When you say "decent megapixels" do you mean lots of them or good quality onesRegards,.

Robert..

Canons are like German sausages you always know exactly what you're going to get for the variety and the price. They rarely stand out in any single respect, but they're very well-balanced as a whole, with no glaring flaws either. In other words, the ones you're considering would certainly get the job done just about as well as anything else on the market..

It's quite possible there is something out there that'll fit *your* needs better. Problem is, without knowing more of what you shoot, how you shoot it, and what your preferences are, it's impossible to give any advice that'll give you a better than random chance of hitting..

So my advice is this: read the reviews of the Canons you're considering again, think of what you actually do with a camera, try to find anything that looks like a "showstopper," and if you don't find any, go with it..

Finally, a few things to consider:.

+ Megapixels don't matter (at the current state of the market). There are enough of them that the pixel count doesn't limit image quality in almost any circumstances. This means that you can find a 5 MP camera that takes better pictures than a 12 MP one..

+ Speed matters. One of the most annoying things about a camera is having to wait for it to focus. IOW, pay particular attention to the "Timings and sizes" page in Simon's reviews here..

+ There ain't no free lunch. If you want a bigger zoom, be prepared to give up something else, like size, cost, low-light capability, image quality, or a combination of the above..

As to the storage thing, memory is really cheap nowadays. If your camera takes SD or Compact Flash, a gigabyte costs a few tens of euros/dollars. If you shoot JPEG, one high-quality picture takes about 1.5-2.5 MB. That means that you can fit about 1,000 of them on a 2 GB memory card. If you think you need more than two cards for your photos, consider an "image tank" a pocketable hard disk with a card reader built in. It'll set you back a few hundred, though, so it might be out of your budget..

/Petterihttp://www.prime-junta.net/http://www.flickr.com/photos/primejunta/..

6 weeks? I'd say get an image tank.Don't wait for the Nikon D-whatever, have fun now!http://www.flickr.com/photos/j_wijnands/..

I think Petteri pretty much nailed it on the head, plus the analagy of the german sausage was very funny!!.

I don't have an image tank but use my laptop instead when I'm away. It's not as 'pocketable' as an image tank but I tend to leave it back at the hotel anyway so I don't have to lug it around..

All the best.

Richie..

Add the Pannasonic TZ3 to your list of cameras to look at. 28-280mm makes it very versitile for travel (TZ stands for Travel Zoom).terryhttp://tbanet.zenfolio.com/..

If I was going somewhere and then never again I'd take a laptop and then check every night what I'd taken for re-shooting the next day. And, of course, you can download to a website back home etc etc..

OTOH, a handfull of media cards won't break the bank and can be stored carefully when full or even posted home. That way they won't get stolen or lost with the camera. Easily done, btw..

Regards, David..

Fujifilm F31fd would fit perfectly for that budget. Its a camera that sets the standard in it's class. Its sensor is unrivaled and I think it's one of the best $250 camera out there...