Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My current camera is an Olympus SP-320. You can read my review on that product page, if you wish. I like the pictures I take, but I'm no pro and there is always someone whose pictures I admire more. I have one friend who consistently takes great shots. When a bunch of us attended a wedding last summer, there was a vibrancy to her shots that mine couldn't quite match. Since she swore by her Canon Power Shot, I thought I'd give the A570IS a chance. This weekend I had both the A570IS and the SP-320 with me on a weekend jaunt and took half of my pictures with each camera, swapping back and forth between the two. Both cameras use two AA batteries. Both have optical viewfinders. Both have more modes than the casual picture taker will ever need. In my hands, the picture quality is almost indistinguishable. In some settings I prefer the Olympus; in others, the Canon, so the A570SI is going to be returned since I'm well within the return period. However, if I had the option of returning the Olympus, too, I'd keep the Canon. Here's why: * The Canon is slightly smaller. The bulge on the Olympus makes it harder to find a suitable case. * The Canon's mode selector dial clicks firmly into place, unlike the Olympus's which is very loose. The Olympus's dial often moves when the camera is removed from its case. Not so, the Canon. * The Canon has 4x zoom compared to the Olympus's 3x. Also, the digital zoom is better implemented in the Canon. The Canon stops at full optical zoom. If the zoom slider is released and reengaged, the digital zoom is applied. This is true even in Auto mode. The Olympus's digital zoom is not readily available in every mode. When digital zoom is available or turned on, it lacks the Canon's pause at the end of optical zoom.pause. * The A570IS uses a standard mini-B USB connector rather than what appears to be a proprietary type for the Olympus. None of these--or even all of them together--are enough to make me keep the Canon and put the Olympus up on eBay or Half, but they'd be enough to get me to pick the Canon if I didn't already own the Olympus.