I"m trying to select a new camera. The last few times I've been out shooting critters, I've felt the limits of my current Kodak. I need something with a long zoom, preferably 8X or better since most of what I've been doing is wildlife (birds and reptiles lately, but mammals in winter).
I'd also like a high resolution because I sometimes blow these photos up rather large. Current contenders are the Canon SX100 IS, the Canon G9, the Kodak Z861, Kodak Z712 IS. Those are the ones I'm choosing between at this point, but am open to other suggestions. It's just I've had good luck with both Kodak and Canon in the past with their point and shoots. The bulk of what I do is either wildlife shooting (hence the zoom requirements), but I'd also like this to be usable indoors for casual shooting at parties, weddings and the like. I'm willing to spend to about 300. I'd prefer to keep with something that uses SD cards, but am willing to look at other products if they're compelling.