If you're willing to spend 500 UKP (what, somewhere in the 800-900 USD range or so), you're in the range for much of the high end digital still cameras. I think it might be helpful if you could answer some questions that might help narrow down your choices.

- What's more important: small physical camera size or various features (more zoom, sharper lens, more megapixels, more adjustments, ability to use an external flash, etc.)

- Do you feel you might now, or ever, want to shoot in "raw" mode, or are you happy with JPEG output?

Once you've answered those questions, we can zoom in a little with some more details. Rank how important each of these features might be to you:

- Lithium-Ion battery pack (longer life, lighter weight)

- Compact flash support (= bigger/cheaper memory cards)

- Extreme closeup (macro) support

- Serious zoom distance

- Wide angle support

- Low latency from pressing the "on" button to being ready to shoot

- Burst rate (photos/second) vs. sustained rate (some new cameras can stream to fast memory cards)

- Water "resistance"

- Decent PC software

- Retracting lens with built-in cover

- Rotating/swiveling design (lets you see the screen even if you're shooting from odd angles)



Answer all those questions, and I'll bet we can nail down the right camera for you. There are hundreds of choices at a variety of price points...