Duckhunt,
When we were camera shopping; I went so far as to take our own SD memory card to Target and Best Buy, then took dozens of photos with several different cameras (short video clips too). We took the SD card home, reviewed those photos and video on our home computer, then selected the camera in our price range that provided the best photos/video. The interior of the Target store was well lit and Best Buy had a darker atmosphere, so we took photos in both environments using the same model of cameras when possible.
We purchased a Nikon Coolpix L840, you can get them for ~$170 most days if you watch the ads/sales. It's a bit larger than the S100, but I like that it uses AA batteries and I don't have to worry about finding an outlet in the wilderness to charge the "custom brick battery pack" (that comes with most cameras now days). My GPS and headlamp use AA batteries too, so I can standardize on spare batteries and mix/match as needed if I get in a jam. I use Lithium AA batteries (instead of regular AA) and they last for thousands of photos (your memory card will fill up before your batteries go dead). It has good optical and digital zoom capabilities; the picture and video quality are impressive for a $170.
It has multiple timer options for dead animal selfies if you're solo; I go so far as to use the timer when taking super long range photos because the pressure of my finger can sometimes make the picture blurry while using maximum zoom. Like any camera, it helps to keep the lens clean and use a tripod when shooting quality video or super long range photos. We did a Boundary Waters canoe trip in June; I shared my photos/video with another family in our group, they purchased a L840 the following month. Not that $170 is cheap, but I'm not afraid to use it around water or in snow/fog/rain knowing that it didn't cost me 500 or a thousand bucks.
Best of luck to you in your camera search - MDJ
