A good point and shoot camera(budget not an issue)

[aroraanant]

I have to buy a good point shoot camera for my friend, budget is not a issue,say it should be around 20k but the thing is he don't want a Panasonic cam, he wish to buy a canon, nikon or sony cam only.
I have shortlisted a few like Sony HX20V and Canon SX240/260.
Apart from GPS there is no difference in both the canon models, which one should I opt for
Now tell me which is better among HX20V and Canon SX260/SX240 considering the price too.
He is not at all into photography, whichever I will suggest him he will buy that.
Is there any model in Nikon which can compete with the above sony and canon models.
And Nikon S9100 is available for around 12k, so considering the price do you think its a nice cam.

Note:-Canon SX240 is around 16-16.5k on ebay, and SX260 costs 1k more.
HX20V is around 21k.

 

[nac]

He's not into photography and I guess it's just for general use... So IXUS 220/230 will do. You just get extra zoom and exposure controls with SX260 and HX20V. If that's (zoom) what your friend wants, you friend would love HX20V for the extra frills it offers than the Canon.

 

[sujoyp]

Yaah I too thought the same...your friend will like the hx20 more...sony gives some nice features

 

[aroraanant]

What do you think of Nikon S9100 for only 11-12k

 

[sujoyp]

S9100 is not bad at all but I am personally not a big fan of nikon P&S....they r just plain
Nikon's software is not as user friendly as canon and sony..

I mean canon gives better controls and maybe best pic quality...sony have nice features

 

[nac]

S9100 is a nice cam but there are few things always make me to think about this cam... smaller aperture , Sensor based stabilization, no stabilization while recording videos, long exposure is not "long" enough...

Other than that, this cam produce good images...

 

[sujoyp]

thats nice nac...u have researched well ...

just for my information can u tell me which cam provide stabilization in video ?????

 

[marvelousprashant]

Why not Nikon Coolpix P7000? It is a really good camera if zoom is not your priority

Edit Saw Canon S95 for under 20k on flipkart. Best camera in terms of IQ

 

[sujoyp]

@prashant ... i wouldnt recommend a 1st time buyer any advance cam like p7000 or s95 specially when he is not in photography....better to get a nice zoom wala good cam...canon sx240 fits perfectly or sony hx20

 

[nac]

just for my information can u tell me which cam provide stabilization in video ?????

I just got this info when I was reading review of S9100. Since we can't find this info in spec sheet, we only get to know about this from reviews if we haven't tried that cam

My SX130 does have IS while recording video