[scoundrel1728]

I am biased toward my Nikon Coolpix 995 for that kind of shooting, primarily because of its body hinge and the fact that the lens isn't very intrusive from a distance. This allows you to shoot in a direction you aren't facing, but you must use the LCD monitor rather than the somewhat inaccurate peephole-type optical viewfinder when you use it this way. You can also adjust the shutter and diaphragm by looking at the status LCD on top; you don't really need the LCD monitor. The small format allows for a reasonably wide depth of field. The newer Coolpix 4500 lacks the status LCD. The 995 is definitely out of production now and I think the 4500 is too, but Nikon hasn't officially admitted it yet to the best of my knowledge.

One drawback to the Coolpix 995 is its minimum 38 mm equivalent focal length. The Coolpix 5400 has a 28 mm equivalent focal length and an articulated LCD monitor, which again allows the photographer to face a different direction. However, this camera looks more like a camera and must face the subject. To this extent, it is more obvious what the photographer is up to and is thus somewhat less effective for taking candids, though still pretty good. The 5400 also has a 5 megapixel rather than a 3 megapixel imager. The 5400 is also out of production but I think Nikon is still making the 8400.

If you want the larger imager of a dSLR but without the acoustical noise of a dSLR, you might look into the Sony DSC-R1. That one has very good wide angle capability and strikes me as a good candidate for street photography.