What camera to buy for backpacking?

Hi,
I'm going backpacking in South America for a few months and want to get a new camera before i go.

I'm trying to decide between a small digital camera and a digital SLR camera.

The SLR will take up a lot of room in my backpack and might get stolen.

But if I buy a smaller, cheaper camera it seems like a waste of money as I want to upgrade to an SLR soon anyway.

Is the SLR worth the investment now or should I wait til I get back?

I'd go for the small digital... I made the mistake of bringing a SLR and regretted having the camera bag hanging off me all the time, I had to carry it full time as I had no room in my backpack and i wouldn't have trusted packing it in a rucksack anyway as it could have gotten damaged or stolen when it's stuck in bus holds etc.,.... i think it makes you more of a target for robbery as well.. a small digital would be way more handy and if something happens to it you wouldn't be cursing yourself!

great, i needed a reminder of how annoying any extra baggage is, especially when you're trekking all day

I would be looking for something small. Other benefits would be shock proof/weather proof, and something which took regular AA batteries (rather than having to carry a large adapter & plugs for every country! This looked nice on [broken link removed]don't think it takes AA batteries though)

I have a DSLR, but, checked out the Panasonic TZ3 as a pocket (biggish pocket admittedly!) camera for hill walking, gigs etc. 10 x Optical zoom and 28mm wide angle Leica lens. It's a bit expensive, but, looks a good compromise. I haven't bought yet.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonictz3/

I looked at it in Bermingham Cameras (€343)
http://www.berminghamcameras.ie/store/index.php?target=categories&category_id=254

Pixmania have it at €283 plus postage.


Komplett have it for €299 plus postage
[broken link removed]