The tale of 2 cameras - Which to choose?

[Mike Temporale]

My older Canon S400 is starting to fail. It's been acting up since around September of '05, and it's seems to be getting worse. The problems I'm having seem to be very common with this model as you can see here. (http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=canon+s400+memory+error&meta=) I'm not willing to pay the $300 to Canon for repairs. Thus, I'm thinking that it's time to for a replacement.

I've narrowed the list down to a couple devices. Basically, I want small, quick to focus and shot, and a really good CCD. The two camera's I have are the Canon SD600 (http://www.henrys.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ItemsDisplay?itemID=167365&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&departmentId=10404&categoryId=10901&order=ASC&sortKey=default) and the Nikon Coolpix S3 (http://www.henrys.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ItemsDisplay?itemID=156803&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&departmentId=10404&categoryId=10901&order=ASC&sortKey=default)

Does anyone have any other camera's that fit into this category? or any thoughts on these two devices - like which one they would prefer? I'm not sure I'm ready for another Canon. I think their QA department has fallen asleep at the wheel. However, I've never owned and know nothing about Nikon cameras. Suggestions?

[Damion Chaplin]

I've been looking at the Olympus Stylus 720SW (http://thoughtsmedia.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php?masterid=17247327) lately. Seems like a really nice camera. Quick start-up, great pics and best of all waterproof! The only con I can think of would be that stupid XD card format. But if Memory Stick didn't stop me from buying Sony cameras, XD won't keep me from Olympus either.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Casio EX-Z850/750 (750 is still the nicer camera; just remember to decrease the default in-camera sharpening, saturation and contrast levels)
Fuji Finepix Z3
Fuji Finepix F30 (Awesome high ISO capability; if you can live with its size and the memory card format, this is my choice)
Panasonic DMC-FX-01
Pentax Optio S6

[Mike Temporale]

I've been looking at the Olympus Stylus 720SW (http://thoughtsmedia.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php?masterid=17247327) lately. Seems like a really nice camera. Quick start-up, great pics and best of all waterproof! The only con I can think of would be that stupid XD card format. But if Memory Stick didn't stop me from buying Sony cameras, XD won't keep me from Olympus either.

Waterproof?!? Cool.... I've got a pile of SD cards so it seems like a waste to get a camera with another memory card format, but waterproof is pretty nice feature.

[Mike Temporale]

Casio EX-Z850/750 (750 is still the nicer camera; just remember to decrease the default in-camera sharpening, saturation and contrast levels)
Fuji Finepix Z3
Fuji Finepix F30 (Awesome high ISO capability; if you can live with its size and the memory card format, this is my choice)
Panasonic DMC-FX-01
Pentax Optio S6

Wow! I'm pretty impressed with the shutter speed of the F30, but you have me worried when you mention size. I'll have to head over to the local camera shop and see it in person.

I was pretty impressed with the small size of the Casio Exilim card series, but since you didn't mention those, I'll assume they're not what I was looking for. ;) the Z850 looks like a good camera and it uses SD cards. :D

In the store, they showed me the Panasonic DMC-TZ1 which lists for the same price as the DMC-FX01 but with less features. :? The TZ1 was less than moving for me. It seemed large and slow. Is the FX01 that different?

The Pentax also has an amazing shutter speed, but they don't list the memory card format? :(

These look like a great selection of cameras. Would you say that they all have great image quality / CCD? I'll have to take this list down to the camera shop and see some of these in action. 8)

[Damion Chaplin]

Pentax has a waterproof camera (http://www.pentaximaging.com/products/product_details/digital_camera--Optio_W10/reqID--7399568/subsection--optio) as well. It takes SD and is cheaper than the Olympus. The Olympus seems like a slightly better camera though...

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

FX01 is pretty snappy. Still, I think the fastest cameas are the Fujis, Casios, and Pentax. I'm not sure about the Fujis, but the Pentax (and the Casios should as well, since both companies collaborated quite a bit) I have will switch to hyperfocal focusing when it can't lock in a focus in time when you do a snapshot. That intelligent use of photography principle has let me catch a few shots I would have missed (though it's not 100%).

The F30 isn't large, but it's not the smallest. It's slightly larger than the Casio Z850/750.

The Pentax is the smallest of the lot, and uses SD cards.

The best image quality is from the F30, by a fair margin. After that comes the Z750, then the Z850, followed by the trio of tiny cameras.