I'm not a photography enthusiast, nor am I particularly knowledgeable about cameras, but I do like to take pictures of wildlife when hiking, visiting parks and even looking out from the back patio or windows. In other words, I need some decent zoom capability. On the other hand, I am not interested in manually focusing, setting f stops (whatever those are) or fiddling with all the other settings that real photographers love to play with. What I am looking for is an affordable (less than $400?) point and shoot that won't take weeks to figure out. Anyone out there of a similar mind that has found their perfect camera?
I can't offer any specific recommendation as I haven't bought a new camera in years. However, there is no perfect camera for all needs. DSLR's, point and shoots, and action cameras all serve different functions.
If you plan to do a lot of hiking and outdoor photography, you may want to look at waterproof cameras such as the Panasonic TS7 and Olympus TG-6. They're built to take a beating and can work fine out in the rain, snorkeling in the ocean, tossed in a backpack, or a few drops onto the ground. You won't get the zoom range or image quality some other cameras may offer, but they're more rugged for outdoor use.
On the other hand, if you're primarily bird watching or photographing wildlife from a distance you'll want to limit your search to cameras with a large zoom range.
Most point and shoot cameras have tiny image sensors, but you'll get better quality from larger sensors if you can find them.
If you plan to shoot any video, I would look for a camera with 4K capability. Even if you only need 1080P HD, the 4K gives you resolution to stabilize, crop, and resize without losing too much detail.
There are tons of camera guides out there. Just search Google for "best camera for...".