[Dale]

The clarity of the picture depends on the Megapixel of the camera and how the camera is set. If you have a 5 MP camera set to 1.3 MP it will not be as sharp as a 2.0 MP camera set to 2.0 MP. Also depends if you are just displaying on the monitor or printing and what size you are printing. If you print 8X10's and smaller the 3 MP cameras are fine. If you want to print an 8X10 and crop in on the subject and go back up to 8X10 go with a 4 or 5 MP. If you see a 4MP camera for $100.00 and a 4MP camera for $300.00 you can bet the latter will be sharper, due to a better lens, better chip, or something like that. The main things that control the price of the camera is the MegaPixel and the OPTICAL Zoom. I know Nikon, for example has a 4 MP with a 3X Optical Zoom for $200. Fuji has a 4 MP with a 10X Optical Zoom for $350. You might find a Nikon 4 MP for $200 and a Nikon
4 MP for $250-300. One differance is AA batteries or rechargable Lithium Ion battery. I would say go into a camera store where you can talk to some one who knows about cameras (not the guy who was stocking diapers yesterday and selling cameras today) and put them in your hands, turn them on, look at a 3X and a 10X and see what you need. Don't be fooled and think you have to have a kajillion MegaPixel to get good pictures.

My recomendations: If you want to take wildlife pics get a 10X optical Zoom. Fuji Fiepix 5100-4MP/10X
Kodak EasyShare 7590 (I think) 5MP/10X.
If you want small and light...Nikon 4600 4MP/3X...Canon A85 4MP/3X or A95 5MP/3X.

All of those should be in your price range. Expect to spend about another $100.00 on xtras. Get the biggest memory card you can afford. Get a quality bag to protect it in. If it runs on AA's consider rechargable batters and/or a USB card reader to save battery power.

Hope that helps some.