Well, I didn't get one for Christmas, so I think I will go out and get one this week in the sales. I only really need it to post pics online and to e-mail to family.
Will a cheepo do or should I spend a tad more and get a quality one. I guess a 3.2 meg pix will be good enough. will they come with all the needed accessories? will I need a new Photoshop program, I have "Microsoft picture it! photo 2002"

 

Excellent website to read all about Digital Cameras. Excellent reviews...

http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html

 

How much are you looking to spend? Start with a budget and go from there.. oh, and get a quality camera.

 

no more the $200.
I have been on the site linked by 01 XLT Sport and found an Olympus D540. looks ok for what i need. At best buys its $180 but online its $145. I'll go to the store and see if they match prices.

 

The problem when I go to the store is I plan on only spending $200 but the see something for $250 and persuade myself to get it then I see something for $300 and say "that as much as I'm spending" when I leave the store I have the best one available.
Champaign taste with a wine budget.

 

As long as it says 'Canon' on the side, you will be happy.

Pixel count doesn't have nearly as much to do with picture quality as people think.

For posting pics online/emailing, 3 MP is fine. You will still end up resizing them to something smaller.

A nice Canon powershot perfect for the features you need can fit into any budget.

Doing what I do, People always ask me what camera to buy. I explain everything to them, and give them an honest opinion depending on what type of camera they want. Anything digital, buy Canon. That's something I frequently tell them. If they listen to me, they tell me all the time how much they love their camera. If they don't, they ask me how to get around problems they're having with what they decided to buy.

Tell us your budget, and I'll give you some quality picks...

 

I got one for my birthday last month, a Kodak EasyShare 7330. 3.1megapixles, 128mb card....holds around 115 pictures at a time, and shoots videos with sound. Got it at Wal-Marts, and cost around 150-175, and i love it. Takes pretty good pics.

 

Canon powershot A75--best camera for the money @ $200. Runs on four AA's, and uses CF cards. Says Canon on the front.

Canon powershot a400--not quite as good for $160. Uses SD memory cards, and runs on only 2aa batteries (sd and 2 batteries is the same as the Olympus). Using only 2 batteries, you will be swapping them out every 10 minutes. Also, SD cards basically cost 2x as much as CF on average.

The canon A75 is a little more expensive than the A400 or the olympus, but when you buy your memory card (whatever is included with the camera is good for about 5 pictures, so plan on buying one), the price difference of CF compared to SD will make the A75 only about 10-20 bucks more than the olympus and a400, and it is sooooo much better of a camera for the price.

 

they have the A75 at best buys so i'll go and get some touchy feely and see if i like it.

 

My day job is Medical photography at a Hospital. We've been digital here now for almost 6 years. I think the most comprehensive web site for camera reviews is here:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/

This site offers a short version of their test results of basically every digital camera out there, plus, if you want all the nitty gritty detailes of the lab tests on the cameras, its there.

I will not make a suggestion of what camera is better because there are so many factors that come into play.

But: Generally, sales people place too much emphasis on MEGAPIXELS. Over 3 is good enough for 5X7 and OK of 8X10. HEll I do photography for a living and I have yet to make an 8X10 for personal pictures. 5X7 is the biggest I go and 4X6 is Standard.

AA batteries are practical and cheap (Get NiMH rechargeables)

I bought for myself (Actually, My wife takes most of the pictures at home) the Minolta Z1 when it first came out. Since then the Z2 and now the Z3 is out.

Z1 3.2 MP, Z2 4 MP, Z3 4MP with anti shake
10X Optical Zoom (12X for the Z3)
AA Batteries
Extremely short lag time (Equivelent to 35mm)
The fastest Auto Focus in the 10x zoom cameras
Many manual ****ions are availiable if you want them
But: this camera will not fit in a shirt pocket. It's not huge like a D100 or anything like that, but it's not minuscule.


Dpostman

 

ewwww, medical Photography. No offense but I dont ever want to be in the postion of having a doctor respond by saying. "Wow hold on a sec, we've got to get a Picture of this!" I'm sure I couldnt or wouldnt want to do your job.

for doing something I know I couldnt.

 

I didn't know if I could either until I had to. Although I did watch a lot of X-Files

dpostman

 

My easyshare cx4310 started messing up after 1 year of owning it.

 

Well, I was at best buys and looked at the Canon A75. I liked it and went to buy it, But all the stores are sold out of all the lower cost cameras. the A75 is now discontinued so I thought I would get the A85. Its the same but 4 meg pix. its on sale for $250 but out of stock so I came home empty handed.
dpostman that's a great site. I checked it out and found the A85 shipped for only $215 from buydig dot com. Since I wont get it before the new year I'll hold off until Monday.
Anyone ordered from them?

 

Just get a rain-check.