I like the better low light noise performance than the S95 & if it really has a built in in GPSS that is nice also.

I don't really care about the movie abilities.

I suspect it will be much more spendy than the S95, and the latter might continue on.

Not that much more. They can be pre-ordered on Amazon now for $429. S95's are currently running about $370

Amazon.com: Canon PowerShot S100 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black): Camera & Photo

ok, sounds like it will replace the 95 then

I've already used the S95 I bought so likely too late to send it back.

I can use it to practice getting used to Canon's "backwards" lens zooming...

Well, I haven't pulled the trigger yet. I've been watching the reviews of the S100 on Amazon and they are not good. Consensus appears to be that the S95 is a better camera and now its price has dropped to $289. Complaints center around image quality, white balance and battery life.

In the end many (though not all) of the "reviews" have little to do with reality or actual use of the camera. Instead there are a lot of people who love to pixel peep and rant endlessly about minutiae.

Most modern cameras take ridiculously good pictures. I think that form factor and focal length are probably your primary concerns. I like the S95 for $289. The LX5 was also on sale for about that at Amazon recently. Flip a coin.

absolutely true - that Krockwell guy is one of the worst, tho I like to read his blog

Look at it from this view(finder): what does the S100 have that the S95, S90 does not have?

do you really want the GPS? what else?

PS - they all have poor battery life - you are shoehorning a lot of chips and a flash into a tiny body

Point and shoot? simple....Iphone. No need for any under $300 point and shoot if you have one.
I would then recommend an LX5, S100 or X-Z1 for compact or the Olympus or Pana micro 4/3s.

check here for spirited debates and serious reviews:

http://www.dpreview.com/

We love our old and simple Canon PowerShot SD1000

Casio12.1 Exilim has been very nice. Cheap but good pics.

Lx-5

I think the forums at dpreview are probably populated by the highest percentages of tools and fools that I've ever seen. There are some good/smart people there but the signal to noise ratio is incredibly low.

A far saner place imho: The GetDPI Photography Forums - Powered by vBulletin

Not nearly as big but the people there actually shoot instead of obsess over pixels.

Picked up the S100 a few weeks ago. Love it. Even I can take good picks now.

I was looking into the same thing. At that price point the competition between the brands is pretty fierce. I was looking for the best optical zoom and good quality picture at a reasonable price. The standouts in this field are the Panasonic Lumix ZS8 and ZS10 because they both have 16X optical zoom with image stability. The difference is that the ZS10 has more features - it has a touch screen viewer, HD video, faster burst modes, and GPS. The XS8 has the same lenses, a slightly better processor that gives better quality still pictures in some circumstances, and longer battery life.

Here is an excellent review of the two with comparisons to the Canon and Sony competitors.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ18 / ZS8 design | Cameralabs

The best part is that both are significantly reduced price at Best Buy


Product Detail - Compare Page

The ZS8 is usually $279, now it is $148 online at Best Buy's website. If you go into the store it's $220, but they price-match it to the Bestbuy.com site. You have to ask, but they'll look it up and do it if you ask.

The ZS10 is usually $349 but is on sale for $249. Both are screaming good deals, although I think you can get the ZS10 about $20 cheaper from BH Photo in New York, if you're willing to depend only on mail delivery and are willing to wade through their upsell pitches to get to the actual camera.

+1 LX-5

I just scored when I bought one when Amazon had it for $269 to replace my old Fuji F31 (anyone want to buy it?) and I suspect that it will perform well once I better understand it. I plan to purchase the electronic viewfinder.

Just don't look through the EVF on the new Sonys (a65/a77/NEX-7/accessory for NEX-5n). You won't want to buy the panny one after that. Problem is the add-on Sony is like $300 just for the EVF.

LX5 is a really good camera, mostly due to the fast glass (especially for a p&s). Having f2 @ 24mm with OIS is damn useful in low light situations. fwiw I'm not crazy about super zooms in general and with a p&s in particular as you lose a fair amount of image quality trying to shove that much zoom into a really short distance. I think that 24-90 and 28-105 are a good "sweet spot" for a small camera. Both the LX5 and S95 are f2 at the wide end.

Thanks for the heads-up; I had no plan to look for anything but the Panasonic EVF and I suspect that I'll even wait to purchase one of those as this will be mostly used as a backup/go to quickly camera while backpacking/climbing.

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all with a panasonic lx-5