Digital camera advice needed

[Jay Winton]

We are the last people on earth without a digital camera but the time has come. I have no idea what to buy so advice needed from the camera people here. Can we get something decent for less than $200?
Thanks

[William P]

Jay, I've owned Canon and Nikon. Both have been very reliable. Canon would be my first choice but not by much. Have a Merry Christmas.

[JCNorthway]

I would concur with both Canon and Nikon. We have owned both. And I think you can get a pretty good camera from either for under $200, especially at places like Best Buy. Paula got a Canon Elph with 7.1 megapixels in that price range a couple of years ago, so I'm sure you could get that or better today. And unless you enjoy reading manuals, it has way more features than you will probably ever use. My one recommendation is to spend the extra $$ to get a larger memory that lets you shoot more photos (or higher resolution photos) before unloading or deleting them. Usually the standard memory is pretty small.

Jon

[Corr]

My advice is to ignore megapixels and focus on other features. Size of the camera, zoom range, durability, etc, are all more important than megapizels, which are effectively marketing at this point. Anything about 6 megapixels is plenty.

[DavidG]

Agree with Corr. Unless you want to make 8x10 prints, 6 megapixels is enough. More important, how big do you want it? Shirt-pocket size all the way up to full-size SLR with interchangeable lenses. I find I use the small point-and-shoot more often than the SLR simply because it is easier to bring along. Zoom (optical, not digital) is important to me. And so is low-light performance. Unless you go the SLR route with a separate flash.

[Jay Winton]

thanks for the suggestions. Let me find a few possible options and I'll throw them up for opinions.

[jal]

spend twice as much and buy the newest camera that just came out and has every expert (and me) raving. The tiny yet incredible Canon S90. Absolutely awesome! Easy to use for novices but powerful enough for experts. Takes phenomenal pictures in all modes. I honestly think I won't need another one for ten years. Read the David Pogue's review in the NYTimes. I have waited 5 years for this camera and cannot be more satisfied.

If you still want to spend less, check dpreview.com for in depth analysis.

[greatbxfreak]

Jay,

You'll not go wrong with Canon Ixus 100IS. 12.1 megapixels, fabulous true colours pictures and possibility of recording HD video.