I have lots of thoughts on this. I've gone through point and shoot cams, Pro-sumer cams, DSLR's, enthusiast cams and now I've come full circle.
There's a question of what the camera is supposed to do. That's the starting point. And what I want it to do, and how I want it do it. Here's my qualification list:
1. Must be pocketable. I have had DSLR's, ProSumers, the Nikon P510, an old Fuji?hey weren't pocketable. I hated carrying them on the hunt - it was something swinging around. I also figured out that if I didn't have it with me I wouldn't take a picture anyway. Pocketable size wins big for me.
2. 10 megapixels is good but Sensor SIZE is more important. The bigger the sensor (4/3, etc.) the better the quality of each pixel taken and the better the performance in low light, faster pix.
Megapixels ISN'T EVERYTHING. Seriously, don't buy into the hype. I've done quality poster-sized pix with a 6mp camera. Just how much do you really need 20mp? It's better to have a quality pixel than to jam a chip full of low quality pixels. I'll take a quality low light high performance 10mp chip over a 20mp + cheap sensor any day of the week.
3. Understanding zoom length. It's great to look for a 40x lens but it usually comes with a very small sensor. That's how they get the massive magnification out of a small camera and small lens. A 10x lens with a full size sensor is 10x. Shrink the sensor and it turns into a magnifier. You get the magnification but at the cost of a lower quality sensor.
4. You can have Zoom, you can have Quality, you can have Size: Pick any two
5. How important is zoom anyway? The Nikon P510 is a 42x zoom - and I barely if ever used it. To get the most of the zoom it absolutely has to be on a tripod or a super stable platform. It cannot be handheld at 42x - stabilized or not.
My absolute favorite camera - my go-to camera is an older Cannon S90. It's lacking zoom but it has the oversized sensor (good in low light, fast) and it's small (pocketable). I'd like a little more zoom but not at the expense of losing sensor size. The sensor makes the quality of the picture.
My recommendation: take the time and really figure out what's important to you first. Then decide from there what you want.
I'm rather lusting after the new Sony DSC-RX 100 ii these days. It's got the highest quality and largest sensor in a compact camera out there. That gives is superb low light ability with a pocketable size. Still, it's pricey...
