BTW, I have the telephoto lens for the G5 (Santa was good
to me, too) so I have 7X zoom.


Your camera is WAY heavy...I know! With the Canon tele it's even heavier.
The Z1 has 10X and just does a LOT things better. My friend bought one and I
was a skeptic...until I tried it out. 4-5 MP, lens stabilizer will make it near
perfect as a consumer camera.
The Z1 simply outshot the Canon due to it's superior engineering. Now...the G2
or G5 are BETTER cameras IF you take the time on manual settings. Optics are
excellent. But for casual shooting the Minolta Z1 and the 10X entry from
Olympus eat it for breakfast.
Before getting your panties in a bunch I suggest you test one. Sold the G2 to a
diver---they're great for that and the G5 will be sold next week to a friend
for 475.00. He also dives.

RB

And jeff, here's another nice thing about the Z1 that we'll see more and
more...it shoots GOOD video with sound. Very nice for on board shooting. You'll
need a few big memory cards. You get 8 minutes on a 512 card, but that's more
than I shoot with the 3 CCD sony, which I'll now leave safely at home....
Unless Scotty robs me!

RB