Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 (Black)

Pros: Shoots HD video at 720p/30fps - 10x zoom in point and shoot frame - You can zoom while taking video!!! - IMHO most features available for your $$$.

Cons: No optical viewfinder - No manual focus - No video camera lights

Summary: I'm no fanboy of Panasonic; I'd never even heard of Lumix before I started shopping for a new digital camera about a year ago. The blogs reported about 2 cameras that were coming out that shot HD video, a feature I absolutely wanted, this and the Cannon. The TZ5 also came with a 10x zoom, as well. This is definitely a rare feature, and I can't remember how many times I cursed my old Pentax for only having 3x. The icing on the cake was the availability to zoom while recording video! This feature is awesome and essentially makes your picture camera a camcorder.

The picture quality IMO is amazing. I constantly get compliments about them, and am able to do a lot of cropping etc; however, Im sure most cams output good quality at 9MP. Ill defer to CNET on that issue, but I'm certainly happy with it...

Now things that annoy me: no optical viewfinder- meh I don't really miss one, but some ppl might be annoyed by it. In the camera's defense, the screen is SUPER bright and SUPER crisp (i think it was the highest resolution at the time). No manual focus... this one kinda upsets me. my old optioS had a basic manual zoom function that i LOVED (I'm certainly no professional, but I'd consider myself a hobbyist). Alas, there is no manual focus here. in fact everything is pretty much automated for you. so if you don't know jack about cameras this is good for you, if not, you can change the ISO, flash, focus settings, but no manual focus. No video camera light. I don't know any point and shoots that have this, but CMON ppl! I'd love to take video at night. Finally, I think it shoots in H.264, but I hate using QuickTime, I'd rather it record to Divx directly...

Here are some example shots I've taken (last one is a video):
http://flickr.com/photos/robstak/2441745295/in/set-72157604732261074/
http://flickr.com/photos/robstak/2483601950/in/set-72157605001595717/
http://flickr.com/photos/robstak/2485882077/in/set-72157605001595717/

In summary, I absolutely LOVE this camera, and couldn't recommend it more... It has its shortcomings, but as point and shoots go I dont' see a better value. I shopped for a replacement for my optioS for months and months and waited till this came around (if only it still fit in an altoids tin, lol). So look at this and look at the Cannon, but my money is on the TZ5