compact camera with better than average quality

Author's Rating:

Pros: compact size, reasonably efficient when using auto mode, VIEWFINDER is wonderful

Cons: buttons are a bit tiny, several steps to get optimal image in unique lighting environments

The Bottom Line: 
Despite some features that are a bit difficult/awkward, the camera has some very good features that make it great.  Viewfinder is great for bright/dim light conditions.  

Author's Review
This camera was purchased last summer to replace a lost camera.  It is very difficult to find a small point/shoot camera with a viewfinder.  The viewfinder is very good to have when shooting on bright sunny days as the LCD is difficult to view.  
I was using the camera this past weekend in the bright snow and the viewfinder was a life saver.  

Good features: 
Compact size – it fits very easily into your camera

Ergonomics are pretty good.  However, the buttons are fairly small and if you have big fingers, you may find it a bit awkward. 

Battery recharger is fairly quick.  It is small, a plug in a small unit which takes up almost no space in your camera bag.  The battery lasts a long time.  However, if you are using the LCD to zoom, that will suck down the power fairly quickly.  (I use the viewfinder which saves battery power.)

Image quality is fairly good – night shots are not the best and will have grain.

Lapse between shots is fairly quick.  It is not the fastest but better than other cameras. 

LCD is a good size and provides good quality images when playing back or when viewing images before taking the picture. 

Rotating the camera allows a picture to go from vertical to horizontal and will keep that setting when you upload to the computer. 
Image stabilizer seems to do a good job. 

Cons: 
Getting to some of the “sub menus” to do the settings for fireworks, evening, etc. is awkward.  I’d suggest either carrying the instruction manual at all times (a pain) or create a few index cards of features that you often use with quick notes.  It is hard to remember everything on the camera.  
The autofocus feature to capture faces can be a bit quirky.  When doing a group of people, it may miss a few people, but results are fairly satisfactory. 

There is a single button to take pictures on auto mode, custom mode, or shoot movies.  It is fairly easy to move to the wrong position so that you inadvertently do the wrong thing (nothing worse than taking a movie instead of a photo which I’ve done more than once).  
The custom mode has a lot of features which work with color, lighting, types of scene, and more.  You also get a visual preview through the LCD to see how the picture will come out.  However, if you’re about to take a picture you may not know how to instantly set the image up for optimal results.  This is frustrating; often the reason why I usually take my images in the “auto” mode as it provides decent (not optimal) results. 

Image Quality 
For standard size images, it is very good.  Color is reasonably accurate.  I’ve had a few minor situations with the color when shooting flash in uniquely lit environments.  Daytime shots are excellent.   Evening shots or those in the dark are mediocre.  They can be fixed on the computer but these images develop noise.  
I’ve done a few enlargements to 5 x 7 and a bit larger and they were satisfactory.  This is a point and shoot camera with some very good features.  It is not an inexpensive unit (paid about $170 for it) but it has some features to work with distinct lighting conditions which can help.  You will have to spend more than 15 minutes with the manual to optimize your picture taking.