Powershot sx130, sx210 or Lumix ZR7

[bigguytf]

Need to buy a smaller P&S that has capability of pretty decent video. For the most part, comments on the sx130 and sx210 are a mixed bag on this site, and have started me looking at other options like the Lumix ZS7.

Anyone have thoughts on the video capabilities of the sx130 and 210. While I realize they do not get video as good as a video camera I have seen some clips that look pretty good for both of these as well as the ZS7. I want the camera rather than the video camera as you get better stills out of a P&S then out of a video camera, and it can serve as a travel camera.

[eyalg]

I imagine you meant the Panasonic ZS7 and not ZR7,
and I understand you are looking for a large zoom as well as video capabilities.

Between those, the ZS7 is better than the Canon's in some sense,
as its video is AVHCD lite. It's lighter on the hard disk, but more difficult to edit.

In general, waiting for new models is not a good idea,
but many new models have recently been announced,
and will be released next month. Most of them make use of a
CMOS imaging sensor and provide 1080 video instead of 720
which is offered by all the models you mentioned.

These models include Canon's SX230, Panasonic's ZS10, Sony's HX7 and HX9.

On top of that, you may consider Sony's excellent HX5,
which has 1080 video, 10x zoom and a wide 25mm lens.