Digital Camera Preference?

[highway]

I have carried various cameras, all of which have been quite heavy. Now its a very nice and small Olympus with small zoom lense but with camera, soft case, extra lithium batteries, at least 2-3 rolls of film, the weight becomes 1.30 pounds. It is obvious that technology is quickly making film cameras disappear, just as electronic calculators did to the slide rule and I keep lusting after one of the small digital ones that are so small and so light and take so many digital fotos.

But there are so darn many of them that its difficult to decide. I have gone to the one website I know, probably good but very cumbersome and full of info on so many of them....So, from someone's backpacking perspective, which I want find on that site, which would be a better choice- in your opinion?

[Kerosene]

I, too, have been on the lookout to replace my 3.5 oz. but marginal quality Kodak disposable with a digital camera that lets me review my exposure and get it right, storing only those photos that I really want to preserve. There are several new cameras out there that come in at about 6 oz. with battery, but I wouldn't call any of them ideal quite yet. If you're willing to go up to 9+ oz., then you should be able to get into the 3-4 megapixel range with good LCD preview and 2-3x optical zoom (forget the digital zoom!), but battery life may become an issue, and batteries cost a lot in weight and are difficult to recharge in the woods.

Take a look at the Casio Exilim EX-S1, the Minolta Dimage F100 and X, the Canon Powershot Digital Elph series, the Olympus Camedia D-550 Zoom, and the Sony Cyber Shot DSC-P1. You'll almost certainly have to give up something on your film capabilities, but you should be able to save a pound without really trying.

I tend to go to the CNet digital camera review site (http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/search/0,10126,0-6613935-1302-0,00.html?tag=stbc.gp) as my first stop, but I'm sure there are others.

[Deafsmart]

Also, don't forget to stop by Digital Photography Review (http://www.dpreview.com/) which has Buying Guide (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp) to compare rating and reviews based on customers' opinion and suggestion. Choose your own specification-price, style, weight and many more.

Last night, I found out that Fujifilm 2800 Zoom (http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/Products.jsp?nav=-2&parent=235315&product=43860738) has 160+ customers' comments, most of them gave rave reviews which they said it is good outdoor SLR-like camera in 2 million pixel category as well good 5 stars overall, but lousy at taking dusk and fairly at indoor setting (one guy in Bangkok claimed he took that digital camera in night photography with improvised artificial lights just fine).

For now, I am going over to CNet.com to make my final decision. Yes, CNet is the best web portal that covered vast technological arena.