First of all, I was fortunate enough to get this camera from Adorama Cameras for $374.00 plus shipping. Must have been some sort of introductory special on Amazon. Got the camera about a week after ordering. Let me say that this is my 4th digital camera and I regard this as the best I have had so far. I have owned both Olympus and Minolta digital cameras prior to buying the Canon S1 IS. I want to say that Canon definitely thought out the ergonomics and the feel of this camera. It feels very comfortable and sturdy (Im right handed. It is clear that they did not skimp on workmanship I love the smoothness of the 10x Optical zoom (thats reason I wanted a good long zoom camera)and there was no blurriness thanks to the Image Stabiliser. I recommend if you are taking shots and you are zooming in at 3X or greater on the optical zoom, engage the IS. I dont recommend using digital zoom on any digital camera, it is always easier using photo editing software to crop your photos. I tried the camera at a couple of family outings and I was definitely impressed. I was a bit concerned about it being only 3.2MP but the pictures I took looked better than my sisters 4MP Kodak camera. The auto mode works fairly well and the LCD certainly shows good detail in bright sunlight but be warned, have the display set at full brightness especially if you are using the EVF outside. There are only 2 display brightness settings. The photos I took had good contrast and very vibrant colors. There was some very slight purple fringing on some shots I took with the optical zoom at maximum. You may need to adjust the exposure setting if you are trying to photograph a subject that is on a background that doesnt contrast well. I also found that you definitely need rechargeable AA batteries, especially if you are running the LCD screen and if you are running the camera in movie mode. That reminds me, the movie mode is incredible but you need at least a 1GB card to record anything substantial at 30 fps. I recommend if you can afford it, get the 4GB microdrive. I have heard that you can take the microdrive out of the Muvo2 4GB player and use it in the camera since the S1 accepts CompactFlash Type II cards if you know how to do it right. With so many different modes, this camera will definitely grow with you. I wished that Canon had put a flash hot shoe on this camera but I can understand them not trying to create a light stripped down version of the EOS Rebel. Indoors, the flash is above average compared to other digital long zooms but could still be better, it will illuminate your subject. The camera AF did slow down somewhat in very dim lighting, make sure to run it in night scene mode, not auto. The extra long exposure lag definitely improves the shots and just to be fair, the low light performance was certainly superior to other digital cameras I have owned. I do like the fact that Canon included a nice get started quickly template but the manual could be better organized. For most people, I would say using it in auto is fine but if you like to tinker, the full manual mode is a lot of fun. All in all, a good buy despite the fact that Canon should have also included a AF assist lamp which surprised me somewhat since they put them on most every camera they make. Well, that just leaves room for improvement I guess. Now, I gotta get back to shooting some more pictures. Auf Wiedersehen!