Yeah, this is possibily dead in the water - but Don't go with Nikons that are sub 1000 IMO. Nikon is not in the market for point and shoot cameras, or even in the mirrorless game with their weak introduction of the 1 series. Don't get me wrong, they can be fine cameras, but there are better cameras in the price range specified. Vince nailed it on the head - Canon Digital Elph series is what I carried around with me and used for my photographs for AGES, even still when I don't feel like carrying around 3-5k in equipment just for a hike, I'll throw a Canon SD1200 IS in my bag and be done with it! Great macro range, and over all sharp images (unless you pixel peep but I don't assume you will be).


I took this at midnight in the middle of the jungles of Belize standing in waste deep water with a Canon SD870 IS with onboard flash only. It can be a powerful pocket camera with impressive results, heck I even did a print 20x30 for someone from a shot with that camera! Give it a very strong consideration. If you want more picture control though, or the option to use external flashes consider the G series, but unless you find a used G11, they will be just out of your budgets range. However, they would be well worth it if you plan on doing any video work.

Good luck, feel free to PM me any questions you may run into!