I usually avoid recommendations of digital cameras like the pest, because typically, they don’t offer me anything I could possibly use with their focus on technical details that might or might not be totally irrelevant. That said, what I do like is when someone I know - say a photographer - talks about a camera, because most photographers know what to look for. A few months ago, my friend Richard Renaldi showed me his (then) new point-and-shoot digital camera, and I was about as impressed with it as he was. So when I was looking to buy a new point-and-shoot camera, my first choice was to look for that camera - for which there now is a new model (of course!): The Canon Powershot G10.

The one thing to realize about buying a camera is that there is some sort of tipping point. When you do your research you will get to the point where if you continue looking and comparing features you will end up doing just that for months and months. I didn’t want to go there. The G10 looked attractive enough, given what you can expect from a camera of that prize range. It has all the controls (well, most anyway) of an SLR, with a small point-and-shoot sensor. Given the small sensor’s size the number of Megapixels is totally ludicrous, but for small prints it’s great.

In any case, I couldn’t be happier with this camera. I actually performs quite a bit better than expected; and because you have full manual control, you can even take pretty nice photos at fashion shows with their tricky light situation etc. So if you’re looking for a new point-and-shoot camera, I’d recommend the Canon Powershot G10.