jpsuper, I have to respectfully disagree.
I, too, have stayed out of these auto/manual discussions in the past, but I get a little worked up when people make comments like "a sports car isn't a sports car unless it's a stick."
So you're telling me the new Ferarri F430 with the sequential gear box isn't a sports car? It pulls off upshifts in 25 milliseconds. That's .025 seconds. I doubt you, or anyone else on the planet, could even come close to that.
Venom, PLEASE don't make your decision based off opinions like that. That's analogous to saying "a pick up truck isn't a REAL pick up truck unless it's lifted with 44" tires." A lifted truck doesn't suit everyone's wants or needs. People who tell you you're less of a man or your car is less of a car because you drive an automatic are compensating for something and looking for affirmation of their "coolness" from others because they are, in their mind, in an elite group who possess the oh-so-rare talent of being able to drive a stick.
That being said, a stick can make you feel like you're in more control of the car. It gives you faster response in acceleration because you don't have to wait for the transmission to downshift, but this shouldn't be a problem in the Camaro's TapShift auto because you can select the gear you want. It also gets more power to the wheels, but not enough for the average joe to notice.
It can also make you look like a fool. If you're starting on a steep hill at a stop light with a car behind you, and you don't let the clutch out fast enough and you roll into the car behind you, you look like a jackass. If you let it out too fast and stall, you look like a jackass. If you're not particularly smooth at starting and shifting, your passengers will make fun of you. Probably not to your face, but definitely in their heads. Your girlfriend would probably appreciate NOT having her head jerked back and forth between gear changes and at stop lights.
There are pros and cons. It all comes down to PERSONAL preference. Don't listen to your father or anyone on this forum. Go and test drive both versions. Or find friends with manuals. Better yet, try and talk your dad into letting you drive his Porsche (SWEET!). Drive it around for a couple hours and see what you think. My Z-71 is a manual. I grew up with it and that's what I'm used to. I don't even notice shifting in stop and go traffic. The only time it's a hassle is when I'm eating or talking on the phone (I know, I'm the cause of half the wrecks in the world, I'm sorry!). But I know a lot of people who hate being bothered with shifting, while I know others who enjoy it. I say get a reasonable amount of seat time in a manual and THEN make your decision. Because it's just that. YOUR decision.