If you want a bit more reach then the Nikon P7000 is not only cheaper but offers 7.1x zoom compared to the 5x of the Canon G12. It might come in handy for the motorsport shots.

Okay so I think I'm leaning towards just compact cameras. G12, LX5 and the P7000. Any others?

If you're discounting the micro Four Thirds system, then I'd say G12.

I'm leaning towards G12 too but want to try out the competition. Was planning on going to Jessops this weekend.

I looked at the price of the G12. By faffing around, the price has gone up from £380 to around £420. What's pants is that back in March, prices were around £350 (according to camera price buster),

At work, a patient didn't turn up so I had some free time. Made a mock-up of the camera - it's frikkin huge! Best try it out in person.

Olympus XZ-1 (TIPA award winner)
Samsung EX1 (EISA award winner)

In Practical Photography magazine this month they had a group test featuring the XZ-1, G12, LX5 and P7000 and the Nikon took the honours.

The f/1.8 maximum aperture of the Oly and Samsung is appealing but the Samsung doesn't do movies (although it's built like a tank!) and both have a fairly limited zoom range. Between the P7000 and G12 the Nikon just edges it for me for the extra zoom. That leaves the LX5 which I've always liked. It's faster than the Canon and Nikon (f/2.8-4.5 & f/2.8-5.6 respectively) but again hasn't got a great deal in terms of zoom.

Which one? Not a bloody clue. I'd love to be in a position to have to make the choice but I think it would give me sleepless nights deciding.

The G12 certainly isn't small.

P7000 - G12 shootout.

So I went to Jessops to have a look at the cameras. Some on the list were too lightweight/small IMO. The S95 was too small for what I wanted. But comparing it to the G12, there didn't seem to be much in image quality and certainly looking at the image-resource website, the comparison images were very similar, except for saturation. The LX5 felt good but I kept getting the flash trapped under my fingers, which I was worried about causing damage to. The Samsung EX1 was something I hadn't considered until last night but looked very good on the web. In real life, it seemed more fiddly to use and I don't know if it was because I wasn't used to the Samsung layout. I didn't really get much of a chance to play with the Nikon P7000. It was basically between this and the G12, so I went to have a play with the G12. Picked it up and loved the chunky, solid feel of it. Controls seemed very intuitive and I loved not having to fiddle through menus, which is one of the things I was looking for. My Fuji F50 has various settings but it takes me forever to get through them, so the fact that the G12 had separate buttons for different settings was a definite plus.

However, Jessops had the Canon 500D for not much more. I started having a play with the Canon SLRs and realised a few things: if I want a bridge camera, it's almost worth just going for a dSLR given the cost and size; I didn't want anything approaching dSLR size. The experience reinforced the need to look for a compact camera and not a bridge/dSLR. The G12 had the chunkiness but still felt compact enough to carry around in my jacket pocket (I've never carried a camera in a jeans pocket - takes too long to get out!).

So I ended up buying the G12. From Jessops of all places! The price has seemed to rocket over the last few days and went from around £380 to £420 on Amazon. I don't know if it was because I kept looking at them or something. On top of that, Amazon were not supplying them - it was one of those "alternative sellers" things. £420 from an unknown seller via Amazon, compared to £450 in store from Jessops. Was it worth paying the extra? I had a chat with the sales guy and asked about the online price. This was £430. They were able to match the online price by ordering via online and "collect in store".

They then tried to sell me a few extras. Said no to all except a case, which I needed. I had looked online and the DCC1600 wasn't available in the usual places I'd buy. So I had a look at the lowepro apex cases. Seemed okay so was about to settle for this (£25). They then tried to persuade me to get one of the bundles. They were offering: G12 camera, Sandisk 8GB Extreme SDHC class 6, Lowepro Apex 60 for £470. This meant that I was getting the SDHC card for £15. I honestly couldn't remember the price so I just said yes. It was only when I got home that I realised it was a class 10 card.

If I bought the same thing from Best Buy (camera £400 (with CAM75 discount code), same case for £26, same card but class 6 for £50), it'd cost £475 and I'd have to wait for delivery or travel to the other side of Birmingham to Merry Hill to buy same day.

Jessops seem to sell some kind of insurance protection thing. Ordinarily I say no to these things, but this covered accidental damage. I still said no but I wonder whether it was the right thing to do or whether to go for it.

Any ideas?

Product insurance is like gambling, house (Jessops) always wins. Typical household and travel insurance should cover your needs, but it may be worth checking up on them just to make sure you are covered sufficiently.

I generally try to buy as cheap as I can online, but there are times when it is nice to pickup in store even for a few notes more. As long as you're happy then it doesn't matter what we think.

It certainly is nice to have all of the buttons available rather than having to drill through menus. If Samsung cameras are anything like their phones it was a wise choice to avoid them.

Yeah, price and availability has been all over the place since the Tsunami in Japan. Ordering some cameras for work, there were very few places that could supply us with the 10 we were after all at once. Sadly, availability informs price sometimes.

I know. Frustratingly, if I'd looked around in March, I'd have been able to get the same camera for £350 or so, meaning I'd save over a £100. Figured it was due to the tsunami.

As for product insurance, I normally avoid it as it's usually overpriced and doesn't cover whatever it is you need at the time of claim! I told them I'd look at the fine print first and then decide - apparently I can still purchase it within a month of buying the camera. Are there alternatives I should consider?

I've also been on a spending spree on Amazon and bought a few books aimed at the G12 to maximise my use of the camera.

There's an abundance of legit stuff for free on the interwebs. If it was me I would cancel that order if possible, and spend the money on an extra battery or memory card.

Bit too late to do anything. It's all meant to be G(10/11/)12-specific and a fair few positive reviews on dpreview.com