renovation

i know you should look at megapixels. and zoom
now my questions are some what lame maybe .
for general picture taking .
what do you feel is the camera spec. needed for general indoor outdoor use for a person /family .in lets say a $100 -$200 price range .and brands not to think about .
i want a camera i can use for lets say going to the zoo .or to the lake or park . of my dog or a birthday party !
im not looking to make my pictures published or entered in any kind of contest .

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Markel

I've had a high zoom range (10x optical) camera (Kodak) for a few years, and I would have trouble going to anything else. I just bought a newer one: Kodak Z712 IS (12x optical, optical image stabilization, 7.1 megapixel) a few weeks ago from Dell when they had a good discount (and free shipping) - it cost me just over $200 (but this model doesn't come with a rechargeable battery, so I had to pick them up separately).

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uncledaddy

Two cameras that I have experience with.

Kodak Easy Share C743
7.0 Mega Pix
3"screen
Built in auto flash
2 AA not incl.
Pretty much point and click.
Around $150

And a Nikon Coolpix VR&ISO1600
7.2 Mega Pix
3" LCD
3X zoom
Auto flash
Timer 10 & 3 sec.
Rechargeable battery incl.
Very nice but almost $400

These are cameras I bought for the 14 year old. She loves to take pictures. Personally I am still a 35mm film man. Pentax.

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TruckStuff

Canons are consistently rated as the best point-and-shoots.

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zippyjuan

Don't worry about megapixels. More is not necessarily better- they squeeze more in on the same size sensor so each is smaller and there is less light hitting each one and that can lead to more "noise" or graineness in your pictures. Also don't condider the "total zoom" or "digital zoom" of the camera. The digital portion of the zoom is basically enlarging the pixels so is not of much use. You can crop or enlage your photos later if you want. Optical zoom is the more useful number. They will all have flash built in.

I started with a Nikon P&S and now my brother has a Canon "A" series. I like his camera more. It is up to you if you want a "super zoom" like Markel's Kodak or the Canon S5IS. They are a little larger- or if you want one that can fit into your pocket to carry more easily. Brands- Canon, Nikon, Olympus are all good. Dell is a great place to price (watch for deals) or see if NewEgg has them.

But first go to a store somewhere and get a few in your hands to see what you like.

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renovation

zippyjuan thanks i was hoping you charm in

uncledaddy

Funny. I was also waiting to see what zippy would have to say considering he is the camera aficionado.

redcolours

canon and nikon. my personal preferences. though the lumix line from panasonic also comes to mind.

if youre gonna shoot mostly indoors or say close shots, check out cameras that have a WIDE-ANGLE lens (starts usually at 28mm). simply put, that takes in more area in a given shot. more people more scenery can be taken in.

if you want to shoot outside, and further away, a good OPTICAL zoom is what you need (at least 3x optical, and like zj said forget about digital zoom. i always turn this dumb feature OFF). There are those with big zooms too, but to tell you the truth, for a simple camera, big zooms are touchy - camera shake ruins it. unless you have a tripod or the camera has some anti-shake in it, hand held shoots for long distances are not that easy. you may need to lay off on coffee for a while.

and like ZJ said, huge megapixels most of the time mean NOTHING. my other camera is still a 3megapixel canon, and it still takes great pics. when i print em, it still looks great. even better than some of the 7 or 10 mp camera ive seen today.

let me just step on to the soapbox here for a minute, and say something about it:
i think the current megapixel craze is bull$#it.
they keep cranking out 7, 8 9, 10, even 12 megapixel cams. For what? poster-size prints? who prints pictures THAT BIG using a point-and-shoot camera? do these people (or the industry) really expect a great print from it? most of what ive seen people do is take a pic, download it to their computers, then either send it in an email or post it to their website. AT which point the 10mp pic is now crunched and compressed, even cropped to under a megabyte. even at broadband speeds, those huge megapixels still take time to download. and honestly, do you wait for a pic to download nowadays, just to simply look at it?
Then when people print anything, its a 4x6 or a 5x7. maybe an 8x11. and its from a 1-hr developer. wasted pixels.
people say, oh is an option. yeah, right. an option they will never use. if you do, AWESOME! youre a wise person. but the everyday ordinary average person will always keep it simple. i dont know why the megapixel business is anything but.

anyways, good luck on your hunt! let us know what you end up with!

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Markel

I noticed a number of Dell discount codes for digital cameras at http://www.hotdealsclub.com/ today. You may want to take a look, as a number of them appear to be quite nice deals.

renovation

thanks .but money turn a bit funny .unexspected bill arrived

zippyjuan

Sorry to hear but glad you have your priorities straight. Some people would have bought the camera anyways.