[tobe]

Hi everyone, I am new to the forum & would appreciate a bit of help,

Planning a backpacking trip to Beijing for 4 weeks & am looking to treat myself to a new shiny camera, I had my mind set on the Lecia D-LUX 4 then I started to reading reviews.

Below are the camera's I have looked at, but not in person. I have rated these cameras in order of wish list.

1. Panasonic DMC-GF1
2. Canon Powershot G11
3. Panasonic Lumix LX3
3. Canon S90
4. Leica D-Lux 4

D-lux4, Lumix LX3 is a cheaper alternative with grip on front
Canon S90, excellent camera, bit small, don’t like the compact look
Lumix LX3, leica lense, not pocket size, 24mm F2.0, hot shoe, excellent macro, downfall 24mm/60mm lense, O/A picture quality better on S90
G11, excellent camera, slightly superior to S90 & G11, but still no HD Video & macro better on LX3
GF1, doubled my budget but is it worth the extra bucks? Would you recommend the 20mm lense or 14-45, supposedly the 20mm doesn’t have a optical stabilizer for HD vid, would I need if not using a tripod?

Any comments would be much appreciated, sorry I went on a bit, to many reviews on the www.