Canon SX170 upgrade from the SX160 - Probable death of the series

You've denigrated two cameras I happen to own and like a lot.  The G15 is the first.  It has a lot going for it.  Fast lens for openers.  I have owned the G series since the G5, missing only the G10.  The G12 lens is slower; but it's also not as sharp as the one on the G15.  The G15 is also a little better at high ISO.  The loss of the articulated LCD was a minor thing for me; but taking that off to save weight and thickness means the G15 fits comfortably in a trouser pocket.  It will even slip easily into a shirt pocket, although it's a little heavy for that.

The second one is the Panasonic FZ200.  True, at the default settings it's a little soft; but set it properly and it's very sharp.

On the roof of a bar in Bar Harbor, Maine  SOOC

A roadside shot on top of Mt. Cadillac SOOC

Bar Harbor, the pier for cruise ship tenders SOOC Those tenders really are that color.

All three shots are straight out of the camera.  To get the best out of the FZ200 took a LOT of experimenting to find the optimum in-camera settings.  All of the earlier FZ series worked best at Noise Reduction -2, Sharpening +1.  Those settings look lousy on the FZ200.  What several of us use is NR -1, Sharpening -2, iResolution ON, and in addition, I set the WB to +2 steps Amber.  I have no idea what they were thinking when they set the parameters in the processor.  As it turns out, NR and Sharpening interact very strongly, so you can't use Sharpening in-camera to get a sharper image.

Now, lets talk about your beloved SX10.  As it happens I had one.  It was my next camera after my S5IS.  It's also the camera that caused me to try a Panasonic, an FZ28.  The SX10 has a slow lens at the long end, and chromatic aberration is as bad as it is in the S5IS.  At least the S5IS had a fast lens.  The FZ28's lens was a little longer (486 Vs 432 mm) than the S5IS's and nearly as fast over the 27-432 mm range  of the S5IS, only slowing to f/4.4 over the last 50 mm or so.  The long Canon zooms get slow rather quickly and then don't change much over most of the range.

As to AA cells, I do agree it's a shame they are disappearing.  My wife has a Canon A710IS.  A great little camera.  She wanted an OVF, and needs IS.  I wanted AA cells, so she wouldn't have to manage keeping rechargeables topped up.  We use the Energizer lithiums in the A710IS - 10 year shelf life, 550 shots on a pair in her camera, and they don't self discharge in the camera.  She doesn't take a lot of pictures, so whenever she picks up the camera, it's always ready to go.  Her case does have room for a spare pair.  I found a decent used one recently for $25 and bought it as a spare as Canon no longer supports them, and if it dies, another one is hard to find.

Just kidding about you denigrating the G15 and FZ200; but I did want to set the record straight on the 200.  If it isn't set up right, you'll not be happy with it.  Hence the bad reports.  But stick with it, and it's an excellent camera with a terrific EVF, an excellent f/2.8 lens, long battery life, and very good ergonomics and control logic.