It's not as easy as you think to take photos of paintings. Especially if they are big. You'll need to be standing quite far back and then zoom in so that you don't get distortion. My daughter paints and she uses ginormous canvasses! When I first started photographing them for her I got a few with rounded sides... You can fix it with software but it's better not to.

I would have thought any decent compact will suit your needs (based on your other post). You could look at the Fujis too, they give you lovely sharp photos.

A good one is the fuji s9600 or lower range alternatives.

I purchase the Z710 hope its ok using it to take pictures of my sculpture, but I think smaller images grouped into a larger one in photosop will work best for me!

Got it for £82 fingers crossed!

I wish I got the s9600 DOH! but thats around 200 - 230 cameras2u

link below:

The s9600 and its lower versions have very good write ups.

Some sites give this one 10 out of 10! Hers my link to my gallery, no sculpture yet just virtual sculpture!

Trained as traditional artist first. 

http://kc.imagekind.com/

I've seen the KODAK Z710 in action (HSN VIDEO CLIP) It seems to perform rather well in all typycal shooting situation. Can anyone tell me how it performs in macro mode? How close does it gets to the subject?

I am surprised that you did not comment on what i consider the most annoying feature of the camera. That being the lens cap which will not stay on.  I just finished taking a couple of thousand pics of well log cores in a camp in Assam near the Burma border.  Pictures were great, preservation of color and detail in rocks was excellent but i had some control over lighting, not much.  I use it in somewhat rustic environments and have to be kind of brutal with it on the airlines I use, as well as ground transport and the fact that i cant keep the lens cap on is a big annoyance. 

Also trying to use it with conventional batteries is problematic as duracell and the energizer bunny is often not available.  I try to keep a stock of charged rechargable batteries on hand while travelling as these have sufficient power to operate the camera.  The batteries that you buy in a small kiosk in India do not

    I bought one of these a couple of years ago and am delighted with it. Yes chuck that is annoying about the lens cap, you just have to be careful not to knock it off! Another annoying feature is the shutter lag, about 1/2 sec. after you press the button, but for what I use mine for, this is not really a problem (holiday snaps etc.) I'm keeping mine (and I paid nearly £200 for it. It's a lovely little camera and I am really chuffed with it.

  I took a shot of my son and his girl friend in Prague from the other side of a rather wide road, head and shoulders, had it block mounted on canvass to 12ins.x 16ins.  and am REALLY surprised at the detail and sharpness of the image. One can see each individual hair on their heads as the Sun is highlighting them- they too are extremely happy with the result.

   If they are now selling for such a low price- get one NOW you won't be disappointed.