I've decided to get a smaller camera to take with me for evenings or inside shots. I've looked at a Minolta Freedom zoom Ezplorer. It has a 28-70 zoom lens build in and is tiny and light. I've heard that Minolta builds the best bodys, Leike the best lens and Cannon a comprise. Has any one out there tried the Minolta or know anything about it? <BR>Thanks <BR>

I've owned all those you mentioned -- Minolta, Leica, and Canon -- at one time or another. My experience with the one you mentioned (actually an earlier model) was good. It did everything one could ask of it. But on a vacation in New Zealand which involved a lot of hiking and bad weather, it died on me due to my misjudgement during day after day of pouring rain in Fjordland. So I retired it and bought an Olympus with about the same zoom and other features. <BR>That was 10 years ago, and it's still going strong. The Minolta is a nice piece of goods that should give you good service. Just handle it carefully because I didn't and paid the price -- its mechanism just was too delicate for what I demanded of it at the time.

I add my vote to the Olympus. Great pictures, and works without any problems for years. It is small enough to keep in the pocket. My Olympus has a 105 zoom. (it is 4 years old). A great camera. <BR>Ada

Try to avoid Pentax IQ Zoom 200.

I have an awesome Olympus LT Zoom 105 that has a huge zoom lens and is compact enough to fit in any bag or maybe a pocket. It is in a self-contained case and I bought it through Herrington Catalogue. It takes great pictures.

I'm a big fan of the Yashica T4 Super. It's got the best quality lens (German Zeiss) of any point & shoot. It's not a zoom though. Picture quality was more important to me than a zoom. <BR> <BR>If a zoom is a must, I'd go with an Olympus. The Minolta's I've tested had a very long lag time between depressing the shutter button and the picture being taken. Otherwise I'm a Minolta fan. My Minolta SLR (XD11) is going strong after 20+ years.