Replacement digital camera advice
 

I lost my Cybershot P93 over the weekend, and would like to find a replacement 5MP camera. My only real requirements are the fact that it should run off of AA batteries and have cheap memory (I'd like to go CF) and gets awesome battery life.

Sorry, I only have a 3MP Olympus so I don't have a recommendation for the camera but regarding your requirement for "awesome battery life" I doubt that any digital cameras fit that bill. If you don't already use rechargeables you should definitely consider getting a charger and enough batteries to power the camera 3 or 4 times. My camera only takes 2 AA so 8 batteries are usually more than sufficient unless I am on a long trip in which case I travel with the charger too (they are pretty small).

We're looking around now too, for a 4-5MP and we also want one to run on AA batteries (I'll be spending 10 days in the arctic this fall a LONG way from anywhere I could recharge anything :) )

I think we'll be getting one of the Olympus models - have always been very pleased with their 35MM point and shoots.

A friend recently got a Sony 5MP. Quality and all seems very good, but it takes a real funky looking rechargable battery which appears to be something that would be expensive to buy a couple extras.

"Awesome battery life" to me is about 150 per set of batteries. The Cybershot had awesome rechargeables, but I'm looking at an extended trip where I'll just drop a lot of AA's into the camera.

Have a look at the Sony DSC-W1. 5MP, medium-sized.. comes with AA rechargeables.

check out canon
 

Check out the canon A85 or A90. Very small, uses CF, AA batteries, and can use AA NIHM or other batteries. Fast, nice camera, just bought another one for my father.

After months of research I ended up with a Fuji E550.

Best in loads of tests, very large screen, good zoom, extremely fast camera and amazing image quality. It is a 6Mp camera that supports 12mp interpolation.

Costco has them for just $349 with a free accessory pack.

Here's another vote for the Canon models. I just bought one myself, based on recommendations of several friends and family members. Based on your criteria, this should fit the bill.

I have an Olympys 10x ultra zoom and love it. It's one of the older (if you can use that term for digitals) ones, but should something happen to it, I'll buy another one.

Here's what I have:

Cannon A80. When my warranty expires, I can send in my old one and $150 and they'll send me a factory reconditioned one with 6 month warranty.

2500 mAh rechargeable Energizer AA batteries.

Battery charger for wall/car for $16 at walmart.

I would recommend this setup any day.

I just ordered this mad dog about 10 mins ago. $315 shipped from Newegg.

sony vs. canon, nikon
 

I like the sony's, and they make GREAT high end cameras as well, but I really hate the memory stick format and prefer CF for cameras.

You won't find a single high end pro camera that uses SD or memory stick. I wonder why?

begins and ends with the Canon A95.... I can't speak highly enough about this camera... ^ ^ ^

Yet another vote for the Canon's -- I have one an it's been great.

I figured you could at least reuse the memory stick from your old Sony.

FWIW, the Canon 1Ds Mark II pro camera records to SD (and CF).

Agree with you on Memory stick sentiments: :td:

About a year ago I was researching my options and settled for the Pentax Optio S40

I have been extremely happy with this little camera, from ergonomics to picture quality. I strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a compact camera. It has 3x optical zoom, uses SD cards and 2 AA batteries.

Pentax also has the 5MP version of this, the Optio S50

Again, another vote for Canon.

I couldn't be more pleased with this company. I have a digital camera, scanner and printer from Canon, and all have worked perfectly.

The Canon A95 should do the trick - it's 5 mp, runs on AA batteries, uses CF, and so far has had decent battery life for me.

Only downside - which can also be an upside - lots of different options on the camera. It'll take a little time to learn them all.

Because every decent High-end camera takes photos so big that you need a Microdrive to store them.

good catch
 

good catch, is does do both. I never caught this one on the radar though, other than reading how great it is.

It missed my radar, since I drew the line at 3000$ for body only. Looks like MKII pro is going for over that today, WELL over that.

still prefer CF though,

Not sure (as I only have the lowly 10D :) ), but I believe it simultaneously writes the jpg to the sd card and the raw file to the CF.

I'll let you know for sure as soon as I hit the powerball ;)

Another vote for Canon, but...
 

...my kid's A60 sensor went belly-up after just over one year.

That's the bad news.

The good news: Canon's customer service is awesome. They have an upgrade policy that got a reconditioned A70 for $150++. Not necessarily a great price, but the reconditioned model looked brand new. That one had a minor problem (shutter cover wouldn't open all the way), and customer service sent another one along with a CF card for my trouble.

Also good: uses AAs. Lots of manual options, or just set to auto.

But...I find the camera just slightly too small! If you want something for pocket/snaps, get the Optio, as someone else suggested. It's really tiny. If you want serious pix, consider a digital SLR.