Update: Received word from Canon they will repair both cameras free of charge.

Also, we went out to Park City, Utah for some skiing last week and we used an Canon, digital A540, uses 2 AA baterries and has a viewfinder along with a large LCD screen. It was very cold (single digits) but sunny. The camera had a special scene setting for snow (snowman) and we used this setting for most of our outdoor shots. Most of the pictures turned out well with the correct exposure. However, we did use the viewfinder for some shots as the LCD screen was not visable in the cold strong sunlight. The 2 NiCad batteries held up well, did not fade out and we took over 260 pictures.

Excellent! Free is the right price. So, an extra battery was not necessary? And, after jpeg compression there would still be well more 512M available on a 1G card.

Wonderful news Miss_Maple! Canon has been good to me about repairs (had a stuck lens that they repaired for free even though it isn't covered under warranty).

One hazard of taking a camera out of a warm venue, and immediately taking a picture, is moisture condensation on the lens.

We had carolers around this season for the first time in many years. I grabbed the camera, while my wife grabbed refreshments, and I got off a couple of shots. There was some pretty-strong fogging around the edges....

Yes bookhall - we had several indoor shots that had the fogging effect. The camera need time to "warm up" just like the rest of us. My hubby also found that several shots (10 in a row) did not turn out because he must had hit the wrong button on back of the camera. When you are outside in the freezing cold -- you really don't review pictures to see if they turned out. The good thing is that when you turn on/off the camera it resets itself so at least only a few pix didn't turn out.

I know folks who read this post love to take pictures but we have many friends and family who don't bother. What a shame, their is so much more for your vacation dollar to enjoy the scenic memories from your trip. Carting around a camera is certainly worth the effort. I finally started to carry my own after I got tired of telling DH to take a picture of this or that(SLR days).

Haven't read all the replies, but shop on Amazon for a better price. YOu can buy a service contract also which has even paid son for a camera he flat dropped.
As for the "don'ts"--a lot of that was true with film cameras and their batteries. It's all about cold and batteries. Keep the camera warm and it will work, as someone did say.

Also keep in mind that many credit cards double the warranty: If your basic camera warranty is a year, the credit card company insures it for a second year. It saved me from paying for a $200 repair on an Olympus 5050...

Miss_Maple - your comment about your husband with the SLR reminds me of my parents. Looking back through the photo albums, we can always tell WHO had a camera at the time.

All the photos of people and kids and activities were taken by my Mom with her Brownie.

All the photos of the flowers and insects were taken by my Dad with his SLR.

:)