Olympus DC

candidfoto

Even though I have owned cameras from many manufacturers last 20+ years I have to say Olympus is one of my favorite manufacturers.  I have owned their C2100 Uzi (10X IS 2MPs) two E10s one E20 and C5060 all excellent reliable camera the Uzi and the Exx are true excellent classic digital cameras and belong in the “hall of fame” category.  In comparison Canon and Nikon do not truly have any equivalent classic hall of fame camera like the Olympus.   I have kept the E20 for occasional use and also is my preferred travel DSLR.

I have also used couple of Canon digicams: G2 IXUS V2 IXUS 400 and 300D+couple of Canon lens.  The G series are excellent cameras if you can find an excellent 2nd hand G3 for a cheap price it’s a good buy if you don’t mind the bulky size.  For smaller size you can also consider the S45 which is very cheap in 2nd hand market.  The smaller IXUS are also nice but beware that the E18 error will sooner or later pop up.  The Axx series also have good reputation though I have never owned one.  I got rid of the 300D DSLR after about 7 months it’s generally OK but the Canon flash system is decades behind Nikon’s and I personally prefer Nikon lens over Canon’s.  I will never invest in another Canon DSLR in the near future no matter how good they claim on paper!

I have been using Nikon film and digital for over 20 years now.  For DSLR I have used Fuji S1 Pro S2 Pro currently I am using D70 with couple of lens and the SB800.  For prosumer digicams I still own and use the CP5000+E58 wide angle adaptor and also the CP5700 they are not perfect 5MPs cameras but once you get to know how to use them within their limitations they surely can generate excellent quality pictures!  

I have owned and sold many many digicams last couple of years what I currently have in additional to the above is the Panasonic FZ10 (excellent 12X F2.8 Leica lens though noise above ISO100) Sony P100 (excellent) & U20 (very tiny) Fuji E550 (excellent) Pentax 33WR (weather resistant) and Minolta X20 (so so).  

As Hales suggested the FujiFilm F10 I will also recommend that you look at the E550 as well both are excellent cameras with very attractive price.  I chose the E550 over the F10 since the E550 can shoot RAW a 12 MP (Interpolated) mode and full manual exposure control (A/S/M).  Fuji CCD photosites are in a diagonal pattern so its interpolated mode to 12MP will get you better resolution with the E550 though I have to say the F10 sample pictures look impressive.  The F10 is also a nice compact all-in-one unit that allows you shoot only 6 MP Fine JPG mode no exposure adjustments mode though...meaning no Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority and it does not have an optical viewfinder which the 550 does LCD of the F10 is also of lower resolution than E550.  F10 is 3x versus E550 4x and E550 can add conversion lens while F10 cannot also F10 uses propriety battery while E550 uses two rechargeable AAs.  The one thing that stood out with the F10 is the impressive high ISO capability (even ISO 1600 is usable) no other prosumer digicam has that claim!

So here’s a long answer to your question the decision is based on what your priorities are and what you want from a digicam.  Note that most of my digicams I currently own allow me to have total control of the exposures which is important to me may not be important to you though.  

All digicams has their own pros and cons and most of the newer ones are all pretty decent some are however more reliable than others.  Once you learn how to use the cam within its limits the quality of the pictures will be more dependent on the photographer and not the camera itself.