P880 was the only camera that fit nearly all my criteria

With all the hype about dust getting into digital cameras, I decided to pick one that had a non-removable lens. But I also wanted a camera that would take videos, which pretty much ruled out just about all of the DSLRs. I was leaning toward one of those 10x or 12x prosumer digital models but soon discovered they only have about 5 or 6 megapixels, a trade-off I didn't want to make.

I was taking a group shot recently and couldn't get back far enough to get the entire group in and was quickly reminded that a photographer more often needs a wide-angle lens than a telephoto lens, which helped sell me on the P880, which has an almost a 6-to-1 zoom ratio, from 24mm to 140mm. Add to that its 8 megapixels, a 2.5-inch screen, and a smooth manual focus to get precise zoom compositions without rocking back and forth for just the right composition, which is a downfall of those crazy W/T pushbuttons prevalent on most other digital cameras.

Only two complaints: I shoot RAW, which takes longer processing times and the shutter lag problem. I downloaded the latest 1.02 firmware upgrade from Kodak, which helped improve these two problems.

I was also pleasantly pleased months later after my just-before-Christmas purchase when the mostly positive camera reviews were finally being released, confirming that I had made the right decision to purchase a Kodak P880.