Panasonic Lumix FZ8, Pentax S3 IS, Olympus SP510 or 550. Apart from the x18 zoom on the SP550, and the 6MP of the Pentax compared to the 7MP of the others, they're all pretty similar. I like the feel of the Pentax in my hands more than the others, but would I miss that extra 1MP? But it does have a Leica lens...... Surely the x18 zoom on the 550 is going to ask a lot of the image stabilizer, and slow down focusing, and start getting real noisy in low light....... Opinions, rants, warnings, hands-on experience, links to reviews, etc all very welcome.
My .01; 1 mp won't make any noticeable difference at all. I would take your time reading reviews of the cameras and consider what kind of shots you like to take. I bought the s3 - luv it - but haven't tried the others.
Personally I'd recommend the Pentax one - always good to buy photography gear that's from a company with a reputable photographic history - if it has a Leica lens then you're away! Basically the thing that'll affect your pictures most is the quality of the lens - there is basically no difference between 6 & 7 MP, and yes, having 16x optical zoom could be good in some situations, but that's a lot of telephoto for what should be a versatile camera, I think it probably translates to around 400mm. So really just buy what will best suit your needs - are you going to need that extra reach or not... Hope you can make sense of something in there!
