Disaster! lost camera.

...Disaster 2: trying to buy a new one!

- Bizarrely I lost the cable to connect my camera to the computer a few weeks prior to losing the rest of it. So yep, unfortunately I lost a lot of photos too.

So, life being what it is, I'm now in the market for a new compact, digital camera.

But where to begin?

My feature wish list (based on the good bits and bad bits of previous cameras - one a sturdy, little Olympus which took great shots even at night, and a Nikon which had a much bigger screen; great for reviewing everything you'd taken and deleting the rubbish, blurry pics!):

1. Viewfinder (big screens are great but not in the sun. Seeing as most people use their cameras on holiday, why are there so few with traditional viewfinders?!).
2. Video (I think they all have that)
3. Price ideally 100 - 150 euros. I'm an optimist I know.
4. Good flash for nighttime shots.
   
5. Standard USB cable would be terrific; I'd never have to depend on one cable again!
6. A resistant screen Why should I have to buy a protective sticker?
7. Robustness - I'm good at dropping things, I finished off my last MP3 player that way. And hey, who wants a camera that breaks the first time you take it out the house or shove it in your bag in a hurry anyway?!
   
8. Ideally some consideration for durability and/or recycling components, disposing of batteries etc.

Having that quite clear, you'd think it would be easy to have a quick search online and find one with those features and good reviews.

Turns out it's just about impossible.

• Different descriptions of the same product list opposing features.
• Viewfinders are rarely listed on the product specification and not all photos on all sites have a view of the back of the camera. Considering this is where most of the controls are and a photo would give a clear indication of the screen size, (not everyone works in inches and the difference between 2.5" and 2.7" might not be too much of a problem for most people), it's a mystery to me as to why so little importance is given to the rear view. And bad news for me; a camera with a viewfinder puts the price up by 50 - 70 euros.
  
• I'm also a little bit unsettled by the distinction between ultra compact stylish cameras and easy-to-use or sturdy ones. Surely these shouldn't be mutually exclusive characteristics?!
• And don't get me started on different model names for different regions, I spent half a day trying to figure out when the Canon 770IS would be available in Europe. Turns out it already is, it's just called the Ixus 85.
• Furthermore, most sites let you browse by number of megapixels or price range. The problem I have with this is that surely there are only so many pixels the human eye can appreciate and a few years back, a 3 megapixel camera did the job. Why do I suddenly need 12 megapixels for my holiday snap shots?
• Secondly, basing my decision on these selections is a bit restrictive, I might be prepared to pay 30 euros more or live with one megapixel less if it works out better value for money.
• How about a filter "megapixels per euro", or best deal: picture quality for money?

Lastly, here in "We users are lazy", (in Spanish), Olga Revilla points out that it would be great if cameras saved photos with real names rather than with random numbers such as DSC009123.jpg as it would make uploading, filing, tagging and sharing them a dream.
But I guess that's another story!

Clearly there's a lot of work to be done on camera design, websites that sell cameras and ones that discuss them.
We'd better get prototyping!

Well, grumbling over. Back to it!