Need help picking P&S for my wife

[Talvan]

My wife decided she wanted a new camera. She had a Kodak Easyload K85 35mm film point and shoot camera. She likes point and shoots for their easy of use and small size. I talked her into getting a digital, so now the hunt begins. There are a few MUST have features.

1. P&S shoot size and ease of use.(hers)
2. Compact Flash card slot.(ours)
3. AA battery use.(mine)
4. 30 something to 100 something lens(pretty standard, I just didnt want anyone to show one to me that didnt have any zoom).
5. minimum 3 megapixels.(mine)
6. $400 and lower.(hers)

Aside from those, we really dont care to much. I am not brand specific, if it meets those requirments it is definatley in the running.

I looked a little, and the only one I have found is the Canon A95 so far. Any body used this camera? Thoughts? Reviews looked right up our alley. Any other recommendations would be highly appreciated.

[Ballen Photo]

John I was just about to recommend looking at Canon's A95 until I read further and see you've aready considered it.
-Bruce

[Klyment]

It doesn't fill all of the requirements (400-500 shot proprietary lithium ion battery, xD picture card) but I think that everything else is there. After months of deliberation I decided to bite the bullet. On a recent wedding shoot I ended up shooting more with the F10 than the D2X and have already made an 18 x 24" print on canvas from the wedding from an F10 JPEG at ISO 800 and most people can't tell that it wasn't a dSLR shot. I have some notes on the Fuji F10 and a fair number of sample photos on my blog: http://klyment.com/serendipity . . . if you need the full resolution files just let me know and I'd be happy to pass them along to you. This is the first time I've seen a point and shoot camera have fairly clean ISO 1600 and have shutter and focus response that is so quick.

[Talvan]

Thnx Kly I will keep that in mind. I need to find one locally so my wife can try it out.

[Ballen Photo]

This is the first time I've seen a point and shoot camera have fairly clean ISO 1600 and have shutter and focus response that is so quick.

That DOES seem to be an impressive little point and shooter. The only thing I'd like to see is a hotshoe for an external flash option. The again, with a useable iso of 1600, you wouldn't need one nearly as often, unless you want catchlights in the eyes without the dreaded red eye syndrome, or a good even fill light.
-Bruce