Compact camera questions

Hey I posted here a few months ago about compact cameras, I was suggested something from the coolpix line (thank you again for the suggestion :) ). I've been looking into a few camera and at the moment I'm deciding between:

Nikon Coolpix S8000
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W350 (the older, but smaller model... also $150 cheaper)
Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1

Save for the cheaper model they're all about the same price. That being said if there wouldn't be much of a difference I'd go for the cheap sony, but I wouldn't be upset to pay full price if I thought it would be a worthwhile upgrade. Thanks in advance for the help.

Oh my... One day later and no one?! Yikes. Well I suppose this'll be my bump.

Last time I'll try to bump, I would really appreciate some insight.

Thanks for the input! :) The sole reason I'm weary of the S8000 is because cnet said it has poor pictures in the dark. Has anyone tested or heard about this?

Sony make good but unreliable cameras. I would suggest you either a Canon or a Nikon compact camera. Kodak makes great compacts too...

Sony's quality is dropping and Panasonic isn't particularly good. Nikon is, though, so get the S8000.Dark__Link

Panasonic is actually a quality brand. Their cameras have sort of a funny user interface, but from what I have read, quite a few of their cameras are good as far as image quality. My mom actually has a Panasonic superzoom camera, and it's a good camera.

Anyway, these days, I think that compact cameras have mostly gotten about as good as they are going to get. At least as far as image quality, you can pretty much stick to any quality brand (Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, etc) and be about as happy with the results as if you'd gotten any other equivalently priced camera from a competing brand.

You probably can't go wrong with any of the cameras you're looking at. If you really care though, check out dpreview.com They have the most thorough and nitpicky digital camera reviews I have ever seen in my life.

Thanks for the input! :) The sole reason I'm weary of the S8000 is because cnet said it has poor pictures in the dark. Has anyone tested or heard about this?

Thebutter

Most compact cameras take bad pictures in the dark. They pretty much all have tiny pixels that don't pick up much light, and increasing the sensitivity generally results in so much noise that the pictures are unusable anyway.

That's mostly just the nature of compact cameras.

That Panasonic one is quite nice - I helped my parents pick out the previous model last year (or the year before?). I don't really like compact cameras, though, as I can't stand the limitations of using something with an image sensor smaller than my pinky nail.DJ_Lae

I'm not a fan of compact cameras either (I also hate the lack of a decent viewfinder...LCD screens aren't good enough, IMO). But when it comes down to it, they're good to have. Hell, nearly every single serious photographer I've known (and I've only known two) has made sure to buy a compact digital camera, even if they ****ing hate it.

Why? Because compact cameras have serious limitations, but at least you can get a picture. Even if 70% of the time the picture is worthless, that still leaves 30% of the time when you DON'T have a bigass SLR with you, and happened to get a good picture. Compact cameras indeed have serious limitations and I hate them. Still, I try to carry one around at all times. Because I am NOT going to have a SLR camera with me all the time. If I see something that needs to be turned into a picture, then it's far better for me to resort to a compact camera instead of not get a single ****ing image because my SLR was at home. In order to get the best pictures, one has to first and foremost have a camera, and compact digital cameras make it extremely easy for everyone to have that ability.

Two weeks ago, I was on my way to work. I work at a restaurant on the water, and a ****ing tornado dropped out of the sky and came within 200 feet of the building. I didn't get to see it because I was late to work, but the chef got a picture of it on his cell phone. And he's not even a photographer, and doesn't know **** about photography, but seeing the picture he took on his cell phone, I was ****ing kicking myself for showing up late to work on that day and missing the opportunity to take an AMAZING picture. If I'd been there, the only camera I'd have had would be a compact digital camera. And I could have gotten an AMAZING wide angle view over the water, with this huge water spout in the foreground. The contrast in tones between the waterspout and the water, the whole drama of the scene...it's compact camera or nothing. And the dude who got the best picture was using a ****ing cell phone camera.

Thanks for all the help guys. I'm still undecided but I've got a better grasp now for sure.