My wife and I spent about two years shopping for a digital camera, and finally settled on the Canon S-40. As you're probably aware, the S-xx series are the 'consumer' versions of the pro-oriented G series. The S-40, as it turns out, is about 85% of a G-2. 85% in every way - features, price, and weight. I hasten to add that Canon has not made any compromises regarding picture quality - the S-40 may not have all the exposure or hardware options that the G-2 does, but the pictures themselves are every bit as good.