fuji prosumer is great but no IS, other brands like canon and panasonic very noisy, better go dslr straight, Canon EOS 350D w/18-55 II Kit cost only rm2k.

really dependant on the camera model you're buying. not sure how much spare one costs? RM80?

s6500fd might have a manual zoom lens, but does not have image stabilizer & uses AA... you might want to weigh that as well. Yes, AA tends to lose juice, but then there's Eneloop, and a recent few others that claim to have long discharge times...

The RM1600 I quoted for the FZ-18 is RSP as reported by the magazine... should be up to a couple of hundred RM cheaper if you know where and how to get good deals and bargain.

Also, ask yourself, between now and next month, how much are you willing to pay extra to be able to learn to use it earlier vs waiting for its natural market price drop? Especially when you need to practise for a critical event like taking shoots at someone's wedding or some official event? Assume it's like paying for training.

As a rule, I try to get a new piece of equipment at least 1 month before any important planned usage so that I may have enough time to discover if it's a faulty product and exchange it or have it repaired in time.

ur budget suite can buy the pro-sumer camera like canon powershot S5 IS .. really good cam