Quote Originally Posted by atlantamx3
For a point & Shoot, you want something with a lot of OPTICAL zoom.

This new Sony has a 15x Optical zoom and is right in your price range:

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/H9/H9A.HTM
That camera is awesome for the price no doubt. I have one and it does everything I need it to do and is not very hard to use. Just make sure that you get a picture card instead of a standard card for the extra storage.

For your price range this is the one that I would recommend by far unless the Olympus goes on sale first.