Which compact? - needed for overseas travel

[jaguar]

Hey all. I am going overseas a little later in the year, and i need a compact for my travels. I will be taking pictures of friends/family, scenary - both close up and wide landscape scenes (i dont really know yet, ill have to see when i get there :P), maybe a few (if any) macro type shots and making use of the movie recording features. Therefore it would be great to get a camera that has around 7MP and ~7x optical zoom (it seems only the R6 and the TZ3 are better in terms of zoom). I am totally new to cameras, but ive been researching quite a lot, reading many reviews and searching forums.

I have a few cameras that have taken my interest (in order of my current preference), and i would like to know which would be the best option, or if there are any cameras i might have missed, comments are welcome

1) Ricoh Caplio R6 ------> 7.2MP, 7.1xzoom (LINK: http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod4744.htm)
2) Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 -----> 7.2MP, 10xzoom (LINK: http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod4741.htm)
3) The Canon iXUS 850IS/950IS or Ixus 900Ti (although these cameras dont have as good zoom as the others i have listed) -----> 7.1MP, 3.8xzoom / 8MP, 4xzoom / 10MP, 3xzoom (LINK: http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.co...ategory8_1.htm)
4) Olympus MJU 780 ------> 7.1MP, 5xzoom (LINK: http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod4775.htm)

I would like something that will last, provide good quality pictures in terms of colours, resolution, sharpness etc etc. My price range is around $450 AUS to ~$600 AUS, so im not too concerned about the price, unless it starts going over $600. It would also be good if the camera could fit into my pocket, for easy use and so that it isnt sticking out like a saw thumb ;)

I wasnt too sure how much the speed of the R6 would effect its ability at taking fast moving pictures, so that is something to note, and i wondered if its face recognition and anti shake were up to scratch in terms of the more top range compact cameras.

Thanx heaps!

Jaguar

[jaguar]

lol i dont know about this forum in terms of response times, but...

* BUMP *

it would be great to get some feedback