HELP---Digital cameras- compare 2 or more?

I'm somewhat fimiliar w/ SLR cameras growning up on a Pentax K1000 since I was about 12yo. I'm ready for a digital camera, but I'm lucky if my husband ever takes pictures. I'm trying to decide between Sony Cybershot dsc-h5 and Cannon power shot s3IS. I know I want Image stabilizer, 8 to 10 optical zoom, a decent sized lcd screen & rechargeable vs AA/A batteries--- we have 5 kids and are going to WDW in Oct--- I want to catch the whole experience w/o having to carry alot of equipt. & not intimidate my husband so he will take pics w/ me too. Trip of a life time dont want to miss a thing for the scrap "box" (with 5 kids and a ft job who books) hahaha can anyone help me decide? I'd like to stay under 400 for the entire package-- I'd like to use it beyond the trip too so I don't mind having variable features. Any other suggestions on which caamera to go for would be great. I like the idea of staying w/ a co that make cameras- I have looked at Olympus-limitedly in stores though.

I find lots of reports about sony H1 what about the new H5????

http://www.cnet.com

This is a great website for side-by-side comparisons of consumer electronics products. They offer buying guides, editor's picks, tech reviews, user reviews, user ratings, and price comparisons of various retailers for thousands of products. I find it a very useful research resource when I'm considering a new electronics purchase.

Here's their digital cameras page:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Digital_cameras/...

Here's their Sony Cyber Shot DSC-H5 Review:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Sony_Cyber_Shot_...

Here's their side-by-side comparison of the Sony H5 with the other Most Popular similar cameras:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Sony_Cyber_Shot_...

Here's their Canon PowerShot S3 IS Review:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Canon_PowerShot_...

Unfortunately, they didn't have a side-by-side of the two you're asking about, but this should give you more than enough information to make your decision. Good luck!

I just love my sony cybershot h1. It has all the features I need and it's 5.1 megapixel, which is enough to blow up an image to 16x20 or better with no pixelation. It was only about 425.00 including taxes and a memory card.

If you are looking for a digital for under 400 with a lot of zoom then don't go with either of those. Look into the Camera: Konica Minolta Z6. It has 6 megs, image stabalizer, big display, 12x optical zoom, and it is under 400 dollars. I have the older model the Z5 and it is great. You should look it up on www.pricegrabber.com.
Hope this helps
P.S.: if you are only willing to get one of the two you named then i would recomened the Canon between the two of those.

I'd go with a minolta z-type. I have a Z2, which didn't cost much, has 10x zoom, and is a great camera overall. Check eBay for a price check.

Hi my name is Peter and we at home have a Canon S1IS which is less than S3IS but still very good and we just love it .It has Movie feature with sound Image Stabilizer 80 different shooting modes and effects .
We bought ours just a day before our baby girl got born which was about 20 months ago and it took us 3 months to decide which camera to go with.
We made more than 10000 pictures and more than 500 movie clips in 20 months. Very easy to use, very handy , you can operate the camera with one hand which is very good some times there is a timer on a camera which gives you enough time to go back to your family and smile because the picture is going to be taken shortly there is more to be told but time is too short there is only one more thing i have to say buy a tripod for it if you can and at last 2x memory cards preferably 512Mb or bigger if you can that's only if you are thinking of making movies , for pictures 1 is more than enough
If I can help you with anything regarding this camera please don't hesitate to ask me my e-mail is barabasp2000@yahoo.ca

Try http://www.dpreview.com - I think, it's the best site to get accurate info on digital cameras. It has comparison tool (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sidebysi... comprehensive feature search (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.... and if you want the bottom line - http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/stats.as... :) . Besides forums at this web site are FANTASTIC - they are well managed by the owner of the site and attracted a number of top-notch professional photographers and amteurs. You'll be surprised how well your questions will get answered, and how much good data you'll get.

As for the Minolta debacle - they did get out of photography business, that was bought lock stock and barrel by Sony. Sony already annonunced a new dSLR with Minolta mount and is supposed to some out with at least a couple more by this fall. Moreover, it has announced a bunch of Carl Zeiss lenses for its' system, that excited a LOT of interest in those, who are aware of Zeiss fame. So I wouldn't discard them out of hand just yet (even though I'm a staunch Nikon user).

Cheers, and good luck.
Stas.

Hmmm...other than price and 'extra' features, your basic digital camera does a pretty good job these days. Some of the earlier models were kind of shaky, but the new ones all have features that will all but eliminate that jittery look you can get to a digital image. Simpler is better, as far as the interface, there's only about so many bells and whistles you can attach to the process of taking a picture, go for battery life, optical zoom, and price as your base criteria when cam-shopping. Cell phones increasingly have good cameras in them, so you might even just consider getting a nice phone with a camera built-in, save some money and lugging around another device with you....