Canon PowerShot SX200 IS (blue)
The Canon PowerShot SX200 IS is remarkably equipped for what's ostensibly a point-and-shoot cameraSure, the wide-angle lens with 12x zoom in a reasonably compact body is the big draw; but there's also the HD video recording abilities and the full manual control over shutter speed, aperture, and focus, in addition to a glut of other shooting controlsThis is namely what separates it from its main competition, Panasonic's Lumix DMC-ZS3Well, that, and the fact that the Canon's zoom lens is locked while shooting video
If you're after a more pure point-and-shoot experience and want to take full advantage of the zoom range whether you're shooting stills or video, the ZS3 is probably the compact 12x megazoom to go withWant more control over exposures? The PowerShot SX200 IS is what you'll want in your pocket.
The SX200 IS is attractive, if a little odd looking, because of the long, wide-angle lens in frontAvailable in three colors--black, blue, and red--its style is a definite improvement over Canon's previous pocket zooms, the SX100 IS and SX110 ISDespite having a longer and wider lens than those models, the SX200 IS is more pocketableIt's not necessarily lightweight, though
Unfortunately, it's not without its design quirksThe biggest of these being the motorized flash, which automatically rises from the top left of the chassis and can't be retractedThis makes pinch-gripping the left side a little difficult and it's not helped by the overall slipperiness of the camera's bodySecond quirk: the dime-sized Mode dial on top has no fewer than 13 selections on itFive of them are scene modes that can be eliminated by sticking them under the SCN selectionThat would've allowed Canon to make the icons a more easily readable size
Controls on back are pretty standard: four buttons and a directional padThere's a scroll wheel around the outside of the pad for faster menu navigation as well as for working with the manual settingsBut (quirk number three) the left side of the pad comes so close to the raised edge of the LCD that it prevents larger thumbs from easily pressing that side of the pad or smoothly completing a revolution of the wheelLastly, the camera feels fairly sturdy with the exception of the right side, which is capped by plastic with part of it being a door covering the mini HDMI and USB/AV port
On the upside, using the SX200 IS doesn't take much effort--even if you're taking advantage of all its shooting options