I don't know the cameras you are asking about so I have no comments to that. Perhaps someone else will have more info. But I have put together some other guidelines.

This is my response to those of you who are looking to not only answer the question of "what should I buy" but also "how do I learn enough about digital photography and cameras to make an informed choice myself". It may help guide someone in their search.

I wouldn't be swayed by what any salesmen say. Their job is to sell you something.

I cannot tell you to buy this or that because I will have different requirements than you. I prefer to adjust the picture after downloading it onto my computer and/or to make art work with it and you might prefer to just take the picture and then stick the camera into the printer for prints.

I would suggest making make a chart. I used Excel so I could enter more kinds of data as I came across it. But it can be done on paper.

Make a list of the features on the left and fill in the blanks from DP review. Add a section at the bottom for miscellaneous information. Obviously some traits are subjective such as "viewfinder hits eyeball" (from
DP) and may or may not be on your list. Is 'sturdy' important to you? How do you define 'sturdy'? Are you giving it to your 3 year old? Does 'feels sturdy' mean anything? Do you need 1/2000 shutter speed? Are you taking race track pictures or trying to stop the baseball in mid-air? How is the rating on 'purple fringeing'?

Be sure to read the 'conclusions' pro & con at the end of the DP reviews and the 'Steve's conclusions' at Steves. These point out the serious plusses and minuses in a condensed presentation. Read the 'user reviews' if there are any for your cameras at DP.

Read the Sony & Canon forums at DP--do an 'all forums' search for the models you are looking at & see what is bugging the writers & the other's responses. Often you'll find the models mentioned in other forums both pro & con.

There are also other camera review sites such as megapixel.net & dcresource.com (as well as others - google 'camera reviews') that are good in different ways.

The library and bookstores have numerous books on elementary dig. camera photography & cameras such as the dummy series which will teach you a lot.

Decide based on facts and opinions as to how the cameras would fit your lifestyle--your own opinions. Afterward, you can be assured you will no longer be such a novice.

~Alice

I wish I could help you. We have two fairly old cameras and would like to replace them with one of the newer ones. I am interested in one with 12X zoom- ours are only 3X and they are not great for a lot of things. We haven't looked into other lenses for them because we also want one with image stabilization.