Even though this is now a fairly old posting I thought it might be interesting to add some feedback. I have used the C8080 wide zoom for some years now. I bought it because I felt DSLRs weren't ready yet for "prime time" and frankly, the camera was very cheap as I bought it at a Sam's club that was dumping them to make way for newer models. The DPReview rating it highly was also a factor and yes, I looked at the Sony mentioned in the reviews as an alternate unit. Frankly I did not like the Sony at all, finding it somewhat cumbersome and front heavy. So the C8080 was it. There is a learning curve with this camera, and yes, under certain conditions its slow, and yes, storing a RAW file takes some time, but what do you expect for the price of the unit? One of my favorite features is the multi-spot metering feature, something that the newest crop of DSLRs still do not offer. And I like the flip out viewer, another feature that the DSLRs also do not have. The camera has been used extensively, the finish is now wearing like an old film camera, and I am still very pleased with the unit. In comparison with the Tested unit, battery life is excellent. Overall, I found the review of the camera on this netsite somewhat amateurish, especially when the party had to admit after passing "judgement" on the camera that he had not bothered to read the manual in detail beforehand, and did not know how to operate the controls correctly. To then blame the features on the camera as not being acceptable sound like a bit of a reach to me. Since this unit is no longer made, you'll have to buy a used one if you want one, or search to find a store that still has them on the shelf. I find it to be a superb unit, even years later. The only minus I have with the unit is its slowness, not that good for action photography.
