My Nikon 801 finally died, and after using my father's A40, realised how good digital can be.

Being used to an SLR, with the image quality and TTL flash options, I'm looking for a really good digital camera, but can't afford a D-SLR.

My search has narrowed to the Nikon CP5000 and the Canon G3. I'm swinging to the G3 because:

1. 4 MP seems sufficient for good 8x10s - any suggestions?
2. 4x Optical Zoom
3. Hot shoe which has TTL, and will power zoom the flash
4. Easy for my wife to pick and use immediately
5. Huge battery life
6. Uses the same battery as our MV-10i camcorder

The CP5000 is very attractive, as I already have a Speedlight SB25, but it won't zoom the flash.

A new Speedlite 420EX, nice and compact, will give me change after the sale of the SB25, and the G3 will zoom it.

Any other thoughts, advice or suggestions? Much appreciated!

I haven't used either of these, but have you checked out www.stevesdigicams.com ?

I've always relied on his site when looking for a new digital camera--he has excellent, non-biased reviews of most cameras.

Good luck!

I just purchased an Olympus 730 and love it. It's only 3.3 MP, but my smaller one had less and handled 8 x 10's easily. It has a 10x zoom, and that was the main reason I purchased it. No hot shoe, but a socket for their FL 40 external flash. Uses either Smart or XD media.

The ten time zoom to me was well worth it (By the way, that's OPTICAL, it has another 3x digital zoom), and it's priced considerably ess then the Canon is, but again, it's only 3.3 MP, though I don't see that as an issue, at least for me. Used it on a recent trip, and wouldn't give it up for the world.

The G3 would be an excellent choice. I've used and been very pleased by the G2.

Getting good flash coverage is indeed an often overlooked aspect of taking digital photos, and sharing batteries and charger with your camcorder would help reduce clutter while on the road.

Another excellent digicam site: http://www.dpreview.com (they happen to like the G3, too)

Thank you all for your suggestions. MedEdGuy, and monahos, thanks for the links - the www.dpreview.com especially was very helpful in coming to my decision. www.dcresource is really useful for the macro stuff, a bit of a weakness of the G3.

Cordelli, liked the Olympus - the new 5050Z looks like a killer - I just thought the FL40 was a bit too cumbersome.

Now to find the $$$$!

The dpreveiw site was cool, found control software for the camera so that I can control it from the computer, use it as a webcam to upload stills at a set interval, turn the monitor into a viewfinder, etc. Not really sure what I'd do with it, but it was free, and it's fun to play with.

Thanks.

I've been thinking about upgrading my digital camera. Currently, I've got a Canon S10 that has served me pretty well for the last 3 years.

One thing I would really like in my next camera digital camera is that it is able to take photos in low light without a flash.

Any recommendations?

I LOVE my Nikon coolpix 4300. It's the ultimate all around camera.

Try one and see how you like it! I've read all the reviews and all the experts love it, except for the fact that the Nikon has no AF sensor to assist with night time images. My night time pix turn out well anyway though.

After all the research, we actually tried the digital cameras. The real test was how they'd work with 0.3 and 2.5 year olds!

Unfortunately, once you've had an SLR, the only way to go digital is to move to a D-SLR.

We ended up buying a Nikon F65 - which takes better photographs than any of the (non SLR) digital cameras I tried - especially the fact that there is no delay between pressing the button and the shot being taken.

- thanks for the help and suggestions!