OT: Digital Cameras, Need good comparison websites Options

[Qarl]

Looking to get a new Digital Camera. I'd like to read some good comparisons of the different models.

One of the things that interest me is battery life. My current Nikon lasta about 24-40 pictures with flash on it's proprietary lithium ion battery. I have to carry 2 or 3 batteries around to fill up a 128 MB compact flash disk.

I am looking for...

4 to 5 mega pixels
Compact Flash
Point and shoot style with a good size.
Good flash coverage
Optical and digital zoom
Excellent battery life
Direct upload from camera to PC via cable(so I don't have to always remove Compact Flash) card.

I'd like to stick with Nikon, Canon, Olympus, or Minolta

$400 or less

I thought about getting the Canon Digital Rebel so I could use my Canon EOS AF lenses, but I couldn't justify the price or the big size.

[campbellcj]

dpreview.com is a GREAT site...incredibly detailed reviews and sample shots.

I just got my wife a Canon Elph S500 for her birthday. Great little camera although over your $400 target (closer to $500). 5megapix, 3x optical zoom. Also be sure to budget for larger memory cards as most cameras still come with really wimpy ones. This camera came with 32MB and I got an extra 256MB card. An extra battery (or two) is also a great plan.

My older Nikon uses regular AA batteries which sure is convenient compared to the proprietary battery packs, but obviously not as compact. I carry arround 3 sets of NiMH AA's as it toasts them pretty quickly.

I have my eyes on a Nikon D70 SLR for myself later in the year. The pocket cameras take great pics and are super easy to use, but there's no comparison in ultimate quality or control or lens options vs. the SLR's.

One great improvement in today's digicams is they are so much FASTER than the ones from 2-3 years ago. No more of that crap where you shoot and then wait 5 seconds for the save operation before you can shoot again. They use fancy buffering techniques to improve responsiveness.