Favorite point-and-shoot camera for the mountains?

TG-2 iHS

Wow, looks like a sweet machine for the backcountry with some decent features (manual controls, OK zoom, GPS, HDR, IS, f 2.0 lens, high-speed burst shooting, etc.)
Couple drawbacks are ... no viewfinder (they claim the display is bright enough to handle direct sunlight - the jury's out on that one); no lens cover (Olympus claims it's coated against scratching and all that but in reality I'm yet to see any kind of glass or polycarbonate that would not get scratched eventually so I'm afraid the optics will get degraded as the glass lens cover gets scratched over time).

Really curious if anyone's using it... overall still very compelling, despite the drawbacks I listed above.

Couple drawbacks are ... no viewfinder (they claim the display is bright enough to handle direct sunlight - the jury's out on that one)...

I'm with MtnPavlas on that one. The manual for the one I'm using now says that and I can't see $hit in the LCD in the sunlight.

Found this article that should help me "break the code" and decide:

" Best Point and Shoot Camera with Viewfinder "

If any one else uses any of these cameras or comes up with their own pros or cons for any of them I'd appreciate any feedback that you might have.... I will reciprocate.

The Olympus OM-d-M5 seems to be the gold standard (at 12oo bucks)

Cannon G series (it seems to be at 15 now) always offered a viewfinder, but the slow write speeds and small zoom put me off.

When I wrestled with this dilemma I went for a Lumix GF1 with pancake lenses, I have the EVF which is poor, but I have started using it. I carry it in a homehade case which goes over the shoulder. So you get the best part of the compact camera concept (always available, cos most of the good imagery you see skiing is moving, or you are) but keep the good optics, RAW, fine control etc etc

Viewfinder is essential in my (often crazed) opinion.
(edit) I was thinking about the viewfinder dilemma while doing the dishes: I have taken a few great shots without a viewfinder, but this is really 'point and shoot and hope', you know your going to get something good cos you can see it with your eyes, if however you want to see what the camera sees, you need the viewfinder. So I differentiate into 2 different modes: In the second, you have a good quality optical or digital viewfinder with which you can compose, releasing the artist within you to voluntarily capture the image, rather than trusting fate & approximation, both have their virtues. Ha Good luck

Also, since I'm feeling verbose, Galen Rowell wrote a brilliant piece in his book Mountain Light about setting his students the task of writing an essay entitled "I am the film" which forced them to explain their (the film) limitations & sensitivites. It's ace, pedantically redundant, but still relevant. Great read.

With the Panasonic Lumix LX7, you can get either an optical or an electronic viewfinder as an accessory add-on. I have the optical one for my LX3 - better than nothing but it only shows me the wide angle of view so as I noted above, I'm left guessing when zoomed in at all. But the electronic one shows the same image as is shown on the LCD (you switch which is displaying, apparently), so you can see the zooming. These accessories do cost as much as a cheap out-of-date but still-decent camera of lesser quality than the LX7, but there you have it.

Between that and some other improvements including much better zoom range in the LX7 versus the LX3, I'm now feeling some creeping materialistic desire...

Wow, looks like a sweet machine for the backcountry with some decent features (manual controls, OK zoom, GPS, HDR, IS, f 2.0 lens, high-speed burst shooting, etc.)
Couple drawbacks are ... no viewfinder (they claim the display is bright enough to handle direct sunlight - the jury's out on that one); no lens cover (Olympus claims it's coated against scratching and all that but in reality I'm yet to see any kind of glass or polycarbonate that would not get scratched eventually so I'm afraid the optics will get degraded as the glass lens cover gets scratched over time).

Really curious if anyone's using it... overall still very compelling, despite the drawbacks I listed above.

Also only charges via USB.  And only has an aperture priority mode, no shutter priority.  Still, it seems pretty great in many other respects...

I'm with MtnPavlas on that one. The manual for the one I'm using now says that and I can't see $hit in the LCD in the sunlight.

Found this article that should help me "break the code" and decide:

" Best Point and Shoot Camera with Viewfinder "

If any one else uses any of these cameras or comes up with their own pros or cons for any of them I'd appreciate any feedback that you might have.... I will reciprocate.

Hmm... useful article.  Biggest con I see is that the first few are somewhat bulky, and while the Canon A1300 (or A1400) is much smaller, in reading about it, it doesn't sound like the image quality is particularly stellar.  Not surprising given its price, but too bad.  The Olympus XZ-1 might be more promising, but I can't get a clear read on how big the actual camera is.