Inexpensive DSLR-like or bridge cameras?

Question

that also take excellent pictures? Cameras like the nikon coolpix 8800 (my old camera)

Answer 1

Kodak Z812 IS, amazing camera for me.

Answer 2

The *most* SLR-like bridge camera is probably the Panasonic FZ50 (which, if you write "Leica" on the front, magically becomes the Leica V-Lux 1). It has zoom and focus rings on the lens barrel, fully manual settings, a hot-shoe, the capability to shoot RAW files, etc. Of course - consistent with your question - it's not an SLR. It has a smaller sensor, which means that its ordinary-sized lens (by SLR standards) becomes a super-zoom telephoto, with the 35mm equivalent of 35-420 mm. The downside of the smaller sensor is, of course, noise at higher ISO settings. The other main non-SLR characteristics are, not surprisingly, an electronic viewfinder and a non-removable lens.

I don't think it's super-inexpensive, though it would run a little under the cheapest little entry-level DSLR kit. A used one might be a bargain -- or, better, the predecessor model, the FZ30, which is virtually the same camera with a little less resolution.