There are some very good advanced compact digital cameras on the market these days, for under $400. Many of them sport 12X optical zooms and come with image stabilization. I shoot a Panasonic Lumix, which I love, but understand that Canon and Olympus make some very decent ones also. Yes, many of these will accept conversion lenses. I have an Olympus 1.7 power conversion lens for my Panasonic. They work great together to give me an effective 20.4 X optical zoom.