We have a Nikon D70, which we love. But we sometimes don't want to lug it along with us. I'd like to get a nice ultracompact digital camera to complement the D70...something I could keep in my pocket or my wife could keep in her purse.

A friend had a Canon S400, which I thought was amazing in terms of its size and construction - and it had pretty good picture quality. In looking at the current offerings, it looks like the SD450 is the current equivalent camera. It can be had for $250 at Amazon or $230 at Dell (with coupons and discounts). I'd like to get something closer to $200, but this is pretty close. The DPReview review is pretty good, though not stellar.

Are there other serious offerings in the ultracompact category that I should consider against the SD450?

Unlike my D70 purchase, which was motivated mainly by picture quality, this purchase has the following requirements:
1. Portability
2. Picture quality
3. Price

Where #2 and #3 are pretty close.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Sam V.

Love the quality of the SD500 I bought my wife for xmas - they are VERY fussy and easy to break though. Awesome for portability though!

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Good Luck!
Jamie Dresser
Other World Computing

I've got a Pentax Optil WPi that I get to play with at school. Very portable, underwaterable to 5', nice pics - they had a rebate going and we picked it up for about $230...

A few reviews -
[www.steves-digicams.com]
[www.letsgodigital.org]



Nextag sayeth the best price from a reputable merchant, after shipping rebate, is $234 from prestige camera -
[www.nextag.com]

As Jamie said - good luck!

Z

underwaterable? Cool.

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Fuji F10, F11 or F30 depending on your budget. Very small, great image quality, and the ability to shoot at ISOs of up to 1600. Plus they have a 2.5 inch lcd. Sizewise, it's just a bit bigger than the Canon SD500, but its lighter.

I helped my Dad buy my brother a camera for Christmas. We also wanted high quality and compact size. We thought the best value at that time was the Canon Powershot SD400. The SDs are a great form factor.

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Don't ask who the bell's for, dude. It's you.