chanaa_tarkaari, you too seem to be well versed as well and I am sure what you have written will be very useful to the "unitiated". I also liked S2 and G7, especially G7 as it is small and looks better aesthetically. From my own experience with digital camera, I think when it comes to high end product, Canon and Nikon are definetely on the top. But when it comes to the low budget models, there are just so so. It is common trend to misled the consumer that the camera has IS, anti blur and high ISO and it is quie unfortunate that many peopl have falled for this trap. Though they look fantastic wiht thier spec, but getting good result is completely a different story. The best way to choose a camera is go to the review site and see how the choice of your camera fares and also go to camera related forums. The best site for camera review is : www.dpreview.com. I have been to many review site and admit thatd it is the best around. Just pay a visit to the site. If I am to compare the noise of the camera model mntioned above with Fujifilm F series, all of them loose outright even though they are much cheaper.