I highly recommend the Canon S100. It is the biggest chip in the smallest package available. I walked around with it in my jeans pocket in Buenos Aires recently. Image quality is excellent, untouched IMO for a camera its size. Movie quality shockingly good too. And the UI/controls are really good for something its size, you have a lot of control.
Is an optical zoom power of 10 or even 15 a desirable feature in a compact digital camera?
What is the power zoom (X) on the Canon S100?
I also own a TS3 and have been very pleased. It's underwater performance is exceptional and it has very good metering for a P&S (underwater housing available if you want to go deeper than 40ft). HD video quality is on par or better than my friend's FlipHD (the flash can act as a continual light for video). The ruggedized / waterproof cameras seem to be about a generation behind the higher end P&S cameras in terms of technology. This is a worthwhile trade off for me given my travel style. My only minor nitpick is that it doesn't take standard AA batteries... this may be a problem if you're in a remote area or country with a dead Panasonic battery (plus you need to haul the charger around). IMO hauling extra gear defeats the purpose of a P&S camera.Hi Ding,
I'm guessing you want something compact but also durable. It's a vacation camera after all. Now I know you do everything from Ice Fishing to lots of tropical destinations. I would recommend the Lumix DMC TS3. I'm a Nikon guy but this camera beat the living daylights out of the Nikon's similarly priced all weather camera. It would give a lot of non-ruggedized pocket cameras a run for their money as well. In any case you've still got your Canon DSLR and all your lenses. I think this camera will not leave you very disappointed at all. It will capture many a moment well enough, even low light ones.
Jack
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