But this is the last time, I’m (almost but not entirely) (but definitely almost) sure of it. I had been gazing longingly at my ‘compromise’ camera, the Fujifilm Finepix S100fs, which was out of production but had such shining reviews (people dumping their DSLRs!) that I was ready to pounce. The selling point was the “Super CCD” — realizing that everything from a $200 Panasonic to a $600 Nikon P&S with anywhere from 9 – 12 megapixels all share the same basic 2.3″ CCD — I just didn’t want to get another camera that squeezes more pixels into the same basic imaging sensor. Had the S100fs in my shopping cart when I happened upon this — dated *tomorrow* at this writing — and as a result found: 
Fujifilm Finepix S200EXR 12MP Super CCD Digital Camera with 14.3x Optical Triple Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD
Well there you go. That’s the one. I am not ready for a DSLR (and the resulting lens addiction, and hauling all that stuff around, and spending way out of budget instead of just a little out of budget), but I am ready for this. If it’s released before my 1st payday in August, I’ll be sitting up ’till he deposit hits the bank and clicking buy. Probably.
The only thing it doesn’t seem to do is HD video, but, … well that would almost lead me back to the Canon PowerShot SX1IS 10 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 20x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Edited: no, I was right. I just read the rather painfully long Sx1IS review at DPreview and it’s no comparison. They go on at some length about how the CMOS does not make a difference — and though I know the S200EXR article is just a press release, it describes the exact sort of technology that (if properly implemented) would indeed make for a worthy not-quite-a-DSLR. And, considering the reviews of its predecessor the S100FS, I’m willing to believe.
So it’s on.
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