This is going to be used in a materials R&D lab. I need to be able to take portraits and images of machines up to 10meters away. I also need take images of the disks posed on backdrops. All this can be done on a tripod. I also need to take pictures inside the machine. The specimen sits inside a 5cm glass tube. There are 3-6 wraps of 12mm copper coil around this. I can't shoot straight through the glass because I have to shoot over the top of the copper coil. The coil can have a 25-75KW electromagnetic field around it. This heats the specimen to 1000 to 16000 deg C. I can't use a tripod because it might ground out the coil. The specimen is also giving off it's own light but its mostly low and infrared. I need something that can take about 3megapixels within the 1/10-1/15th second exposure. I can cut and crop the image I need from this in paintshop. I have an old Sony Mavaca that's fast enough but the 640x480 image is way to undetailed. Autofocus would be good, but because I shoot through glass it can be fooled and I need to be able to manual focus as needed. I don't care how the image is stored (smartcard/sandisk/builtin with usb) as long as I can take 30-40 imaged before downloading. Because of the close images. It would be good if the viewfinder goes through the lens instead of being off to the side. That or a good LCD screen so I can see the shot before I take it. I have a samsung 200 at home. It has 2 AA batteries and dies after about 8 shots if the LCD screen is on. I really want something with more battery life and don't care if I have to pull it out and dock it in a charger. Integral flash is best. I'm leaning into a box with lots of projections. An exterior flash with a cable is just one more thing to snag. If the whole thing is self contained its best. Sorry to be so long winded. Hope that makes things a little clearer.