Eric Babula wrote in
1:

I'm looking for a very similar camera to the one you're looking at. You
didn't mention price.

Some of the options I was looking at:
Nikon Coolpix 8800 (8MP, 10x Optical zoom)
Nikon Coolpix 8700 (8MP, 8x Optical zoom)
Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5 (5MP, 12x Optical zoom)
Panasonic FZ20 or FZ5, as David Taylor mentioned

Crap! I left my info at home! I can't remember the other ones I was
looking at! Tell ya what. I'm leaving for home now. Gotta run a couple
errands first. When I get home, I'll jump online and let you know the
other ones I was looking at.

FYI - I'm currently leaning to the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5. Seems to
have most eveything I'm looking for.

But, you should do your research, go to a camera shop, ask questions,
and hold various cameras in your hand and play with them. What works
for
one might be terrible for another.


Ok, doesn't look like this went thru the first time. Here's try #2:

I'm back. The other cameras I heard about/looked into a

Kodak DX7590 (5MP, 10x Optical zoom)
Kodak DX6490 (4MP, 10x Optical zoom) - if you can go down to 4MP
Nikon Coolpix 5700 (5MP, 8x Optical zoom)
Olympus Camedia C765, C750 or C770 (4MP, 10x Optical zoom)

Check out the reports on each of these that interest you. Consumer
Reports picked the Nikon 5700 and 8700, the Kodak 7490, and the three
Olympus cameras as their top picks. PC Magazine, CNET.com and PC World
all picked the Nikon 8800. Others were picked, but didn't meet my
requirements, so I didn't list them here. Check out the reviews on
www.pcmagazine.com, www.cnet.com, www.pcworld.com, www.dpreview.com,
www.dcresource.com and www.steves-digicams.com.

Well, there ya go - more information than you probably wanted. Sorry,
but I have no practical experience with any of these cameras. I'm in the
market for my first digicam, so I can't help you with any real-life
expereince. Maybe others can. At least I got you some choices for you to
look into.

HTH a little,

--
Eric Babula
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA