Best compact camera - What to buy?

Nowadays it seems shopping for anything has become a real problem because as a wise buyer, you tend to look at product reviews first before buying something. This helps you to get something that is going to work as you're expecting it to but we're now faced with information overload as there are so many reviews for a single product on the Internet and so many different opinions from different people. This is what happened to me when I tried to look for a new compact digital camera to complement my dSLR.

I own a Nikon D5000 and I'm very happy with the dSLR but the major issue I had with it is that it's bulky, so it is a problem to carry everywhere and on top of that there are certain situations where you don't want to attract unnecessary attention to yourself with such an expensive kit. So I decided to get a Point & Shoot camera that would give me decent photos. Right from the start, I knew that I wanted a camera which would give me crisp pictures (sharp pictures rather than soft ones) and be able to perform rather well in low light conditions. I will use this camera indoors and as the lighting is not so good, the camera need to be able to deliver decent pictures even then. I know that outdoors won't be a problem because cameras tend to perform worse when there's a lack of lighting.

Reading a few photography review websites, I came across a few models that I thought were good candidates for what I was looking for. The specifications look right, the sample photos look alright but the comments were half and half. Some people said they bought the cameras and the photo quality were not great and this put me off straight away. Some recommended one model up the scale and I thought that okay, I was ready to spend around £150, but if I could get something better by adding another £50 to it, I might as well do that. However, even when I looked at more sophisticated models, I still saw people complaining about some features of the camera. I spent like a whole day doing my research till my head started hurting and I was already on the £250 mark! Then I thought I might as well get a dSLR if I keep going over my budget.

The problem is that there are so many comments of people who have bought one specific camera and are not satisfied with the results. Now they may or may not be professional photographers or they may just not know how to use the different settings to get the best pictures. Actually it could be many things and trying to get a product review which is 100% positive is going to be tough. So it's better to stick with one that looks decent. I finally narrowed down my search to just 2 models - Nikon Coolpix s9100 and Canon IXUS 220 HS.

The Nikon Coolpix s9100 had a bigger sensor which meant it could take better pictures in low light conditions but I was not particularly convinced it was that great and the price tag was a problem as well (£240). The Canon IXUS 220 HS on the other hand looked promising and after checking some sample pictures, especially those taken at night time, I was ready to make the purchase for my new compact camera. I bought it off Dixons at £165 and will be getting it in a couple of days' time.