I can't tell you about the other cameras, but I have a D5000 and it is a great camera. The D5000 is a DSLR so yes it has a changeable lens. It is the same as the old 35mm cameras, but with that you also have the added weight and if you break it it will cost to get it fixed.

Hope this helps.

I have a D5000, and it's a pretty nice body. I suspect you'll be able to get an adapter that will allow you to use your old Tamron lenses, but I don't know whether metering or AF will be possible, and the lack of a focusing screen makes manual focusing something of a crapshoot.

The kit lens that usually comes with the D5000, a slow-ish 17-55, is pretty nice, and the VR, combined with pretty good high ISO performance, means you can shoot in pretty low light even with the slow glass.

That said, I've heard great things about the S90s, but I've never gotten to use one, myself.

Awesome, thanks!

How easy it is to take climbing with you? And by climbing I mean on multi-pitch routes with a normal rack.

I find an SLR just too big and bulky to take on a climb. IOW, I carried it once and only once on a climb. After that it either stayed on the ground or I used it when I was explicitly and only doing photography (eg: hiking/class 3 scrambling to a good vantage point or rapping in from the top), not climbing. For climbing, a small, lightweight point and shoot that can be operated with one hand is my choice.

Regarding the Nikon DSLR's - the D5000 sensor and internal software is the same as the significantly more expensive D300; the AF sensors and software is identical to that of the D90. The difference is the D90 has more discrete external controls - the same functions are in the D5000, but accessed through the menu or as sub-functions. The D90 is also larger and heavier, significantly more expensive, and lacks the fold-out LCD of the D5000. So, assess if you really can't live without the features of the D90.

As far as an adapter for the Tamron lenses...if it exists, you'd loose some key functionality of the lenses. Besides, why would you want to put inferior glass on a Nikon? The D5000 kit lens may not be very fast, but its optical quality is excellent and it does have image stabilization (what Nikon calls VR - vibration reduction; it gives you about an extra stop before needing a tripod.)

You might want to read the various articles at Ken Rockwell's site, starting with:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/...ommended-cameras.htm
...and following links of interest from that article.

Thanks, I'll check out that link.

I just drove around to the various large stores (target, walmart, etc) to see if they had these cameras in stock. A couple of them had the D5000, and yeah, it's big, too big for climbing. I can see where it would be a nice camera for travel, but not for climbing.

I'm kind of bummed that I wasn't able to find the S90 anywhere. I feel it would be a good camera for climbing, but the knock that I read is that it is rectangular (i.e. - without a handle, so to speak), which is not the case for my A720, and the A720 is probably about the same size.

An SLR - film or digital - sorta has a certain minimum size, and even the smallest and lightest is still too big for most people to want to carry on a climb.

In that Rockwell article, he calls the S90 the "World's Best Digital Pocket Camera", but also speaks highly of the G11.

Panasonic FZ35 (FZ38) and Canon SX20 IS

The Canon S90 has been discontinued and the new version, the S95, is available at Adorama and B&H for $30 less than the S90. Good preliminary review here: http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/s95.htm

Also, I just spent a week in Alaska traveling with two people who had the G11. Nice camera but, for me, it falls out of the middle. It's too big for shirt pockets and gear slings so I won't carry it on climbs, and the additional features it offers (manual control of aperture and shutter speed) over the S95 are meaningless in a camera without direct shutter control. The G11 is plagued by the same problem that plagues every PHD camera: shutter lag. They don't go off when you push the button.

If you're worried about the lack of a hand grip, you can build one up with Plast-Aid (http://www.plast-aid.com/) and cover it with Bulldog tape.

Mal

I have taken an Olympus EP1 with me up on climbs - multi-pitch and alpine, and have never felt that it was too heavy or bulky. I carry it in it's own shoulder case. It's very similiar to the Panasonic GF1 but the GF1 is lighter and I think a better option of the two. There are two lenses you can get with it plus an array of others lenses with an attachment but I've not used any of them. I use the fixed lens when I want lighter and smaller and the zoom when I'm okay with the extra bulk.
I guess it depends on what you're willing to carry and what kind of shots you want to capture. I've never been happy with point and shoot results and the Micro 4/3 cameras I think are a good alternative to a DSLR.

Edited to add one note that I usually don't carry this camera when I lead and I'm not climbing routes that are that difficult. But I do think they are worth checking out.

thanks, I'll check those out.

You'll find the SX20 too big and bulky for climbing. It's almost like an SLR but without a removable lens. Good camera though - I have the much earlier S3-IS, which has enabled me to put off purchasing a dSLR until the features/price ratio was more to my liking, as it is now with Nikon D5000 (but again, not for carrying on a climb).

I seen three of my friends with Canon G10. All three either went to Everest, k2 or some other extreme mountains.