I need a digital camera, can you help?

Question

I need to get a good digital camera, I'm going on a trip and I want to take pictures of landscapes, so I'm going to have to zoom in pretty far sometimes, I want really good image quality to... are these good features? :

12.1-megapixel CCD captures high-resolution images up to 4011 x 3011 pixels

5x optical/5x digital/25x total zoom; wide-angle Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon lens

2.5" indoor/outdoor color high-resolution LCD with 115K pixels; LCD brightness adjustment and histogram display

Answer 1

Well a couple of things

1) On compact cameras and camcorders, Optical Zoom is a good thing but Digital zoom is c**p- it's the equivalent of taking a magifying glass to a photograph- closer in you get the less detailed things look.  So never pay attention to digital zoom capability on a camera, it's worthless.

2) For landscapes you don't need to zoom in, you need to zoom OUT for a wider view.

If you're talking about a $200 camera  like the Kodak Easyshare Z1285, those are nice but nowhere near the image quality of a digital SLR like a Nikon D40.  But of course digital SLRs are in a completely different price range.