Digital Cameras

You looking for compact size or better overall quality?

bts

We're also looking for my wife. I'll admit I don't know beans about digital photography, but we kind of narrowed it down to this one, bundled with a printer for ~$380:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7167175&type=product&id=1110266456810

Fuji Z1 Black.  It'll be at best buy, too.  Comes with a docking station, but not the printer, for right around 300.  Even the Cannon guy recommended it.

bts

Not up to speed on current models, but I've found this site useful in the past:

http://www.dpreview.com/

I used to have a 3.1 megapixel Kodak Easy share (before it got killed on a bike trip, oops). I did a lot of research before we bought our new one. I liked the Kodak because it was very user friendly and the software was easy to use. Now we have a Panasonic and the software it came with is crap.  I know two people with the Canon Powershot A510 (or simlar) that have been very happy with them.

Don't get anything under 3.1 megapixel, and you can probably get a 5 mp for the right price. You will need to get a larger storage card than the one it comes with or you will only be able to hold 10 pics.

I rarely print at home, I send to Walmart/Sam's or Walgreens via the net. Also, lots of online developers now too that do well. 

I upload pics to snapfish for either mail to me at 12cents each or pick up in one hour at Walgreens for 19cents each.   I find the cost of ink and paper too prohibitive.   I haven't even replaced the ink on my laser printer yet.....

The Fuji also has a 3X optical zoom. And that's the reason we had the Kodak Z740 as our finalist: the 10X optical zoom.

I own a cannon sd400.  I really like it, especially for its small size.  It allows me to always have it on me for those special quick shots.  A larger camera there's alway a decision of whether to lug it with you or not.  The sd400 just goes in the pants/shirt pocket without a thought.  It all depends on what type of photography you want. 

The reason I chose the cannaon was first cannon always get high/highest ratings for both its photo quality and its onboard software/menu system being easy to use.  Also the cannon uses SD memory cards which is cheaper, comes in larger sizes(MB), and is read by all/most card readers.  The other options are sony memory stick and XD which is oympus/fuji propritery memory.  When i got the camaera I got aaa 1 GB memory card which holds about 300-400 picts at the highest res/ highest quality setting (somewhat overkill).

All all the small and many of the regular size camera use not standard bateries so if you run out of power you cannot just ick up spere batteries from a local store.  So I bought a second battery.  The cannon battery was ~$50 but a quick google search and a found a third party compatable battery for ~$12. 

We have an Olympus 500 digital and like it really well for a small compact

it's 5 mega pixel they make a 6 and 8 megapixel as well.

We also purchased a waterproof housing for it for snorkeling, diving, kayaking, short movie clips.

Here is the Olympus web page.

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_digital_stylus.asp

We are looking at a Cannon Rebel XT for better long range pictures, but that isn't very compact, but it looks like a really good camers.

Merry Christmass

I lov the idea of the underwater housing too.  But they are not cheap especially for the occational use I'd have for it.  Instead I use an Aquapak.  Which is a shoot through waterproof bag that works good enough for the   sporatic pool/boat pic.

How compact do you want to go? I've got a Casio Exilim 4.0 mp that I love. They now make a 7 megapixel version for a little over $300. It's awesome, and has got a huge display screen on the back. It's about the size of a guy's wallet. Check out http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=pd_sl_aw_tops-1_photo_6405809_2/103-8556628-1221416?search-alias=photo&keywords=casio%20exilim

My real baby is my Cannon 20D, but that will run you into the $1,000 plus. Go check out a few models. www.uniquephoto.com is a great site to check out for all kinds of cameras. They've got some of the best prices I've found, and they're reliable.

The thing we get the most use out of or wp housing is when we Kayak and we do that quite a bit. It's so great to be able to have it accessible and not have to worry about it taking a swim and being able to stick it in the water to take a picture there as well. We keep threatening to use it in the movie clip mode to check out swimming stroke.