[BigSac]

Does anyone have any experience with the new Olympus Digital Stylus models 300 and 400. I know the film Stylus has a good reputation and I wonder about the digital models. I recently saw the 300 model at Fry's and it seemed interesting, small, light, and water resistant. It seemed like it would be good for hikers.

[Tom]

DCResource.com, steves-digicams.com, and maging-resource.com all have (for the most part) favorable reviews on the Stylus 300 / 400. My experience with digicams is they can hold up to a good bit of foul weather abuse - I fell into a creek once with my G2 and it survived just fine (after 3 days on the food dehydrator). I would make sure the camera fits your needs (note no manual controls) and place less weight on the all weather label - plastic bags can do wonders.

[BigSac]

What do you think about the Canon S45 Tom? It is a little bit bigger than the Stylus 300/400 series, but it does have manual control. I need a camera small enough to keep in my pocket or in a small case clipped to my sternum strap or somewhere on the front of my pack. I plan to make mostly casual 4x6 prints with the occasional 8x10 or even 11x14. I was thinking of using a hiking staff as a monopod to steady the shots because I don"t want to carry the weight of a tripod. I have had a lot of film camera experience, but have never used a digicam before.

[Tom]

I hear good things about the S45 - if you want compactness without sacrificing picture quality, the S45/S50 is the ticket. Battery life isn't the best (but above average for a small camera). You can find inexpensive aftermarket spare batteries selling on ebay for $15-20 (I'd plan on buying two). Macro capability isn't a strong point either, but there's an aftermarket adapter for macro and other filters. If you're patient, you can get the S45 from Dell Home for a little over $400 shipped (10% off $499, plus a $35-50 stackable coupon). See www.techbargains.com. There is a $40 coupon today (meaning the S45 for $410) but the camera is backordered a couple weeks.

[BigSac]

Thanks for the info Tom, it was very helpfull. I hit the sites you mentioned, got advice from Dixicritter on Hikinghq, consulted the May Issue of Consumer Reports, which has a big article on digital photography, and narrowed it down to three: Sylus 400, Olympus D50, and Canon S45. I decided to go with the S45 and purchased it locally this weekend. I am experiencing a little digi-shock trying to understand the 181 page camera manual, but I'll muddle through it somehow. I did use it this weekend on the default automatic settings and I can tell I'm going to like it. I'll post a shot as soon as I figure out how to do it.