Think, think, think.

I'm in a pickle, peeps.

My old Kodak V1003 takes great pictures when there's a lot of natural light around, but when the sun goes down, it's like dead weight to me. The pictures are so dark and very much unlike the view I get from the LCD screen that I might as well carry a brick around with me.

Therefore, I'm shopping around for a much better model. I've shortlisted the candidates down to 3 cameras:

1. Canon IXUS 960IS



According to CNET ---

Good

Sleek design with titanium casing
Great image quality
Optical image stabilisation
Face detection

Optical viewfinder

Bad

No manual exposure controls
Slightly sluggish performance

Bottomline
Canon's Digital IXUS 960 IS looks great and can take very nice images, but the digital camera's whopping 12 megapixels will leave you waiting between shots.


2. Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5




According to dpreview.com --

Good
Very versatile 28-280mm equiv. zoom range
Excellent lens, good edge-to-edge sharpness and little distortion
High quality build, full metal body
Little (if any) color fringing
Good flash performance
White balance fine tune option
Feels fast and responsive in most situations
Quick and reliable focus
Excellent, bright, high-resolution 3.0-inch screen
Superb High Definition movie mode with 1280 x 720 pixel 30fps wide screen option
Optical zoom usable in movie mode
Effective image stabilization system
Ergonomic layout of external controls and buttons
Excellent on-screen menus and control system
Good resolution, generally clean output
Easy - and fun - to use

Bad
Heavy noise reduction at all ISO settings (although less than predecessor)
Smearing of fine detail (caused by NR) even at base ISO
Macro mode less effective than competitors'
Unreliable Auto WB performance under artificial light
Inconvenient location of the flash right next to hand grip
Occasional highlight clipping in high contrast scenes
Continuous shooting slower than predecessor
Focus slow down and occasional hunting in low light
Battery life not brilliant
Sound quality in movie mode not great

Bottomline
In conclusion the TZ5 is a versatile, user friendly photographic tool that can produce good results outdoors in decent light but struggles when it comes to taking pictures indoors and in low light (the flash performs quite well though). If you are looking for a travel or walkaround camera that is quick enough for the occasional spontaneous street shot and can also produce great quality HD video you should definitely have a closer look at the TZ5. If low light photography or indoor social snapping is more your thing or if you're into 'pixel-peeping' you might want to look out for alternatives.



3. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T70




According to CNET:

Good
Classy styling; giant touchscreen interface; non-existent shutter lag; decent battery life

Bad
Pointless 'smile shutter' feature; clunky zoom control
You might also need a cloth to clean off fingerprints



Bottomline
If touchscreen compacts are for you, then the classy Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T70 is for you. One of the comeliest compacts we've seen for a while, and respectably-featured with it. Pictures are decent, the shutter is fast enough to take your hand off and did we mention how pretty it is?

~oOo~oOo~oOo~oOo~oOo~oOo~

I'm personally leaning towards the Sony one as it's sooooo pretty.

*drool*

Besides, somebody has told me it's good for night shots (and I use my camera quite a lot during nights out so this is important to me).

HOWEVER, I am open to suggestions. So would y'all kindly help me out here?