The lens is adequate for printing to 13x19 unless you're looking for ultimate sharpness in which case you need lenses that cost 3x the entire price of this camera

The one downer is that the lens is not too fast, so resolution suffers in indoor low light conditions unless flash is used, though it will take great handheld night shots!

Also, Asurion was able to clean a much dirtier lens and get it back to me in less than a week

When the lens starts coming out before it clears the bag it could become a problem.

The zoom lens is much better than I expected

I'd like a wider wide angle, a faster lens

That lens is so versatile for all kinds of snapshot photography- from landscapes to macros, action shots to long range stills or portraits

It's possible that the camera I received had a bad lens, but I'm not 100% sure

I took off 1 star because the design means I'm constantly hitting the power button when pulling it out of my pocket, which triggers the lens to open, either into my pocket (clicking) or sometimes into my hand, smudging the lens, which is not readily obvious on the viewfinder.

Also, Asurion was able to clean a much dirtier lens and get it back to me in less than a week

But this provides me almost all of the functionality, great lens at a fraction of the weight.

I bought this camera when my the retractable lens on beloved Canon G12 stuck

My explanation is that the lens is not as good as I expect

The lens is very sharp through the range (just don't go over f5.6 if you can avoid it, natural diffraction kicks in)