[John Tee]

Another vote for Panasonic TZ3 (now PZ5) With it's superb 28-280mm Leica lens it is capable of superb results.

I wanted a compact P&S that I could carry most of the time when it was not convenient to lug my Canon 30D gear around. The only thing I had to get used to was the use of the LCD screen (3") instead of the traditional viewfinder.

For a short while I did try a Canon Powershot G9 - but it didn't fit my bill because it can hardly be classed as a "compact" camera and the quality of the TZ3 lens is more than comparable.