Alas, my trusty Canon A70, which weathered three trips to Burning Man, was finally done in by the damp of the recent rainstorm, so now I'm looking at replacing my digital camera in time for our trip to Italy. The A70 was a nearly perfect camera. I'm hoping to find a camera similar to it, but with better low-light performance, better optical zoom, faster operation, and (maybe) image stabilisation. 3 megapixel resolution is sufficient for my needs. I'm trying to keep cost below $500. I'm considering:
Advice?