"Bill Tuthill" wrote in message ...
The search tools at Dpreview.com or Steves-Digicams or Imaging-Resource
aren't helping me find an appropriate camera.

I want something to replace a film P&S camera loaded with 800 speed film
that can be used in dark canyons to record sports action (kayaking).

Although the Canon CMOS models and Sony-CCD-based DSLRs (Nikon Pentax K-M)
produce excellent results at ISO 1600 and good results up to ISO 6400,
I have not found a compact digicam model that is much good above ISO 200.
Even the $1800 Leica Digilux 2 is visibly soft at ISO 400 (calling it a
"compact" would be a misnomer however).

Am I missing something? Is there a compact digicam that produces even
remotely acceptable results at ISO 800-1600?

There isn't, as all of them use relatively small sensors = high noise at
high ISO.