Optical zoom is the way to go. Digital zoom is goo too but optical is where it is at. Optical zoom gets out there and gives you a good picture from far off without degrading the quality of the photo. Digital zoom, zooms in but pixelates the picture hurting the quality and over all look of the photo. Most folks would only need 4x maybe 6x optical zoom for most photos. And anything over 7 or 8 megapixel is over kill. My brother-in-law bought a 7 mega pixel camera from curcuit city for under $100 and it is very nice. For 5x7 or even 6x8 7 to 8 mega pixel is fine. Just do your home work and you should be great. I am still working with a 2 mega pixel I bought from walmart a few years ago and it works ok for the most part. Good luck and I hope I have not mudded up the water too bad.