Looking for apparently uncommon feature combination

I'm looking for a compact 3-4MP camera to replace the 1.3MP Olympus D-340R
I've been using for several years. The camera needs to be small and rugged
enough to fit in my back hip pocket, because that's where I generally store
it when I'm traveling. (I try not to sit on it, but it's been known to
bear some weight from time to time.)

This past summer, I bought the Coolpix 3200, which was a sweet little
camera, except for two things. First, the wheel on the back for choosing
the basic shooting mode (e.g., still or video) kept getting turned going
into and out of my back pocket. Second, I had trememdous trouble getting
it to focus in low light. I ultimately returned the camera a week after
getting it, because it just wasn't working out for me.

Yesterday, I went to a photo shop to start my research again, and one of
the things that surprised me was that just because a camera has movie mode,
auto-focus, and an optical zoom doesn't mean that you can shoot video, use
the zoom, and have the camera auto-focus all at the same time. The Optio
S4i and the Casio Exilim (model unknown, sorry) can each do two of the
three, but that seems limiting to me. (My recollection is that the Coolpix
did all three.) Also, one of the two cameras (I don't remember which one)
took a really long time after ending a movie to write it to disk, which
leads me to suspect that it records to a fixed amount of internal memory
instead of taking advantage of however much memory is available on the
memory card.

I thought I was looking for something fairly easy to find, but the more I
look into things, the more I find out that there are questions I didn't
know about. I mean, really, who'd have thought that a camera with a zoom
lense and movie mode can't zoom when making movies? Not to mention that
some movie modes don't support sound...

This is what I'm looking for:

- 3-4MP, 3X optical zoom (or better)
- Small, but not necessarily super-tiny
- Must have a viewfinder as well as an LCD, because I'm an old guy, and
I'm used to looking through a viewfinder instead of using the LCD.
Besides, doing so extends battery life. (This was another thing that
surprised me: they make cameras without viewfinders!)
- Good macro mode, as I sometimes take photos of small flowers (the
Coolpix was *great* for this)
- Support for video with sound, length limited only by available
memory on the card, auto-focus and zooming enabled. 30fps would be
nice, but I can live with 15fps.
- Rugged enough to go in a back pocket. I'm not asking for
indestructable, and I don't need it to be waterproof.
- A relatively fast startup time. When I want to use the camera, I want
to use it, not wait for it to boot.

Because I've been happy with my current Olympus and because its clamshell
design has served my ruggedness needs well, I'm interested in newer Olympus
models, but none of the camera stores around here seem to carry Olympus.
However, I'm happy to consider other makes.

I welcome all suggestions.

Thanks,

Scott

Scott Meyers wrote:
I'm looking for a compact 3-4MP camera to replace the 1.3MP Olympus
D-340R
I've been using for several years. The camera needs to be small and
rugged
enough to fit in my back hip pocket, because that's where I generally
store
it when I'm traveling. (I try not to sit on it, but it's been known
to
bear some weight from time to time.)

Here's the solution:
1. Buy a small/nice camera.
2. Buy a 1/2inch thick cast-iron casing for the camera.
3. Keep the camera in the casing before you slip it into your hip
pocket.

;-)

- Siddhartha

Scott Meyers wrote:
I'm looking for a compact 3-4MP camera to replace the 1.3MP Olympus
D-340R
I've been using for several years. The camera needs to be small and
rugged
enough to fit in my back hip pocket, because that's where I generally
store
it when I'm traveling. (I try not to sit on it, but it's been known
to
bear some weight from time to time.)

Here's the solution:
1. Buy a small/nice camera.
2. Buy a 1/2inch thick cast-iron casing for the camera.
3. Keep the camera in the casing before you slip it into your hip
pocket.

;-)

- Siddhartha