Originally Posted by
pasopia
I've been eyeing the canon s90:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/s90.htm
What's nice about it is that is a P&S with an actual control ring around the lense. You can set the ring to whatever function you want, focus, aperture, exposure compensation, etc. I don't have any first hand experience, but it's been getting good reviews. It also goes wider than most compact cameras.
I wouldn't be too excited about it. The big win on rings around lenses is if they directly, mechanically control lens (it's lens; "lense" would be pronounced "lens-ee") zoom and/or focus.
I had a camera once with a ring around the lens that digitally controlled focus, and it really wasn't any better than pushbuttons.
If you want a ring around the lens that's useful, buy an SLR.