taken with a Panasonic Lumix TZ1. They are now onto the 5, but the 3 appears to have better pic quality. Four friends so far have bought in to this series and all are thrilled. They have 10x zoom and take pics up to 2" away on macro. it fits in my back pocket and also into the smallest of my handbags.
I used the link ledwolorz gives to bo my research.
Andrea

I have a Ricoh Caplio GX100.  Brilliant little camera with a very wide 19mm lens

i use a pansonic lumix dmc-fx100 as my second camera ,i love it ....

infact it took the pic that was selected  for last weeks gallery...... hand held....

Humm.this is a lot to consider and fine advice from the actual users.  That is the advice that counts.  I will take her to look and see which are there.  We are not looking for a compact camera but not too large.  How the camera can perform is most important and to be able to shoot raw is a plus.

Fred..thanks for the input but that camera is out of my price range, nice as it looks! : )        Tom

Yes it was a bit pricey.  I got it new, it cost more the both my canon 10d and 30d that I bought used togother!  But if you want decent quality that takes raw images,I think it's worth it.

My $0.02 is that I have owned a Nikon. They do have great lenses. Some crisp pics from them Megapixels is one of the last things to worry about. 6-7+ you are set. Look for Optical Zoom and Manual features.
B

Tom,

Take your wife our to a Camera store or one of the Big Electronic chains that have multiple cameras on display.  Only way to know what fits is to try them out. 

Just some things to consider -

• Some cameras can use regular/rechargeable (AA) batteries - others the more costly Lithium Ion type.  (although you can now get cheap 3rd party versions for most cameras)
• Some cams have a glass viewfinder and other use electronic/LCD (Pivoting LCD is a added plus for different POV shooting (no need to get down on the ground)
• Most cameras have video capability (if thats important to you personally)
• Those classified as SuperZooms cover a good optical range and theres no need to invest in additional lenses.

Since Christmas is coming...I can almost guarantee major sales incentives on cameras...especially around Black Friday...might be good to wait and possible save some cash. If you do find something and buy...be sure to get a GIFT receipt....so it can be returned if needed.

Joe

Attached Link: http://cgi.ebay.com/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-FZ30K-8-0-Megapixel_W0QQitemZ110226348855QQihZ001QQcategoryZ31388QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

This past year I have been using a Panasonic Lumix FZ30. So all the pictures I've posted in my gallery this year are from that camera. It has a lot of features and I'm still learning and experimenting, but the images just seem to get better and better as I learn.  At first I really missed my Fuji FinePix 2800, it had really sharp pics and was great for Macros (better then the Lumix IMHO).

My husband (ddaydreams) has several for sale at his ebay store (plugging away, LOL :P) and I'm sure as a RR aquaintance he could cut you a deal.

PS: He has a Pentax and I' m just waiting for him to upgrade and I get the hand-me-downs!!! LOL :P

I can assure you the last thought my wife has about the new camera is whether it will capture RAW. Well, since I take almost every shot in raw, it is important to me. And, the price of the camera is important to me at this point.   She will actually want me to spend less than I likely will.

I have check out lots of the better models and too many are appearing perfect for the choices expept for price.  So, to drop down a few dollars can anyone tell me about the Olympus
SP 570 or the SP 565?  I see the later one is a bit more costly, about $20US more but can't see why.    For the price the camera look fine on paper...have not see the real deal.

The Canon Powershot G10 is a bit out of my price range for now.  (Yikes, especially with the results of the election and the reaction of the market to that! Scary stuff here.)

Richard, the Canon G9 is superceded by the G10. One review I read said above 200 ISO,  noise is a true problem.  I find that hard to accept with Canon but can you shed any light on that issue as with your G9?

Hallo TomDart,

The only camera I have is a Nikon Coolpix S4 and I am VERY satisfied with it. Take a look at my gallery, all the pictures there are made with it.
It has a 10x Optical Zoom which is very good, and you can rotate the objective (or lens or whatever the word is) what allows you to take pictures from interesting angles.
6.0 Megapixel make sure the quality of the shot is very good and the camera has several different modes you can choose from.
I'm afraid I don't know, what you mean by "capturing RAW". If you mean that you don't want to rework or machine finish (man, so many difficult words!) a picture then I can assure you that you don't have to with this camera.
The only bad thing about it is, that it is pretty big, so nothing for the trouser pocket.
The camera uses batteries and no accumulator.

As I said I am very happy with my camera AND it has an absolutely reasonable price, really not expensive (at least when I bought it in Germany..).

I hope I could help! Good luck with the decision!

Katja

My wife uses a Panasonic Lumix as her 'handbag camera' she loves it and she's a far better photographer then me...

Tom I wouldn't disagree with the noise issues -  they are there once you get to ISO400. I don't think they are any worse than any other camera with a small sensor. Some employ greater noise reduction in their processing but that leaves you with a less sharp blocky type image - the dilema of noise reduction and how much.