This is one of the reasons the Kodak DX6490 (or current equivalent) is a "good buy" to enter the DigiCam world.
4MP, 10x Optical zoom - and a bunch of other crap.
Oh, and the camera has enough bulk to it to giveyou something to hold onto - helping reduce camera shake.
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQueri...e=en_US#block1
And at $399.00 is not going to break the bank.