For most of my photos I use the prosumer panasonic DMC FZ-50. This is a very fast 10.1 megapixel camera. I got mine from B&H Photo

For quick point and shoots, I use a canon SD750 7-megapixel. Why? Very small, I can put this camera in my pocket. Very fast, The time from off to on and ready to shoot is about 1 second. Very large display. I got this one from Amazon.

If you get this camera I suggest this case that I also got from amazon.

I keep at least on extra battery for each camera with at all times and I get them at adorama.

For memory for my cameras I use Transend SDHC class 6 cards from adorama. They are cheap fast cards.