Good compact camera

I was looking for a new digital camera as my Canon S110 was way out of date. 2.1 megapixels, heavy, boxy, small screen, I had to get with the times. As I was looking around reviews, I finally set my eye between the Casio EX-Z850 and Canon SD600. I chose the Z850 because of the price, features, and their marketing department got to me because of the 8.1 megapixels. Canons take beautiful pictures but I decided to try something out, if I don't like it I can always return it.

Design
Very small considering the HUGE 2.5" LCD screen that is insanely bright. It has a very solid feel to the body and the buttons. I especially like the jog dial with all their modes. The one gripe I might have with the body is that their are 3 buttons to turn it on but only one to turn off. There is the camera button, the play button (to view pictures and videos) and the on/off button. The on/off button is below the body (don't really know how to explain that) but the other two buttons stick out. So it is very easy to accidentally turn it on but I have a case so it is not a big deal. The menu system is very clear and EXTREMELY easy to use. There is probably a one minute learning curve. Also, the optical viewfind is pointless, way too small to use. But since the screen is so bright there isn't really a need to use the viewfinder.

Features
I don't think I could possibly list them all. One of my favorite features are the best shot modes that have preset settings for things like portraits, flowers, parties, ebay (marketing), text, and even old pictures. The manual focus is also a nice addition. People that usually buy these just point and shoot but when you really want to get the most out of the picture and are willing to take some time, you are able to change the aperature, shutter speed, ISO setting, and even manually focus it. there are also settings for the type of light you are in and settings for how powerful the flash is. Video modes of course.

Pictures
Beautiful, things come out soo clear and sharp. The coloring may sometimes be over exaggerated but not to a point where you could tell the difference between real life and the picture. Usually in situations with the flash it does this. The flash is also sometimes too powerful. But since the flash can't be controlled it really isn't a big issue. You have the choice between economy, normal and fine settings. Also vga, 2mp, 4mp, 6mp, and the full 8mp. There is a 3x zoom on this camera. I don't know the digital but no one should be using that anyways because it ALWAYS looks like garbage no matter how good the camera is.

Video
Now there is a known problem on this. In high quality mode it actually turns out worse than normal mode. But if you are buying a compact camera video shouldn't be your priority. I used the video a few times today and the quality is perfectly acceptable. If you want a camcorder go buy one, not a compact point and shoot camera.

Other
The dock that is included with this camera is kind of annoying. It is very nice if you always load up by the computer but it is REQUIRED to charge your battery and transfer pictures. If you are going to travel,just bought a seperate charger on ebay like I did. Battery life, one of the most important things but just realized it once I got to the bottom. A rated 440 SHOTS!!! And that claim seems accurate as I took over 300 shots but was turning it on and off a lot as that drains the battery. Another reason I chose this camera over the SD600.

The on/off time is almost instantaneous. From turning it on and immediately taking a picture took about two seconds including focusing. Very good even for an impatient person like me.

If I did not include anything else please tell me as there are too many features in this camera.