kitelights
Flashlight Enthusiast
The Panasonic referred to earlier is the TZ3, not the T3. It's the 2nd generation of the original TZ1, acclaimed compact super zoom. There's also a TZ2, with a few less features than the TZ3.
You haven't specified how small a camera you're looking for. The ultra small compacts are very handy and cool, but are limited to fairly limited zooms and small CCDs. Kinda like very small flashlights. If you step up just a tad, you can get much more camera (and light). I haven't researched it this year, but last year and I think that it still holds this year, the TZ3 (&1) is still the most compact super zoom. Much more so than even the Canon 530/40 b/c it's much slimmer so it's easier and more comfortable to pocket. The lens quality is far superior to any of the smaller Canons, and I like Canon.
Geepondy made a comment about Optical Image Stabilization and I fully agree with it. Don't consider a small camera w/o it. Panasonic invented it and they include it on every one of their DSCs.
Panasonic has done an impressive job with their lineup for the last 2-3 years, yet they get little recognition in the consumer market. They're well worth a serious look.
You haven't specified how small a camera you're looking for. The ultra small compacts are very handy and cool, but are limited to fairly limited zooms and small CCDs. Kinda like very small flashlights. If you step up just a tad, you can get much more camera (and light). I haven't researched it this year, but last year and I think that it still holds this year, the TZ3 (&1) is still the most compact super zoom. Much more so than even the Canon 530/40 b/c it's much slimmer so it's easier and more comfortable to pocket. The lens quality is far superior to any of the smaller Canons, and I like Canon.
Geepondy made a comment about Optical Image Stabilization and I fully agree with it. Don't consider a small camera w/o it. Panasonic invented it and they include it on every one of their DSCs.
Panasonic has done an impressive job with their lineup for the last 2-3 years, yet they get little recognition in the consumer market. They're well worth a serious look.
