I've seen some great shots taken with a Panasonic Lumix and it gets great reviews. There are different models, with a range of prices. You can check them out on amazon and see the reviews.

No recs, but hate my Sony cybershot. H.A.T.E. Still using ancient Nikon Coolpix from 2004. Works better than Sony.

KSWL,
What is if you hate about the Sony, so I know what to look out for?

I still use dpreview.com for camera reviews. Amazon is pretty good but the techy stuff is better overall and less biased IMO at dpreview. I'm a Nikon user myself but have also used a little Canon sure-shot that took darn good pictures. Right now I'm good with a little Coolpix, but go into the $350-400 range and see what that get you. I still use my DSLR with interchangeable lenses on occasion.

Gee, I really like my Sony Cyber-shot! I rarely use it because DH is a camera geek and has an entire sideboard/bureau full of camera gear, but when I am somewhere without him, I use my little Sony (or my iPhone!).

I'm embarrassed to add, having spent part of the lovely afternoon looking online, that it must also come in white. So cute.

You're in luck! Amazon is having lightning sales on cameras today.

I'm a photographer & hang out in some photog forums. Here are some popular well-respected cameras:

Panasonic LX7 Comes in white. Good in low light. I almost got this last Black Friday, but I couldn't really justify getting another camera.

Canon SX50 Lots of people love these. Great zoom, good overall picture quality.

Canon S120 I had a previous version of this. It's a fantastic series. Used to be considered the very best point & shoot until Sony came out with...

...Sony RX100m Sony has come out with some tops-in-class cameras in the last couple of years. I have a Sony dslr & love it.

Oops. Wrong Sony. This one's under $500 while it's on sale:
Sony RX100

You are so kind .... What's a lightning sale?

I recently asked this on the New England gardening foruum. Below is a link to my specific goals and questions and the answers I got.

I don't know if your goals are similar to mine or not. I ended up with the Nikon Coolpix P600.

I found the advice I was given to actually hold the camera in my hand and check it out was helpful; I went to a brick and mortar store to do that and found the prices comparable with online retailers I checked. I liked the size and weight of the Nikon as well as the placement of various adjustments and buttons. Since I live next to a long field, I wanted to be able to get long shots, and this camera has a 60x lens. It is a bit slower to process shots than some other cameras, but that isn't much of an issue for me. So far I am happy with my purchase, but I am still learning the camera.

Here is a link that might be useful: Camera thread on New Englnad forum

I have a Sony Cyber Shot, but it's several years old. It's fine for me although I wish it zoomed more. Make sure you get something with lots of zoom.

This post was edited by dedtired on Tue, Sep 16, 14 at 9:22

I don't like the placement of the settings and I don't like the menu layout. It's counter intuitive (for me) and I think they put too much emphasis on special effects rather than the settings one uses every day in terms of how easy those are to use. Also when there Is a setting with many choices you have to go all through the choices to get back to the first one. I haven't used it in a year so I can't be more specific about the menus, but I used it fewer than 10 times, then went back to the Nikon. Or my iPhone, and I take awful pictures with that :-(

Amazon's Lightning sales are quick sales where they slash prices dramatically, but the sales only last less than a day. In fact, they've ended the sales on some of the cameras already. Bummer.

eta: the lightning sale notices are gone, but the prices haven't changed. A little confusing. Still some good deals remaining.

This post was edited by awm03 on Mon, Sep 15, 14 at 22:22

I like my cybershot and in fact, have a new one. But, I take more pix on my iphone than anything. LOL

We're longtime fans of Nikon products and use Coolpix in addition to our beloved digital SLR.

The Coolpix AW series would be great for underwater shots during your Hawaii adventure. My kids have so much fun with the underwater camera, and we have such great captures!

the Panasonic LX7, linked above, is a great camera. I don't know how long a zoom you want, but another excellent choice would be the Panasonic FZ200. It has a zoom with great range, and it has an electronic viewfinder in addition to the LCD screen. This means no more straining to see the LCD in the glare of the sun. Also, love that Leica lens!

I have earlier versions of both these cameras, and use them more than my DSLR.

Any camera with a viewfinder is a plus. I'm looking at selections in the $200 range. There are no prizes for posting pic here, so a $50 camera would be adequate.

Thanks, everyone. It turns out DH bought me one for my birthday. I'm really happy with it. I'm even going to read the manual this time!

The selection was not a highly scientific process, I am told. DH asked them for their best point and shoot, and was given a Sony. It was the same one I have (I think I just temporarily misplaced it, but I can't wait forever and beside it would be good to have two high quality cameras for our upcoming vacation). The Sony also only comes in black, and he knew I did not want black, and not too logical to buy the same camera twice.

So the next best was this cute one by Samsung, the NXmini.It does get very good reviews, has a whole lotta pixels (sounds good to me) and some cool features like a flip up selfie screen and WIFI (no more cables to d/l pics!).

So far I love it, mostly because it is so darn cute. It has a faux leather retro feel.

Here is a link that might be useful: click on the pink one for a cute little video

Cute! I like the flip screen and the fact it has wifi. Enjoy!