I am looking for a nice, 12 MP 20+x optical zoom camera for $400 or less. I have narrowed it down to these two. I want a comparison of pros and cons. The three things that I absolutely DO NOT care about are battery life, internal memory, and user friendliness (to a point). I need enough user friendliness that I can figure out how to use everything, but even that is not top priority, because I can figure out even the hardest to read user manuals. I actually find that, often, too much user friendliness means that it has less advanced features. As for internal memory, I have a 16 GB SD card waiting to be used, so I could really care less. For battery life, I have always had problems with battery life with my cameras, so I am used to dealing with that. That should be last priority (but it's above internal memory, which gets absolutely no priority). Price is not a factor in my decision unless you can find me an insane deal (like over $100 off) for one of them. Now, for what I DO care about. Focusing ability and sharpness of the image are big factors for me. I am slightly partial to the Nikon because it had 24x optical compared to the Canon's 20x. However, if the Nikon can't make use of its full 12.1MP because it has issues with focus or image sharpness, which I have heard a little bit about for both, I would prefer the Canon. Also, I don't know which one has a wider angle when zoomed all the way out, but that is a bit of a factor. Another big factor, slightly above the focusing ability, is the capability. Which one has more functions? I'm not just referring to the little symbols on the wheel at the top, I want to know about how each setting is, and how much room there is for user input. I like to make use of my camera to the full extent of its capabilities, so if they are even in their focusing ability, but the Canon can do twice as much as the Nikon, I want the Canon. However, I don't care about trivial things, like being able to shoot with different color schemes, or anything like that that I could just simulate with PhotoShop later. If one is significantly more capable than the other, that will probably be a deciding factor. If you have had both, tell me which one you have found to be more capable. Also, if you feel like you have not even discovered all of the capabilities of the camera, mention that, along with how long you've had the camera. The best answers will be extremely thorough reviews of each camera, which one you think is better, and why you think that. I want some answers from people with the Canon, because I know that the Nikon is more popular. Finally, if you give experiences you've had with your camera, positive and negative, including pros and cons that really jump out to you when you use the camera, that would be extremely helpful.
I'm sorry to be so lengthy in my description of what I want to consider, but I really want to get the most I can from my camera, and it is so hard to get around the advertisements and the public momentum and really see what the best product available is.