need help with quick advice with a compact or small camera that has outstanding picture quality budget £450 its for a friend going to morocco and australia and I dont have long to give her advice and this is the only place I will ask just hoping theres at least one person that knows their stuff with the "baby expensive" cameras

thx

Nikon P7100 / P7000
Canon Powershot S100 / S95
Samsung EX1
Canon Powershot G12
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5
Olympus XZ-1

You can get the P7000 with free case and spare battery (useful for travelling) for just over £300 now, presumably because the P7100 is out? Link

I wouldn't mind any of those cameras listed to be honest. Some are smaller than others though which could sway the travellers choice one way or another. I really like the fast aperture models e.g the Samsung and Olympus but the Nikon offers more zoom which could come in handy.

A more traditional travel compact will give you more zoom but not the same quality of lens/sensor e.g. Sony Cybershot HX9V, Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20 and Fujifilm Finepix F600EXR

S95 or P7100 if after a small compact. G12 is very good but more advanced so unless you use those features, I wouldn't bother - same quality is in the S95.

P7100 (and P7000) is as big and advanced as the G12

Had a brief play with a Ricoh today. I was quite impressed. Not cheap though.

GR Digital III?

I like the GR and the Sigma DP2, etc but wonder if I could make do with the fixed focal length.

My dream compact at the moment is the Fujifilm X10. Just need a spare 600 quid!

Yes, the GR.
Fixed focal length - it's a brave thing to do on a compact, and I've not had time to look at the files I took with it, but oh my - it's sooo nice to use.

all the suggestions were compacts? none pocket cameras?

thx all

Dammit you're right but what the fudge was I thinking of? There's a Nikon coolpix that's similar in dimension to the s95.

Maybe the P300?

whats bizzare is how people know what good compacts are when everyone has SLRs? doesnt make sense also my sisters fancy cameraphone seems to take better quality pics than my D80, is this possible?

Yes, depending on the lens you're using.
*Edit - please, stop your sig from telling me I've 'won' an iPad 2.

you just need to click "yes" before time runs out, and then everything will be cooool.

Or right-click image-block.

I think we have a spammer in our midst.

He tends to post only short replies (or copy other people's replies) and then puts three links to game gold buying sites.

The Sony RX100 is also worth considering as it is similar in size to the Canon S95/100 and has a larger imaging sensor than the other cameras mentioned which should translate into better quality.

edit: didn't notice the original post date