Our camera died on us and we need a new one by Friday! We are looking for a point and shoot that is quick and easy and produces quality photos. The pre-focus some have (where you hold the button down half way for a second then push it down the rest of the way for the real picture) I'm trying to stay away from. When others used our old camera that had this feature they would just push the button and we ended up with may blurry pics. Or when we rushed to 'capture the moment' same thing, blurry pics.

Need: good zoom, video, and something easy for the kids too.

fuji, Canon, Nikon, Sony? I know this may be a Ford vs. Chevy opinion but what would you buy or what do you have that works well?

Thanks

I just went through the same experience and purchased a Canon SX230HD. I originally bought a Sony WX9 but returned it because of poor picture quality. The Canon has everything I need in a P & S including manual control, HD movies, Auto exposure, great zoom and it's easy to use. It does have the focus hold button but this is actually a good thing if used correctly. It's on sale at BB. I'm not sure of your budget but this is a good way to go.

I suspect that the reason your pictures were blurry was because the camera wasn't allowed to focus. The "prefocus" is required to allow the camera to make the necessary adjustments to give you the best results. I could be wrong, but the only way around this, that I know of, would be to use a manual focus or a fixed focus lens. If I don't go with an SLR, my next camera will be the Canon SX30IS. I'm partial to Canons, but there are lots of great, feature-rich cameras out there. Stick to a brand name (Canon, Nikon, Sony) and you almost can't go wrong. I'd recommend going to an electronics/camera store and test driving some.

i bought my wife a cheapo olympus P&S. it sucks in almost every way you can think of but it takes amazing photos, somehow.