[carlj]

Jo, best advice I can give is to try out bodies before making a decision. We're a mixed bunch here, and would probably start recommending our own marques. As for zoom length, around 400mm would be ideal, but a 70-300mm may be all you need. The tamron I have with my KM5D is perfectly weighted for a walkabout lens, with a reasonable macro mode to 1:2. Set me back £100 brand new. And as I have anti-shake built in, don't need to worry too much, but with Canon, Nikon, Olympus you may need to factor in Image Stabilisation. Sony, Minolta, Panasonic and Pentax are currently only body stabilised cameras out there.