For me, it's Panasonic Lumix all the way. Leica lens, image stabilization, and they have both compact and larger sizes. I have one that I can slip into my jeans pocket, and one that looks more like an SLR. Both are considered "point & shoot" cameras, as opposed to a dSLR, but the larger one does accept filters/other lenses. And it has a manual mode, if I choose to use it. It's called a "prosumer" type of camera, halfway between consumer and professional.
When shopping, pay attention to focus-speed and shutter-speed (how fast will it auto-focus, and how fast will it take the picture).
When taking pics, use burst mode, if the camera has it (holding down the button takes several pictures in a row). I've gotten some great shots with burst mode.
This is Panasonics' current lineup. I can't speak to any of them, because I've not used them. But I've owned their TZ1 and TZ5 (compacts) --NO complaints. I've owned at least 2 and maybe 3 of their larger models - again, no complaints.
http://shop.panasonic.com/came...
One of the best ways to camera shop (besides renting the camera, or visiting a local store and holding it in your hands) is to find pictures that ordinary people have taken with the same camera. So click this link and then click on the camera make you're considering, and then on the camera model.
http://www.pbase.com/cameras
