I bought this camera (EX Z1050) four months ago to replace a Canon Power Shot, which I loved. I debated about the 7mp versus the 10mp for a while, because the size of the 10mp was about twice as thick. I went to a retail store to play with them and ultimately chose the 10mp model. Here's what I found out after over 3000 pictures and videos (I'm a big picture guy with a toddler around)

SUPER FAST STARTUP about one second

AMAZING BATTERY LIFE this camera exceeded all my expectations in this category. In fact I am still amazed by it. I do not take very many flash pictures, but I take a lot of video. I get about 800 pictures or 1 hour 20 minutes of continuous video before it dies.

SDHC FORMAT this camera does not take regular SD cards, so you need an SDHC card for it. It is a completely different architecture than SD, but the capacity is huge, starting at 4GB. This new format does not work in regular SD card readers, so I bought a $13 SDHC card reader because I hate messing around with camera cables.

EXCELLENT VIDEO This camera has the same video quality and frames per second as my $1200 JVC Everio GZ MC200. The videos are taken in MPEG 4 and there is no need to convert the files, so they can be opened and played in standard windows media player.

EASY CONTROLS Well designed controls and easy user interface

FAST This camera is ready for another shot in ONE second and has a multiple shot mode that takes about 5 shots per second. Turning off or lowering the review mode will get you up and running even faster after a shot.

GREAT LCD Great 2.7" screen, very bright in direct sunlight. I have it on highest brightness/ contrast and the battery life is still amazing.

BEST SHOT MODES Very convenient, I did not think I would ever use these, but I find myself always using them. These modes automatically adjust the white balance and color saturation for a given situation like Portrait, Bright Sun, Fluorescent, ETC. They are very easy to select and use and work well.

PHOTO SOFTWARE STINKS The included photo software "hot photo" stinks. It loads into your tray, is always running in the background and sucks up your system resources. The usability is poor at best and any other photo software would be better. You do not need this software to use the camera.

IMAGE STABILIZATION In my opinion the camera takes better photos with image stabilization off. I noticed a lot of noise in the blacks under high zoom in Photoshop when I had the Image Stabilization on. I took two sample shots from tripod with timer one with and one without to confirm my initial noise observation. It seems that noise and pixelization are apparent with Stabilization, but very clear sharp pictures without it. Bottom line is there is no substitute for a steady hand, so practice with the camera.

BOTTOM LINE Get this camera. It's cheap for about $200 and with an 8 GB HDSC card, card reader and case plus tax; you will get away with the whole package for about $300 bucks. Image quality is super in a very compact and user friendly package.