Hey Blu,

While I'm far from an expert on the subject, I thought I'd put my .2 in.

As far as the small point and shoot digitals go, I've had a Nikon, Canon and Sony as well as a few "other" brands. Out of the first three, I felt my Sony Cybershot was a superior camera. I still have it and still love it. Love the pics, love the size and love how it feels in my hand which to me is really important.

Right now I'm trying to learn how to shoot with my new Nikon SLR which compared to small point and shoot digitals is a gargantuous monster but really is a beautiful and very impressive camera.

I guess there's a personal preference on the screen vs. viewfinder thing. Even with adding the Delkin popup shade (hood) it was pretty frustrating sighting through the 2.5" screen in bright sun or tropical shade. The buttons are tiny, too. Guess there are trade-offs for these pocket sized cameras. Besides that, though, I love that little Olympus Stylus 750. Even if I get a different camera I will still travel with it as I love it for indoor shots, macro and super macro for flowers, critters, etc., and it's multi-shooting modes for night shots with lights, fireworks. You can even shoot documents with this camera so it's come in handy at conferences - much easier to pack than a scanner - lol. It's all-weather, does little videos with sound and if pressed to use it for a landscape shot, I can always crop, etc., in software, as someone else mentioned. I got one of those gorilla-pod mounts which has come in handy for night shots, the videos, macro.

The zoom thing is where I get confused. The Olympus 750 has a 5X optical zoom; then there are cameras that have X amount optical zoom (lower number) and X amount digital zoom (higher number). Is that ultrazoom?? I have seen photos taken using the higher number digital zoom and they appeared fuzzy and grainy to me. That 12X optical zoom Kodak I mentioned before took beautiful zoom shots, as I mentioned, but it is 3X the camera to carry around.

MargyZ and Blu,

There's OPTICAL ZOOM and DIGITAL ZOOM, and most camera advertisements combine them to give you a total zoom, but OPTICAL is the only one that matters if you want clear shots for anything other than a web photo.

Ultrazoom cameras have 10X+ OPTICAL ZOOM, but you must have a camera with some kind of image stablization to take advantage of it, or else carry a tripod around all the time to steady the camera.

I carry my Canon ultrazoom camera all the time, but I bought a purse specifically to carry that AND my umbrella. The purse measures 12X6X4, and it always has 2 cameras, a cloth shopping bag, my phone, and my umbrella. If need be, I have a small shoulder camera case that can accommodate a camera if I decide to carry a tiny purse. I'm looking at getting some kind of dressy carrier so I can take the camera to dressy functions 🙂

Boy oh boy, am I glad that this post came up.
You can talk to salesmen on and on about cameras but, when it comes right down to it, getting
info from people who actually use them is so invaluable.
Thanks for the great input you guys!!

And, a dressy camera purse would also be nice, too.

OK ladies. Tomorrow I'll post photos of cameras in purses, LOL! But for now, I'm looking at one of my photo magazines. The Canon PowerShot SD750 looks small, has 10X optical zoom, 7.1 MP, image stablization, and is within Blu's price range of $500. Don't have dimensions for this camera, unfortunately.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 has similar specs, but is only $349.95 in the magazine. It might be a bit larger than the camera mentioned above, but it's still in the compact category.

I've read a lot of good things about the Panasonics (are they trying too hard to make us like this brand, I wonder?), so I went down to Boolchand's to check out a different Panasonic model. He took a picture, and I was underwhelmed with the shot as it looked in the LCD screen (so have them take pictures, or let you take a picture or two and then review it). The dimensions of this camera are 4.2HX2.37WX1.47D which should fit in any cute little bag!

The problem with newer models is few people have them, so it's hard to get a review from a layperson. The only thing I can suggest is that you try them out in stores like Ritz or whatever.

ms411, that's the one I am seriosuly considering now - the Canon 750. There's also an 800 series that also looks good.

I really appreciate everyone's help with this.

Can't wait to see your "cameras in purses" exhibit 🙂

Now, to shop for a sale!

Blu, the ones on www.pbase.com/promoguy101 in the gallery of 2007 were all taken with the 800. The underwater pix also. I am very impressed with this camera which at first thought ah gee after looking at a 750.00 camera.

do a websearch. Do not go by what the camera stores say. Go the the forums and read what owners say about their camera. If you need a link to a site www.photo-forums.com and search for that model

Also http://www.dpnotes.com/canon-powershot-a710-is-vs-canon-powershot-sd800-is/

I've been very satisfied dealing with these folks:

http://www.beachcamera.com/shop/home.aspx

Well, unless someone can tell me how to post photos into the message like "pics" did, I won't be able to show the camera in a cute little beaded bag. It's just way too much trouble to post it on a website or photo sharing site.

But, the Canon A540 fits perfectly in a 4X6 beaded wristlet bag, and that's not the smallest camera around.

I also have a mother-of-pearl bag that can accommodate that camera, a cell phone, and my change purse.

I also have a beaded clutch that carries all of the above.

I always have a camera, and I shop for bags with that in mind. Camera chic - that's me!

I shoot professionally with both film and digital Canon cameras. from what I've read, Canon has the best selection of point-and-shoot digi cams and some of them are top-rated. But be warned, Canon is infamous for packaging a good camera with some really crappy accessories and calling it a "bundle". I've found they usually aren't worth much more than just buying the camera on its own.

What does one do about recharging a digital battery abroad? Do you have to carry an adapter? Thanks

Rebecca - I like to buy cameras that take AA batteries so I don't have to worry about that on vacation, I have a Canon point and shoot and a Pentax dSLR, both of which take AA's. I buy the lithium batteries which last much longer than standard AA's. I know some people bring their rechargeable AA's which generally get even more shots than lithiums but they bring lithiums as a backup.