Olympus 550 or the 560 when it is released.
18x optical zoom, great pricture quality, decent macros. very nice

Hey Joe,

Will they clash with my high heal shoes. Just kidding!

When will they be released? Soon I hope.

Eric

The 550 is out already, the 560 should be out in October. You plan on staying with the Point and Shoot?

It will definitely match the shoes, it is the apron I would be more concerned about! ;)

Zjoe

Here is a link that might be useful: press release

That Olympus looks reaaaally nice. Olympus photo quality is awesome.

Just to muddy the waters, I've been seeing some beautiful shots from the Panasonic Lumix FZ50. And the FZ18 (with the 18x zoom) is due this month.

Joe,

Back to the camera!

No, I'd like the manual settings also.

Eric

That camera is 'eye candy' for me.

I.M.O....I would go with the Canon, Image Quality are a tad nicer.
Konrad

I think there are about equal. Overall for the money the Olympus is a better deal.

Konrad,

What camera do you have?

Eric

Hi Eric!
We firmly believe in the Canon...but don't go by what I say, please study and look at images.
Perhaps they have gotten better now?
It sure looks like you get a bigger bang for your bucks on this Olympus, with 18x optical zoom but, I like to see the overall performance also, the Canons are known to be very sturdy and reliable!
Not sure if you want to go with a SLR like mine, it's a Rebel XT
My Wife has the point and shoot, S2IS, very similar to S5 IS, we love this Camera!
Konrad

The S2IS does make some nice pictures, most people think that the S3 was not any better than the S2.

Each brand has it's pros and cons. Under $200 it really anyone's guess. There are so many cameras are in this category, there are decent cameras in this category. You get what you pay for though.

People are loyal to their equipment, I have owned camera from Nikon, Canon, Fuji and Olympus. I have been the most please with the Olympus. I have not own any recent Nikons or Fujis, just messed with them at stores or borrowed form friends.

For Point and Shoots, I really do think the picture quality is going to be the same in the Canon and Olympus, but the Oly offers more for the money.

SLRs- I had the Canon XT, and the Oly E500. The Canon has the better 'low light' performance, not question about it. How 99% of my pictures are not in low light environments. This where the Olympus out performed the Canon- regualr light. The colors from the Oly were so much more accurate. My wife and I would shoot the same subjects with both camera and I found myself editing the Canon's picture to match the clarity and colors of the Oly.
SIDENOTE- this is with the kit lenses! The glass in front the sensor plays a huge role in the clarity of the picture. Canon's higher end lenses would outperform the Oly kits lens. AS IT SHOULD, especially when you pay $1000+ for one lens.

Nikon, Olympus and Canon all make great cameras. You should play with each yourself and see what you like the best. Hold it , take pictures with it in the store. I like my Olympus camera more than my Canon, but my dream camera, right now, is Nikon D80.

02¢
Zjoe

Olympus SP-560UZ do out in October?

Why does Amazon have them now? Am I missing something?

Eric

Here is a link that might be useful: Olympus SP-560UZ

Dah!

To answer my own question. They are taking pre-orders.

Also everytime I visit Amazon.com, their site closes all my other browser windows. That's enough to piss one off!

Eric

eric, before buying check out the Panasonic FZ18 at $382.00. I have a Panasonic 12x, 5 mp(can't remember the model)bought in 2005 with the Leica lens that takes pretty good photos. This new FZ18 has a 18x wide angle stabilized zoom and 8.1 mp. Still better a 3.2x telephoto lens available for $79.95. That adds 3 times the zoom to an 18x zoom lens. This will be my Christmas present to myself this year. Lookout birds and wildlife, you won't hide from me now.

I've got the Canon Power Shot S2 IS. The price on this one has fallen to under $500 since the S3 is out. If you see and S1 for sale, don't bother - the later models are much better.

I like the camera with exceptions; It has a lot of good features and a couple of bad ones. It does not have an optical viewfinder, but I don't think you'll find a long zoom digital with an optical view finder - Its too difficult to make an effective (range finder type) view finder for telephoto more than 3X. (Of course, if you go above the $500 price barrier, there are Single Lens Reflex Digital cameras that gives through the lens viewing. In general, the sensor area is larger permitting improved picture quality, but will have a hit on zoom range. Typical zoom ranges are 3 to 1 because the lense has to cover a much larger sensor. Also, dust getting on the sensor is a problem for SLRs.) The Canon Photo Shot S2 IS has an electronic viewer only. This is fine for mid to low level lighting, but fails in bright sunny out-of-doors. The camera brightnes the image to an amazing degree in low light right down to where picture taking is ineffective for this camera. But the view darkens as the scene increases in brightness. They didn't know when to quit and made the viewer too dim in bright light - an oversight that seems unfathomable for such a nice camera. Examime this feature before buying. It may have been fixed in the S3.

The second problem was that its default settings cause burnout of highlights in situations that other cameras handle with ease. It took a series of test shots for me to home in on what worked for me. I found that boosting the ASA from 80 to 100, and reducing the exposure by 1/3 f-stop worked wonders in eliminating the burnout problem. I get decent pictures with these settings without sacrificing other picture elements.

I recommend that you look at the Panasonic FZ and compare. According to tests made 2 years ago, the Panasonic made a little better picture, but the adjustment and available buttons on the Canon were better.

Starting with the Canon S2 IS, a new fast processor was installed. Time from on to ready for snapping a picture is very fast. Some magazine reviews may complain that there is a 2 sec wait between shots, but this is a default setting to allow you to view the shot you just made so that you can decide if you need to re-shoot. This delay is adjustable.

You won't need to carry a bag full of lenses with the Canon's 12X zoom. Anything more than 3X zoom requires high shutter speeds or a camera support.

The Canon S2 IS has maximum aperature of f/2.7 at the wide angle end and an amazing f/3.5 at the long end of the zoom.

I would have liked it if the Canon had started at a bit wider angle and sacrificed the long end for it. I have been in plenty of situations where the wide end wasn't quite enough.

I'm finding Canon S3 and S5 on-line for $350 and $400. I loved my old A85 (lost it last week!) so I've been looking at newer Canons all day. Looking at a few other brands as well. I'm really struggling with the decision between a higher end P&S and a lower end DSLR. I'm willing to spend some money on this purchase but can't afford the $1000+ of most DSLRs.

Kate

I finally decided, after handling every camera in several stores, and purchased the Canon S3 IS yesterday. I am so excited to have a new camera with new buttons to play with! I was all set to buy the S5 but once I handled it I discovered a couple things I didn't like. The S3 just fit better and the controls all seemed to be in the right spots for my hands. Then I found it on sale (new and in the box, not a floor model) for $280 and that settled it!

that is a hard deal to beat, post some PICS! enjoy your new camera