Olympus C8080 would be my choice but bear in mind that this is a compact
digital so essentially a point and shoot. In my experience it is the best
out of all the 8mp compacts. The coolpix is a piece of junk in regards to
pic quality. Just read the reviews on them here and decide
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/comp...s7000&show=all
I would go for the 8080 hands down.

"Tom C." wrote in message
...
Looking to get a good digital camera (who isn't?) to use for outdoor
sports,
family outings and the usual kid shots. I'd also like to take short
movies
with it so that I don't have to lug around my video camera. I have three
kids, 7, 4 and 1 that require a fast shooting times, so the autofocus
speed
needs to be pretty good. I don't want another SLR system - too big and
bulky to carry. Smaller and digital is better for me at this point. I've
increased my budget to around $700 and these are the models that I've
narrowed the choices down to:

Olympus C-5060wz (~$500)
Is it always better to go less camera and more memory? I can add a good
size memory card, and just be at my budget.

Minolta Dimage A2 (~$700)
Put my whole budget into the good camera and get a larger memory card
later
after I save up a few bucks.

Olympus C-8080 (~725)
I guess I can squeeze out a few more bucks.

Maybe Fuji S7000??? (~$450)
Nikon Coolpix 8700??? (~750 minus $200 rebate = ~$550)

Any others I should consider?

Thanks-