No!

Think of the increase in pixel ratio. 6/5 = not much

If you were considering a 3 Mpixel to a 6 then 6/3 = double

I would say that you won't really see much difference.  The quality of the
photos you take depends more on the quality of the components in the camera,
such as the lens and the optical sensors, rather than the no of pixels.

The number of pixels merely affects how big you can make the photo before
you begin to see graininess.  The more pixels, the bigger you can make the
photo before the pixels begin to appear blocky.

However, 5MP is more than enough for a sharp clear photo at A4 size.  For A5
or smaller (wallet size) you won't see a difference at all.

Also remember that if you intend to mainly store your photos on a hard disk,
or email them, rather than print them onto paper, you are limited by the
resolution of your monitor.  If you are running a 800 x 600 resolution then
anything more that 4.8MP will not show any sharper.  Many people these days
run at 1024 x 768 which is almost 8MP so you might see *some* difference at
this resolution, but this is again not too likely.

If you take all your photos at maximum resolution, you will end up with very
big photos.  These are awkard to email both in terms of file size and in
terms of viewing.  They will have to be reduced in size to comfortably fit
within a window, or even at full screen.  You will also need a bigger memory
card to store them on the camera until you download.

For friends and family snaps, 5MP is more than enough.  You can get a decent
number of photos on a 32MB card, and you won't be worried about the quality.
I would recommend the Canon IXUS range, they are very compact, have all the
functions, short movie capability and use around 5 MP.

I myself use a Fuji S7000 which does in fact go to 6MP or 12MP with
interpolation (digital "guesswork").  However the camera is a bit bulky for
everyday snapping and I only use it at work.  Most of the time the picture
my wife takes with the Canon are (to the eye) as good as what I can get on
the Fuji, although for high speed photography work, or greater zoom
functionality, the Fuji is much better and you have more options in terms of
setting exposure, shutter speed and focus.  But for simple "point and shoot"
photography the auto settings of most cameras these days are very good.

Your budget could pick you up a second hand Canon IXUS II which is the
camera my wife has, and which I highly recommend, or for a bit more you
might consider the Canon IXUS 200 which is the new model.  The Fuji was
around £300, I don't know what that is in Australian dollars.

Hope that helps.

Tanel.

Just to let you know i ended up purchasing a Canon IXUS 700 which is a nice
little strong bodied 7 mp camera.  I am very happy with it, great sharp
pictures and a good feel in the hand compared to some of the slimmer 5 mps,
canon included.  Liked the Canon A95 but a little big for the top pocket
plus i could see 4 aa batteries being a pain.

My advice is to think more about ease of use and not megapixels.  Both of
the cameras you mention will be more than adequate for family photos.  Fuji
has a reputation for inflating its megapixel numbers, so go to
www.imaging-resource.com to compare images from both cameras before deciding
on this basis.

I got my mom the A75 last Christmas, and she's been very happy with the
image quality and ease of use.  There are also good manual overrides with
this camera, and add-on lenses should you decide to do more serious
photography.   I imagine the A95 is similar.

BTW - red-eye can easily ruin otherwise excellent family photos, and the
best way to prevent it is to increase the distance between the lens and the
flash.  If you must use flash, then an external flash is probably the best
way to eliminate red-eye, so you may want to look for a camera with a flash
mounting shoe.  A pop up flash is also an advantage.  Since manufacturers do
not normally include the flash/lens distance in their specs, you will need
to rely on test images, or visual comparison of cameras.
---
Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com