I just took the same shot with different cameras, once without flash and once with flash.
The light was fairly low, shutter speed of 1/5sec at f2.8 and 100ASA.
This shows a couple of things, firstly that a high megapixel count doesn't mean better pictures. Pisctures printed on A4 from the 2megapixel Canon A60 are better than the same pictures taken on a Pentax or Nikon 35mm camera.
The Olympus E-510 looks the best, and the Vivitar 8400 looks the worst.(to be expected)
But the old Canon A60 is just about as good as the Panasonics.
Out of the Panasonics, I prefer the results of the LZ3, although it is the lower spec of the three.
The flash photos will show the cameras ability best, the ones without flash show my inability to hold the camera still, it should be on a tripod at those speeds.
The Panasonics come out slightly better without the flash as they all have optical stabilisation.
The Olympus isn't zoomed in as much, so the plant is slightly smaller, I wouold have hed to change lenses to get the same zoom, and keep the same distance.
The camera that was suggested by the shop will do a good job, but as far as I remember, it takes its own special battery. That means buying a couple of spare batteries if you are going to be away from 220V for any time.
To see what picture was taken by what camera, you need to click "more details" on the right to see the file name.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lyndal...ey=ZQjJtpNs2hw
All this really shows, is that you need to take some time and do lots of research to get the right one for you
