Camera Suggestions

I guess the first question is how much are you wanting to spend, and how important is portability to you? Do you want to be able to carry it in a pocket or purse? (your wife's purse, not your purse, not that there's anything wrong with that if you do have a man purse)

 

Hey Troy,
I'm no photo pro so don't expect expert advice out of me, but I have the Canon Powershot 850is and I have been very pleased with it.  It does excellent point and shoot, it has a nice large LCD on the back and has built in settings for both aquariums and underwater photography.  I have had this camera for over a year and taken literally thousands of pictures with it and there are very few that didn't turn out due to image quality.  I can show you some samples if you would like.  I purchased the underwater enclosure for it (about $125 or so) and got some great underwater pics and video while snorkeling in the Caribbean.  It's got image stabilization to get clear pictures and face detection to figure out what to focus on.  There are a fair number of manul settings, but I never mess with them.  Also, if you set it on best image quality, you can get over 500 pictures from a 2 GB SD card (which are less than $10).  I've also been very satisfied with the video quality.  Let's face it, you don't expect to get HDTV quality from a video taken on your camera, but I've gotten some very acceptable video footage and not had to worry about carrying two devices with me.  I also like the form factor..it's classified as an ultra-compact measuring under 4" wide, under 2.5" tall and under 1" thick.  A  little larger than a deck of cards.  So on the negative side, it does use a proprietary battery pack so you don't have the option of picking up batteries at the local store if you run out while you're away from your charger.  Also, I've had a difficult time using it for macro stuff.  I'm sure that there is probably a manual setting that I could use for this, but it's never been important enough to me to try to figure out.
I've had 3 other digital cameras including 2 Olympus cameras and a Fuji camera and this is by far my favorite camera that I have ever owned.  I don't think that they make this model anymore, I think the 880 is the current model in this product line.  It's under $270 on NewEgg.
--AJ

 

i recently picked up a canon powershot a1000is before we went to tahoe on the advice of a photography guru friend, it's around $200-220.  its small has aquarium photo setting among others.  word is, it is the best camera/$ before you get into the digital slrs.  i like it for it's ease of use and user  interface but, will probable never maximize it's capabilities.  for what its worth; if you are serious about photography and willing to spend a bit more scratch, i'd go with a slr...i doubt you'd regret it.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/EVE...35141.html

 

I have a Canon G9 and it's an incredible camera.  It can shoot in RAW and is 12 megapixel I believe.  There is now a G10 out as well and it's supposed to be a little better in low light situations and has a wider angle lens.  The only downside is it's not a grab it and throw it in your pocket camera.  It will fit in my jean pockets BUT it's very large in there.  It's more of a coat pocket kind of camera.    It's right at the top of your price range but it will take some amazing pictures.   http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=CNPSG10

 

Megapixels really dont matter unless you are going to be printing out large photos like 8 1/2 x 11. The more the megapixesl the larger you can print out an image and still have it look nice. Canon is probably one of the best manufacturers of cameras, both SLR and the compact models. Nikon also make excellent DSLRs but I don't know about their compacts.
Check out dpreview.com for camera reviews.
Here is a place to start. It is the top camera list they have on their website.
Top Camera List
I'd say you can't go wrong with a Canon Powershot G9 or G10.

 

If you have children, you can always pull the...

I need a good camera that can take great pictures of the precious children.  They are only this age once in their lives......

 

If you have a vacation coming up, that's always a great reason.

 

double post