I'm looking for a decent, compact digital camera that comes with a good built-in zoom and easier to use. I really enjoyed my trusty Nikon Coolpix which cost about $125 (had it for about five years), although it recently died on me. Willing to spend up to $300-400. Any suggestions on what's good on the market these days? Thanks.

I migrated from DSLRs a few years ago and am so glad I did. My current camera is a Panasonic LUMIX TZ60. Absolutely fantastic camera! Packed full of features but still easy to use. As well as the screen viewfinder it also has an optical viewfinder, similar to an SLR which I really like. It does everything I could want and more. Most of all the picture and lens quality is excellent. Prices vary around the world but should be within yours.

I have a different Panasic Lumix which has worked well. Before buying a new camera I always check reviews and the buying guide at http://www.dpreview.com

I echo the suggestion on checking out dpreview.

If I was going to get a new P&S camera, I'd look at a Canon S100: http://amzn.to/1TTmiPC

If all you want is a point and shoot, why not just buy a good phone and use that? I am not a serious photographer, have a Canon P&S that is excellent, but I haven't used anything but my iPhone in years. Why carry an extra gadget?

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Thursdaysd, I will check the website out; had not known about it's existence.

NewbE, I usually carry a couple of smart phones, which I rarely use for photography, and a couple of cameras. Having grown up on film cameras, using a phone is just not the same.

OK, different strokes. I don't like carrying around more than one gadget, to say nothing of four!

Btw, I grew up with film cameras, too. Don't miss them one whit.

I, too, do not miss film cameras. Film weighed heavy! However, I still carry both a camera and a smart phone (and a tablet). I was just reading an article pointing out that using a phone as a camera made it more likely to be stolen. Apparently pickpockets' order of preference is now tablet, smart phone, wallet.

<i>If all you want is a point and shoot, why not just buy a good phone and use that? I am not a serious photographer, have a Canon P&S that is excellent, but I haven't used anything but my iPhone in years. Why carry an extra gadget?</i>

The control a good P&S gives? I have yet to see a phone that takes decent nighttime shots.

Your standards may be higher than mine, sparkchaser. I think my iPhone takes decent nighttime photos, but I am neither a skilled nor an ambitious photographer.

Regarding the risk of theft, it is what it is. In NYC this past weekend, nearly everyone I saw had a phone in their hands, local and tourist alike, out in the open. I've read that they get grabbed, but no one seemed worried about it.

"No-one seemed worried about it"

Until it happens. It's not just the cost of replacing the phone. Think about what is on your phone. Even if it is locked, and if it is snatched out of you hand it isn't. if you are traveling, do you have the data backed up somewhere you can access it?

Interesting that a wallet is only number three on a pickpocketer's list. Re: a smart phone versus a P&S camera, I suppose it all comes down to preference and I prefer to have a camera. Nothing wrong with just having a phone if you're someone who is happy with it though.

thursdaysd, of course I have the data backed up, to the cloud. The phone is just a brick, annoying to lose to be sure, but it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Besides, that's what insurance is for.

Exactly--the cost of the thing wouldn't be the concern. And in a major city, it could be easily replaced. It did occur to me that on some of our more remote birding trips, I'd be very sorry to lose the ability to take pictures, but que sera, sera. No pickpockets, but I must endeavor not to drop the iPhone into the Amazon.

If you're birding why would you use a camera as your phone? Genuinely curious.

Ah, I don't take pictures of the birds! For that, you need a proper camera with a good zoom lens. I take snaps of the countryside and such around us. I did get some cute photos of howler monkeys once; and iguanas; and a pit viper

Having said that, if you have a spotting scope set up on a tripod, you can hold your phone's lens tight to the tripod lens and get a decent picture of whatever is in the scope.

IME, most birders are not also photographers...

That makes sense.

Sorry, not the tripod lens, the spotting scope's lens. Hope you get the picture, heh heh.