My Canon S230 met an untimely end during our vacation. This little three megapixel digital camera was in my pocket or backpack all the time, producing great photos when the moment caught me without a more substantial camera.

My trusty sidearm died in the line of duty. I had both kids alone, waiting for the evening fireworks show at Epcot. As is often the case when I'm alone with the kids, I just had my S230 (I need at least one hand free to corral children). I had the camera balanced on top of a pointy fence post to stabilize it for the long shutter evening shots when it slipped out of my hand and dashed onto the rocks below. The kids were able to scramble down after the show to retrieve the parts (everything came off -- doors, memory card, battery, the whole works.) The shot above is one of the last ones before it returned to the darkroom in the sky.

Since I can't live without a pocket camera, I placed an order today for a new Canon SD500. This is a 7.1 megapixel camera in an even smaller body (yes, I know the SD550 has been announced. I can't wait and the change isn't important to me.) I hope it's a good successor to my good ol' S230.

(Some shot details: This was shot using the "Night" mode on the S230. This holds the shutter open longer after the flash goes off, allowing the background to get exposed more. None of the lights in the background or the Epcot dome thingy would have shown up otherwise. Normally, the little flash isn't enough to light up anything too far away, but the Japanese gate was pretty close and had some lights on it, so the longer exposure allowed it to fill in. I love trying to make the camera's automatic settings do what I want.)