Wyomingtrapper,

I am using an Olympus C765. I looked at probably 4 dozen different makes and models. I wanted something that could do point and shoot or have features that allowed me to customize my pics. I wanted it fairly compact and very durable. I didn't want to have to baby it in the field. I knew I wanted at least 10x optical zoom. Digital zoom is not very important in my opinion.

I shopped for nearly 6 months before I decided upon this camera. It is a nice affordable camera that takes decent pics. One thing I would say is don't get hung up so much on Megapixels. 4 to 5 is adequate unless you want to take magazine quality pics. Buy as much optical zoom as you can as you will never have enough.

I enjoy taking pics much more with digital as I get immediate feedback of what the pic looks like.

Nemont