We have a Nikon D40X, which has been discontinued in favor of the D60. You know you can't beat a DSLR. Not only is the picture quality amazing at the fastest iso settings, there is absolutely no delay when you take a picture. As a matter of fact, if sports are important to you, 3 frames a second in continuous mode is what you'll want. It delivers. It's also nice to be able to change lenses. I look at it as upgradeable. There is a drawback, size. Because of the size and weight of the camera we actually just bought a compact to supplement. We use the compact for everyday type events and the Nikon for the bigger ones (as long as I'm the one carrying it around). Okay, why'd I tell you all that when your looking for a compact? Because our compact is an Olympus Stylus 1010 and the picture quality rivals the Nikon. Both are 10 megapixel cameras (actually the Olympus is 10.1). Of course we can do much more with the Nikon but the Olympus is much more convenient when traveling or just taking everyday shots. The Olympus cost us $400 with extended warranty, 2x 2gig xD memory chips, and bag. You can get a Nikon D60 for about $650 is you look hard enough. And D40X for a little less than that. Either one is under 4 digits. If you haven't already, take a look at the Olympus. Klaa2

Hi jrzgurl: I personally do not know anything about the sony cybershot however my brother has a sony digital (sorry I don't know which one) and loves it...His particular model is much, much bigger than the canon sd600. I purchased the sd600 for my two university ages sons this christmas, they love the camera, very small, but they can still manage the buttons OK (sometimes bigger hands have trouble with these small cameras). The Canon takes an excellent picture and this one is very portable in your purse or pocket. I personally like Canon products.

As a matter of fact, yes!

One work-around I've found for that, Marlorena, is to back up and take the shot from a further distance. The camera will likely get all items in focus, doing that. Then you can take advantage of the great resolution the camera has by cropping and enlarging that portion of the photo, so it is like a close-up. Another trick is to experiment with the plane of the shot. By slightly depressing the shutter button, the camera will show you which areas are in focus in the field of view by surrounding those with green rectangles. If you tilt the camera slightly or shift it to a slightly different view, you will often find you can bring more of a view into focus by doing that kind of adjustment.