Canon A650 IS for $334 - the lowest price among trusworthy sellers. And don't forget about protection for your camera. Amazon offers Canon branded soft pouch and LCD screen protectors as low as $11.
If you need more advanced camera, with the RAW support and more professional look and feel - go for Canon G9 - just $437. Today you can get genuine spare battery for your Canon G9 or G7 for $38.
DPReview forums user Oak and Acorn has posted some comparison shots he has made with his Canon G9 at ISO200 and at ISO1600. The last one was postprocessed with Neat Image for noise reduction:
Looks impressive! I even can't tell one from another. Of course, both shots were taken under the sunlight while the noise is more noticeable in the deep shadows but virtually lack of difference between ISO200 and ISO1600 is still very impressive.
DPReview have posted their full and thorough (as usual) Canon G9 review. And yes, as were predicted, G9 gets Highly Recommended score with "but only just" remark due to 7.5 out of 10 for value - G9 isn't cheap.
In the final analysis the G9 has more to recommend it than most enthusiast compacts we test, and at ISO 80 the quality is simply superb.
G9's RAW capabilities were found very useful and surprisingly fast. Well handed sturdy body, a load of features and 35-210mm optically stabilized lens are added more points. Superb macro mode and movie shooting capabilities completed the list of Canon G9 advantages.
DPReview guys are missing about fast F2.0-3.0 lenses and vary-angle LCDs of old G series cameras. Highlights clipping and useless ISO800-3200, slow AF in low light conditions and weak battery - all that were found not good.
Since the Canon G9 is really quite similar to its predecessor (G7) Jeff Keller at DCRP has reused some portions of old G7 review in his Canon G9 review that was published today. But this fact doesn't mean that his review is useless. On the contrary, this is no doubt Jeff's review - thorough, detailed and informative.
Jeff has noted that the G9's battery life is 10% better than G7's but still less than average with just 240 shots per charge. A650IS in his measurements live more than twice longer on four 2500 NiMH accus.
Jeff recommends to by 2Gb SD card but I think, personally, that it's just to small for a 12 megapixel camera especially if you are planing to shoot RAW. I'd recommend a high speed 4Gb SDHC card. All the more because they are really cheap nowadays. B&H offers Kingston high speed Class 6 4Gb SDHC card just for $37.95 and if you'll grab it till October 31st you are eligible to $15 mail-in rebate.
Canon G9 samples gallery was published three weeks ago, long before the actual review so you've probably seen it already.
Jeff liked Canon G9's image quality at low ISO settings, its stylish and sturdy body and huge 3" LCD but he noticed a strange thing:
the G9's screen is completely black in the "normal" landscape orientation when you have polarized sunglasses on. Taking off your sunglasses solves the problem, but in my case I couldn't see anything, as they are prescription lenses. Thus, if you wear prescription polarized sunglasses, keep this in mind.
Another Canon A650 IS test, short but very informative, came from the Australian PhotoReview website.
the A650 IS provides an excellent control suit for its price. It's also an affordable choice for photographers who want the benefits of P, Av, Tv and M shooting modes and high resolution and would be an excellent 'learning' camera for prospective DSLR buyers.
Tom Demonek has submited a long and interesting list of the new Canon A650 and G9 reviews at the various websites. Thank you, Tom. An here is the first one:
Steve at Steve's Digicams has published his own Canon A650 IS review. As usual, thorough and useful, with a lot of information you would want to know about this amazing digital camera. He liked how Canon have upgraded their year old A640 with the new 6x zoom lens with optical image stabilization. And the picture quality of the new 12 megapixel sensor satisfied him, too.
The A650 IS offers style, versatility, excellent image quality, not to mention some of the best specs for any camera in this class. With the new bigger zoom, increased resolution, and addition of Canon's OIS system, the Canon PowerShot A650 IS is definitely worth a look.
Swiss techreviews website Architronic.ch have uploaded a video review of the Canon G9 to youtube:
Review in German but the camera looks great as well as the girl who describing and showing the main G9's features.