First think of how you will be using this camera:
- Do you use if mainly indoors or outdoors?
- How mobile must the camera be? Many people think DSLR cameras are the bomb until they find themselves not hauling the camera around because it's too big and bulky, so really carefully consider this.
- How rough will it be used? To have with you on a backpacking trip through the Alps or to make a family picture when you're having dinner with family or friends - in other words, do you need a rugged, waterproof camera or will it be treated like a puppy.
- What do you make pictures of? Do you want to make pictures of your subject as a whole or photograph their details - and does your subject barely fit in your own eye-sight or is it a tiny dot in your sight? This is to determine what kind of lens is most suited for you... A wide angle lens, one that can zoom in far, and/or one that can make macro pictures.
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Are your subjects static objects or not? (Ok, you pretty much mentioned you want a quick auto-focus, but I'm just putting it in here).
- Do you expect you will be expanding your camera gear with things like lenses, flashes, tripods etc, or do you want one unit to do all the work out of the box? Keep costs in mind here, and that mobility decreases when the amount of accesoires increases. Also, you can consider here whether you want one unit/camera that's versatile or want to be able to adjust your camera to it's optimum specification for the pictures you are taking at that very moment.
- Do you want to take pictures looking through a viewfinder or looking onto a screen? This one is essential - I for one can't stand looking at a screen making pictures or videos but for many people it is like second nature to hold the apparatus away from them.
- How much knowledge do you have on camera settings? A camera can very adjustable, but if you are not going to use those manual adjustments or don't know how to use them, you are better off finding a camera that does this work extremely well for you.
And the last question:
- Do your demands for the camera match those of your wife?
I understand you want a camera for RC photography and one that your wife can use. Perhaps it's tactical to answer this list of questions above for both yourself and your wife... Then soon enough you'll know how realistic it is that you can find one camera that will work for the both of you, or where you might need to compromise to make one camera work for the both of you.
As for brands... I founds brands to be utterly deceiving when it comes to a benchmark of quality. It really depends on the demands you have (list of questions I asked), the price class (cheap cameras even from renowned brands are not necessarily any good) and the specific model (so read some reviews before you buy).
I hope this helps a bit
