Choosing a Camera

[Scorpiоn]

When I buy my cameras, I anticipate buying one for special outings (museum, airshow, anything where I anticipate a good, long photo series) and one to always have in my pocket for those unanticipated events.  And mind you I don't wear jeans, but pants (or trousers, before Foz starts laughing again).

I've already nailed the former as the Panasonic FZ7 (silver/black), but the latter is proving to be hard to research.    Right now I'm leaning a lot toward Canon, and the SD30 has got my eye at the moment.  I'm looking to spend 250-350 USD.  More than anything, and high on my list of priorities is a macro mode and no horrible compression.  So far my mixture of DPreview, CNet and Amazon has yeilded mixed results.  Any suggestions?

[Rifleman]

For more in-depth reviews, you can so to Steves

I've used his findings on many occasions for assistance in research......

[Tweek]

DPreview (as you mentioned) helped me in getting my camera. It noted its strengths and weaknesses, and all those have turned out to be right. Seemed pretty accurate to me!

[Mushroom_Farmer]

You might also check out e-pinions. They have consumer feedback, which can be a good source of non-biased opinions.
It could also be a bunch of morons complaining about products they don't know how to operate, your call.  ;D

[Mobius]

I just got a Pentax Optio W10, and I really like it.  It's a small camera that is waterproof and dustproof, so it's alright if it gets rained on or in the dirt or something, it even takes pictures under-water.  Take a look at my BWCA shots for the quality (which I think is great for a $200 camera) HERE.  But I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for, but if it is, it's a great little camera.

Pentax Optio W10

[Scorpiоn]

Alas, Steve's Digicams was just the site I needed.  There were a lot of good cameras, but none of them gripped me my the cash and prizes and demanded to be bought.  The Sony DSCT5 changed all that.