Eric Stevens wrote:
For those tempted to believe that P&S cameras might be able to offer
telephoto capabilities similar to a DSLR see:

The Canon TC-DC58C teleconvertor on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/review/product...Viewpoi nts=1

"If you want a field-of-view equivalent to a 420mm lens on 35mm film
cameras, but not all the time, this is a good choice, assuming you
already have a G7 or G9. If you are a frequent user of such long
focal lengths, you will likely prefer a camera that has it built
in, or better still, a digital SLR."

snip

You have to be really careful when choosing tele-converters and wide
angle converters. You don't need to choose the same brand as the camera.
Find the best tele-converter on the market, and find a lens tube and
adapters that connect it to the camera. I.e., the wide angle converter I
got for my Canon G series was not the Canon brand, it was much higher
end and much more expensive, and it worked with the Lensmate tube. Of
course it was also discontinued, greatly increasing the resale value on
eBay!

Needless to say, you can spend a lot of money on a kludge with those
conversion lenses, and achieve only moderate results. That's why the
advent of reasonably priced digital SLRs has destroyed the market for
high end point and shoot cameras.

The Panasonic G1 is essentially a high-end point and shoot but with
interchangeable lenses. For someone willing to put up with the major
disadvantages of a P&S, but that wants lenses for wide-angle and
telephot, the G1 at least is better than the kludgey adapters, but it's
certainly no bargain compared to a D-SLR that has far more capability.