hi. i also did some research because i want to buy a digicam, too. i was looking for a) good picture quality ,) b) it has to be small, so i can carry it in my pocket c) it has to give me manual control if i want it d) it has to make good nightshots. i chose the fuji finepix f601. pages with are extremely helpful: http://www.steves-digicams.com/ http://www.dcresource.com/