I had a Fuji Film Finepix 2600Z and it was ok.
I now have the Canon Powershot A80.
Best camera I've ever had and nice features including a flip out swivel screen. I luv it.
10/10

Also rated pretty much the top camera of the year for price/use friendly/function blend.

 

oh ok, didn't know that though it just ran off the cameras main batteries... eh extra set to carry around , anyone know what distance the external flash give ya? My flash on the camera does about 12 feet even though is says it can do 16...

 

Yeah they are a nice camera, only reason I didn't get that style is wanted something with high optical zoom most of them camera are like 3-5X optical, digital is usually higher, My In-Laws bought there son a Sony Cyber Shot 5 mp, which is 1 mp higher then mine, but mine takes sharper images because of the higher optical 10X... you pay extra for it but nice feature to have, don't have to rely on digital to enhance the image or interploation to give ya the clearer image.

 

With camera batteries, you MUST get recharable if you plan on using you camera a lot. 2100mAh NiMH batteries are the ones you want. You litterally save $100's since you can get them and the charger for $30-40 on ebay...

With megapixels, it's a HUGE myth that more = better pics. It means nothing. The only thing it means is more megapixels, the bigger your picture is. It means NOTHING about how GOOD your pictures are. That's dependent entirely upon your camera's lens + propietary technology.

However, pixels come into play when you are priting your pics out. a 2MP camera all you need for 4x6 pics. (you should be able to print 5x7 with almost no loss in quality too) if you plan on printing anything bigger (IE: 8x11 portrates), you need to get in the 3-4MP range..

Also, get a camera with at least 3x optical zoom. Ignore digital zoom. Oh, and for the best site online, check http://www.steves-digicams.com/ And personally, my camera will be a canon A60. Looks about perfect for me.

 

As an amateur photographer, I should comment I guess.

A camera with a higher megapixel CCD will generally yield more detail, but once you resize the photo for web display, you lose a lot of that detail anyways.
Something to think about: Given a perfect lens system, Fuji Velvia slide film will resolve 160 lines/mm at high contrast. If you do the math for a 24x36mm frame, it is the equivalent of over 80 megapixels. (Remember it takes 2 pixels to resolve one line!) Interesting huh?

That said, in my opinion, Canon makes excellent digital cameras for the money and I would have bought one if I had a bit more cash

Oh and just another comment, EVERYBODY with a digital camera should become good friends with their photo editing software (I use PhotoShop 7.0 for color adjustments, and Jasc PSP 6.0 for resizing/sharpening and I don't know what I would do without them)

I'm just curious too, if you want, check out my [non-automotive] photo gallery and tell me what it seems that my camera cost, and how many megapixels

Just a little something to prove a point heheh [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

http://www.insanehertz.com/gallery/album02

 

Once again if you could please, how long does the flash usually last on a set of batteries?

 

I just picked up a SONY digicam for my GF's BD. Man that thing is slick! I just wish that they could make memory a little cheaper. Freakin' 60 bucks for a 128MB stick.

 

***CRIES***

i want a nice digi cam.... pout pout

i have been using a 1.3 pixel Fuji A101 for a year now.. makes me wanna slit my wrists.

have aline on this one for cheap..
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/c4040.html

but it's a 2001 model.. and i am looking for something smaller..

i like the SONY 'P' series. my buddy has one and i love it, i have also played with a few of the lower models, not bad.

i am just a beginner, but i want a camera that i can learn on and then still like when i know a bit more..

please someone sell me theirs..

on the topic of battery life... uhhhhh...