Replacement Compact Camera?

[oolon]

My gf has got a Canon 3MP compact camera, however we are starting to feel it is time to replace it, as the battery is starting to have problems keeping the charge and we can get many more megapixels these days. I had a quick look and there was far to much choice! The camera has to be small, have an optical zoom and the target is for it to be less than 100 pounds (on the grounds we can replace it again in a few years). The easier it is to point and shot the better. I am interested in camera suggestions but also what brands are considered good now.

[kalniel]

Still Canon (eg http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-PowerS...728456&sr=1-18 or http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-Digita...728456&sr=1-18 ), also Fujifilm, Sony and Panasonic

[TheAnimus]

Do you want something rugged (I would HIGHLY recommend taking a hit in quality for a point n shoot for the take it everywhere thing) if so you might be able to pick up a second hand one as Pentax, Olympus & Panasonic have all refreshed theirs in the past 6 months.

I really like been able to take one swimming to a sulpha filled pool in iceland, caving or even just out in the loverly Cornish summer weather down by my parents without worrying. Beach?! sand is no worry.....

[TheAnimus]

heck if you stretch just a little you could get:
http://www.micomonline.co.uk/product...artno=17732&go
or
http://www.google.co.uk/product_url?...=0CAkQgwgwADgA

or if you really don't care about quality too much (which given the old one you probably don't)
https://secure.fujifilm.co.uk/shop/c...gn=Z33WP-green
can't really go wrong for £70. Its very small for a camera of that price, and waterproof to 3m!

[oolon]

Its for "momento" photos and need to be little to fit in a hand bag all the time, its unlikely to get too rough a treatment the canon worked out quite well before. Reasonable picture quality is desired, for example my 3mp sony erricsson "Cybershot" phone takes rubbish pictures compared to the cannon compact, even though it has a similar number of megapixels. I am not worried about uncompressed formats and such, as one day i plan to get an SLR camera again (I have a Minolta Dynax 800i which has sadly not been used for years). Could you post a couple of examples of what you mean TheAnimus.

Edit:
Thanks for the examples, Hmmm I think I was wrong and she has a pentax at the moment. Waterproof is an attractive idea, as it would give us something we don't have with the current one.

[TheAnimus]

http://www.pocket-lint.com/review/42...-camera-review

for the price, i'd be tempted to go for the z33wp. You know it will work fine if its thrown clumsily into a hand bag, you will not need any kind of case, you can drop it a little, dunk it a little, leave it out on the beach... There is no point having a camera if your having to think "no i can't take it because of x" if its job is holiday grade snaps.

The reviews are all mediacore 6-7 out of 10, but when you consider the price, change from £70 I think it might well hit the spot, the quality as you can see from the example shots isn't great, the focus seams soft in the fine details, there is a bit of fringing and some minor chromatic aberration but if your printing it off in 7x5 inch prints it will be absolutely fine.

[TheAnimus]

http://forum.digitalcamerareview.com...wp-review.html

That was a better, more in depth review I knew i'd seen.

[kalniel]

If you really want a waterproof camera, there is a group test at dpreview that might be handy (including the Z33WP - they say it has almost the worst image quality of the group):

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q209waterproofgroup/

[TheAnimus]

price difference.

its also not as waterproof as the others too!