One thing you need to consider (in addition to zoom capability) is how you plan to use the output. If you are going to use primarily for posting on the net, I would think you can get by with fewer megapixels. If you plan to print pictures, the bigger the print the more megapixels you need to have.

I have am Olympus C-700 which I am very pleased with. It has one of the longest zooms you can get. It goes 10X optical, with another 2.7X digital. So, with the optical zoom you can go from a 35mm equivalent of 38 to 380. With digital on top of that, you can reach almost 1000, but the pics will not be the best.

This camera is a 2.1 megapixel, has a very small footprint and is very light. Cost when I bought it was about $450 (wheeled & dealed and on sale). One thing I wish it had was image stabilization. The camera uses smart media cards for storage, and will take one up to 128Mb.

Dennis Whelan's son has a cousin to this camera, the C-2100. The big difference is that it does have image stabilization, as I recall, and is a little larger.

I have been very pleased with this Olympus. The pictures have been very good, and I have been able to even use it in very low light without using the flash. It even has a "sports" program setting, allowing some movement. I have used it at swim meets and had pretty good luck shooting diagonally across a 50 meter pool.

Do be sure to invest in several sets of NiMH batteries and a good charger, as you will need them! John noted that some cameras use very proprietary batteries, and this is worth taking into consideration.

Try this site (Dennis posted it some time ago) to get some suggestions. Just choose digital cameras.

Dave