Do you consider a Canon Poweshot A620 a P&S?  I do, although it has so many features (even manual mode), as I guess 90% of users (maybe more) never go away from the basic "program" mode.

Regards,
Adelaide

I make a few things with client photos like greeting cards and posters, etc.  I am totally appalled by some of the photos I am sent - but then those customers are usually the ones who turn out loving their products the most, so who cares about a bit of noise and bum pixels on their out-of-focus birth announcements!

And yes, I have a point and shoot as well, and I've even sold a few photos taken with it.  But - conditions have to be perfect for any kind of quality.  No Miz, I wouldn't get rid of it either, even though the batteries have been dead for a couple years. 

What I should do is charge it up and take my 6 year old on a photo walk.

Because .... Mine is a Canon G3 which actually cost as much as my DSLR when I bought it nearly five years ago. it's actually got more controls than my 20D (focus bracketing for example). And a really good quality f2 lens. It can take an external Canon flash; at ISO 50  the image quality is less noisy and more robust to post processing as far as artifacts showing up than my DSLR (but no use at higher ISOs). It's only got 4MP so I don't have too many stock shots with it, but the quality is well good enough. While it's not exactly tiny, I can keep it in my handbag and use it to take reference shots for illustrations whenever something shows up. Because the small sensor has a depth of field from here to eternity when stopped down to f8 or so, it's a fine macro or landscape lens for non-moving subjects in good light. It has a swivel screen so that I can get down low without breaking my back, or take shots over the heads of a crowd. And people don't realise that I'm taking photos as it's so discrete.

And my daughters can hold it  -  they are very petite and finds the 20D too much of a handful.

I only wish that any of its successors were as good as I'd like to upgrade- while it's replacements have more megapixels they have slower lenses, and no flip out screen.

So why use an SLR if I love my P&S so much?...because the P&S focus is slower, the viewfinder is non existent and I can't see the screen clearly without wearing reading glasses. And I shoot a lot (not for stock) with moving subjects at low light (kids theater and concerts, mainly) and the focus speed and high ISO capability of a DSLR is essential. But having an alternative that can do maybe 75 per cent of what I need, that is always in my bag whatever I'm doing, is a real useful trick. And I still upload the odd istock photo with it (it gives me a medium)

I made my whole stock portfolio (between 75 and 400 photos online on the different major stockphoto-sites) with a point-and-shoot (Canon Powershot S2IS).
Will upgrade to a DSLR this year, because it gives me a bigger sensor and the opportunity to downsize photos when they are not totally sharp...
But I will keep my old Canon, because it�s easy work, and suitable for most things I want to photograph.

Because I don't want to take my 5D with f2.8 lens on nights out when I'm getting drunk with my friends...

Love my compact, spent alot of money on it, and it gets shots accepted at the stock libraries.  Wouldn't use it all the time though.

I love my Powershot a610 - most of the photos in my portfolio were shot with it.  It was a great starter camera to learn composition and the basics. 

Now that I have my 20D, there's no looking back.  I only will be using the point and shoot when going to small gatherings or events when I don't want to lug around the big guns.

even now i just seen PAS with 10 mp . i couldn't believe it,
the only thing for these little "non-pro" cameras are you mem card can only take like 20 shots.

but yes, they can be useful at times.

I think my PAS is about 12 MP, it's not true you only fit 20 shots on a card, mine takes SD cards the same as some dSLR's.  I just bought a couple of 2GB cards for a fiver each.  Plus my PAS can shoot RAW, just the same as my 5D, so it opens up a whole new world of possibility.

Plus, totally disagree with Miz's comments about f22, mine shoots at a true f2.8 with it's Leica lens.

You get what you pay for with a point and shoot.  You wanna spend $500-600 on a G9 or something, go ahead - but it's still going to be limited to what you can do with it.  Strap a flash on the hotshoe and try to shoot a wedding...you're going to look like an idiot   BUT, P&S cams are portable, and handy.  Cell phone cameras suck, but soon I'm sure they will begin to have 5-6 megapixels and start taking stock-worthy shots (with some post processing, of course).

I even hacked my Powershot a610 to shoot RAW.

Seren, are you sure 5MP images are not accepted? My PS images 6MP; they are accepted; i have not cropped them though ....

We used the GPS on my wife's $40 LG chocolate cell phone (Verizon) and for the $2.99 demo/trial price for one day it gave us turn by turn directions on an 8 hour road trip.  It works just as well as a $200 tom-tom or magellan   The woman's voice was even quite pleasant.

Sigma just released a PnS with a DSLR size Foveon chip and a prime lens in a single little package.  A little $$, but it looks like the convenience of a PnS with absolutely no quality compromises. 

I got confused when you called it just camera ...