"Jane Galt" wrote in message
. ..
I'd like to consider a newer purse sized Coolpix. I have the 4500 which is
nice, but not exactly purse sized.

I like to do a bit of low-light shooting without flash, so it looks like
the
S8000 isnt up to that, though the 10x optical zoom sounds nice.

I enjoy mostly scenery and non-flash shots of our shoulder pet birds.

My purse cam is now a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S750 but the image quality isnt
as
nice as the Coolpix. I suspect Nikon makes better quality lenses?

So suggestions?

I need to keep this in the under $300 street price range.

Of the current crop of Coolpixes, the S640 looks about the best for your
purposes. Its lens is a relatively fast f/2.7 at the short end and it also
has Nikon's "4-way VR" -- both of which will help in low-light shooting. The
"4-way VR" is actually a combination of optional features and includes
Nikon's exclusive Best Shot Selector feature, by itself a big help in
low-light shooting (BSS lets you hold the shutter release down for up to 10
shots, then saves the sharpest one; since slow-shutter-speed shots usually
vary a lot in sharpness, this helps a great deal). Also part of the "4-way
VR" is the camera's offering auto ISO settings up to 6400 -- great for low
light, though at the cost of increased noise. I have found high-ISO settings
very useful in Coolpixes despite the increased noise, but I may be more
tolerant of noise in photos than some other people.

I don't have that particular model myself so can't speak about it from
experience, but I do have a gaggle of other relatively recent Coolpixes and
have consistently fine results from them all. The S640 has a MSRP of
$219.95, so street price should certainly be no more than that. And it is
very compact -- no problem at all for your purse, you could carry two or
three there if you wanted to.