I don't know about the Canon as I have a Nikon, but the Optical Zoom is far better than the digital zoom according to my camera shop. I'd probably go for the 7.1mpx and the optical zoom. You will have plenty of advice from the Canon users.

I am very happy with my Panasonic FZ30.
Ian

>I am very happy with my Panasonic FZ30.

Ian, so am I - it takes great shots - keep them coming!

Tricia, thanks - I'd heard that about the optical zoom too.

I am sure both Canons are pretty good.

Optical zoom ratio can be important at both ends of the scale.

At the wide end, if the focal length is not short enough, say (35-mm equivalent) 28 mm or less, then you can be rather limited for some indoor or garden shots where you can't stand far enough back.

At the narrow (telephoto) end, it depends on whether you like to photograph subjects such as birds, or flowers high up on trees. If so, the longer the focal length the better, and Image Stabilisation would also be a great help. If you're not interested in such subjects, then a high zoom ratio is something you can do without.

To some extent a large megapixel count can substitute for long focal length, at least if you are willing to edit your pictures afterwards. Assuming optical quality is high AND you have focussed accurately AND controlled camera shake, you can crop your picture to quite a small area in the centre and get a result like a telephoto shot. The more megapixels the better for this sort of thing. But if you don't want to do that, or make high-quality prints at A3 size, then 5 Mp is plenty.

Although I have a Canon (300D) and have great faith in the brand, I get the impression that the best and cheapest combination of big zoom ratio and Image Stabilisation is obtainable in some of the Panasonic models, though I may not be quite up to date on that.

Hi Pam...The best thing to do it get on to the Camera reviews and look up all the good and no so good things about the cameras you are interested in. Camera Reviews. Go try them all out, feel them to see what is comfortable in your hand. Iam a Canon Fan I have two of their Dig Cameras and a 35mm one..My first dig camera was the Canon A70 and I loved it and still use it my other is a SLR its a 8 mp...

Cameras are a personal choice you really have to buy what you want...I found with the Olympus I was not happy with the way I held it and using my daughters one I would often find that the top of my finger was always in the pic, so I then looked for other brands and settled on the Canon because that bulge where the four batteries go was terrific for me to hold the camera It just felt more secure with my arthritic hands.

And yes look for one with more Optical Zoom, my dig zoom is always off to get the dig zoom look all you do is crop your pics...About batteries just remember the bigger the mps the more power you are going to use ..My A70 3.2mp camera uses four AA NiMH rechargeable batteries when new I used to get about 250 pics as the LCD Monitor was on all the time, as the batteries got older I got less...My 8 mp camera uses a lithium battery (rechargeable) and I get over 1000 shots, if the camera manufacturer recommends one of them then its the best for that model remember the more mps your camera has the more power you need, with my SLR camera even the IS on my lens uses lots of power.

I get beautiful clear pics from my 3.2 mp camera you dont need big mps for a good pic you only need them if you want to print big pics and as Tony said smaller mps are fine if you want to take 6x4 pics..I have had some of mine enlarged to the next size with my smaller camera and they were still clear..And just remember the pic is only as good as the person behind the camera and if you cannot hold a camera steady it does not matter how much it costs or how big it is..Hope this helps...Cheers..MM.

Thanks MM - the reviews are the first place I headed. There was actually another Olympus model on offer, but its reviews left a bit to be desired, so I didn't even bother with it.

I do have some concerns about a couple of things that Canons are a bit norious for, ie, E18 error with the lens, and bent pins in the card socket - my aunt is currnetly waiting for a verdict on whether the warranty will be honoured on her Canon A75 over just this issue, although she has done nothing to cause the problem.

However, I can find nothing related to either of these problems that directly mentions either of the cameras that I'm considering, so I'm just going to hope for the best.

And I know what you're saying about batteries - when I first got the other OLympus it flattened a 4pack of duracells in about a dozen shots. It certainly didn't take long to switch to NIMHs. I have a couple of spare sets for the camera, which is one reason I am reluctant to go with the Olympus on offer, which tales the L-ion batteries.

Tony, you've given me some great food for thought - many thanks. Both Canons on offer do have Image stabilisation, and yes, I do take a lot of bird pics etc, so the info you've given is very useful.

Hopefully I'll have a camera today - five weeks without such a good friend is more than enough.

The first thing the people at Camera House told me was to use a card reader and not to use the connection from camera to computer as the tiny little pins connecting the two were causing a lot of trouble, no matter what camera was being used. He said that once bent you had to buy another camera!! I bought three sets of rechareables and alternate them. Mine camera is only a 3.2 and providing I use a tripod, get really excellent quality A4 pictures.

The camera that wasn't fixable on Thursday suddenly became fixable yesterday. That's fine by me, as I was quite happy with the quality of the pics. It just means that I'm without a camera for a bit longer!

Never mind Pam, nothing like having a old mate back is there.
Especially if it comes back better.....Cheers..MM.