Each of the following offers an excellent value for quality/features. I will keep this post updated (Updated July 1, 2010) with my current recommendations. If you are looking for specific features ask me on twitter @camerarec or send me an email and I would be happy to  recommend something specific to your needs.

A note about Mega Pixels (MP). No longer should you choose one camera over another because it has more MP. Recently some camera manufacturers have reduced the number of MPs in order to increase low light performance. The SD400 and S90(both listed below) are two 10MP cameras that offer excellent low light performance for a P&S.

Super Budget
Panasonic Lumix LZ8K 8MP 5x Zoom Lots of features, easy to operate and image quality is excellent.

BudgetCanon PowerShot SD1300 IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Silver) Lacks some of the frills of the other cameras but provides the Powershot reliability and excellent image quality in a variety of situations

Mid Level

Canon PowerShot SD1400IS 14.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Black)

Panasonic Lumix ZS7 12 MP 12x Zoom 3.0-Inch LCDHuge Zoom, HD video recording and excellent image quality in a form factor that slips into a pocket.

High end

Canon PowerShot SD4000 10MP 3.8x ZoomVery similar to the S90 below but with HDvideo. You lose the slick control scheme and a tiny bit of low light performance. But if you are looking for a traditional P&S form factor with excellent quality in video and stills this camera is hard to beat!

Canon PowerShot S95 10 MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0-Inch inch LCD
Extremely high quality images with very little noise, even at higher ISOs, almost DSLR like quality. Genius control scheme lets you have as much or as little control over manual shooting. HD Video.

Hope this helps and please let me know if you have any questions.

Related posts:

1. CES Photographers Summary

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