Re: NNG kodak question

Hoss,
"10X" simply means that the lens covers a focal length range from e.g. 38 to 380 mm. That 50-300 you mentioned would be a 6x. But some of the longer end of the range may be "digital zoom (done in software), not "optical zoom" (done in glass), meaning that it may not be as sharp at 380 as it is at 38 or 190 mm. I turned my "digital zoom" off and live with a shorter focal length range, but the zooming software on the Kodak may be better.
Here is a rundown on all Kodak models:
[www.dpreview.com]
It looks like $300 will get you a pretty good (7-8 million pixels) camera.
If you're open to a brand other than Kodak, the Canon Powershot G7 is a little more expensive, but has a great reputation:
[www.dpreview.com]
JAC