Ok,

I already have a Maxxum 7 (film) and a DiMAGE 7i (digital).
although both are great they are too big for when i'm not going to photoshoot sports, - I need something compact as well.


It needs to have/be:
-small.
-very good and crisp images.
-a nice LCD screen.
-as low as possible start-to shot time, shortest lags between photos and fast writing.
-movies with 30fps preffered.

I thought about these following options:
-Canon Power Shot S45/S50
-Minolta X50
-Casio Exilim EX-Z50/EX-Z55
-Pentax Optio S5i

***Something I want to make very clear is that I don't need fancy 6MP/8MP/infinite MP sticker. As far as I care it can have 3MP but VERY good pictures at its resolution.
I won't use more then 3/4MP anyway, so I just care about the quality and i'm not going to print big from this camera...
So I can also buy older models if you have something to suggest.

Thanks!

Ricoh R2 5MP wide angle zoom 4,8x startup o,8 sec, shutter lag 0,08 sec.

The R2 has only the LCD for a viewfinder. I don’t much care for that. I think it was the R1 that advertised similar specs for startup and shutter lag, but when I finally found a review the shot to shot time was terrible. I’m not saying that is true of the R2, but with that zoom range on a small camera I would be interested in a good review. If distortions, CA and vignetting are within reason the zoom range looks great. Things like a focus assist and low light focusing, noise, accuracy etc are also things you would want to look for in a review.

Some of the fastest smaller cameras available also have higher Mp. And the 7Mp small sensor has good noise characteristics. But there isn’t any sense paying for something you won’t use. You might want to look at the Canon SD200 if you don’t need manual exposure controls. There is a slight softness in the corners and slight vignetting at wide angle, but most really tiny zooms have that. It seldom distracts from a photo unless you are copying documents. You might look at Steve’s review and sample photos.

If the S45/S50 aren’t too large for you they are excellent cameras. Everything else you listed are point and shoot I think.

Here is a link to a french magazine dialogue page :

http://www.photim.net/nci/discu.php3...hris&Rap=0

In the bottom of this page, you have two links for viewing full size pictures taken by a Ricoh R2 : that seems very nice.

Hmm.

Any older 3MP-4MP camera to suggest with good performance and very good quality pictures?

Between these options:

-Canon PowerShot S50
-Minolta X50
-Casio Exilim EX-Z55/57
-Pentax Optio S5i

I really can't make up my mind and I want to buy it the next few days...