"David J Taylor" wrote in message ...


Having seen some 8 x 10s from a 3.3MP Nikon Coolpix 990 recently I would
ask why you consider the advice bad? If it fits your budget, the S1 IS is
a nice little camera with good movies (if that matters) and an image
stabilised zoom (which certainly /does/ matter if you want 10X zoom).



Hi, David, thanks for your response. To answer your question . . .
despite me not really going to blow up any pics, I have a feeling that
3.2 is going to be somewhat obsolete when it comes to selling the
camera in the future. I know with 4.0, it will be a bigger selling
point. In addition, I used to do some free-lance writing and if I get
into the game again, I'd like to make sure my photos are of the
highest possible quality without compromises. As I don't know how much
a pic will need to be blown, I'd rather defer on the side of caution.
I s'pose that I like to be slightly ahead of the curve with my
purchases, and the S1 IS appears to be just current. But I'm a newbie,
and I have to rely on the opinions of others to get the real skinny.

A friend of mine, who takes a lot of car pictures, has the Olympus 770
and swears by it, so that's one of the reasons why I am leaning in
that direction. Aside of subjective issues like how it feels in my
hand (not to mention my pocket), I am just interested in getting the
best for my money.

How important is image stabilization? What is it, exactly? What
situations is it an asset? Is there a situation where it's not
necessary?

Thanks,

Diego