Rocking in Hakata

I know - I did some research on yours, Kathy. Found out that the underwater mode isn't a lie. They sell a marine case for it. That's pretty awesome. I've never thought about doing that before, though, honestly. Anyway, your camera fits all of the criteria I just mentioned... I just dunno if I might prefer its bigger brother the FMZ50K or FMZ18K, or a similar camera from another maker.

oh yea meant to tell you- mine takes movies in MOV format!

Hey Alex -
I used to sell tech, including cameras. I know all about the megapixel myth. Thanks for bringing it up, though. I just don't know current models. That's my problem. If I could afford it, I'd drop the cash for a Nikon or Canon digital SLR. However, realistically its not what I can do and I desperately want a camera. I'd be happy with one that had the same characteristics as my old one. I'm hoping for a reasonably compact superzoom (10 to 12 optical) and SD compatible, though that's negotiable. I want to be able to shoot movies (something the DSLRs aren't made for), at least 640x480 30FPS w/ sound and preferably in .mov format. RAW compatibility would be nice, but I'd be satisfied with JPG. Noise and halos and fringing bother me. That's about it. Ha ha. I dunno - nicer would be fine, but it's gotta be within my price range. :-)

What kind of camera are you looking for? Do you want super small? Should it be able to shoot movies? Zoom? Any special, required features? Price range?

Just to save you some money in whatever you decide, you don't need anything larger than 6 mega pixels, no matter what the salesclerk tries to sell you. (I assume you aren't printing wall-scroll-sized high-quality images)

Here's a website that explains the "Megapixel Myth":
Megapixel myth