Camera Advice Needed

[judy]

I want to buy a hold and shoot digital camera for somewhere under $150, everything included. I don't know anything about cameras, so less is best for me.
I know I don't need a lot of pixels (?) because I'm only going to use it online and for prints, a zoom lens and a red-eye correction feature because Max's eyes always turn green in pix.

I need a way to connect it to my laptop so that I can save, mail and print the pix I like. I have photoshop so I can play with that.

I hear people talking about extra memory cards. I don't know how big I need that to be. I also don't know what else I might need .

Any ideas, suggestions, etc. Help please!

[DianaB]

I would buy the best that you could for the money you want to spend. In the future you may want it to do more than you think that you want to do now. We bought our daughter a camera for Christmas and after talking to the salesman, Canon is what brand that I would buy. As for the memory card, you can buy what ever size you want it to be. On the package it will tell you about how many pictures that it will hold. Of course, the price is higher for a memory card that holds more pictures. If you need help deciding go to a electronics store and ask a lot of questions.

[highlans]

My son has a cannon D50 and that takes some fab pictures great for the computor downloads and all sorts.

[Janet]

The only advice I would give (because really, most digital camera take good pictures) is to check the amount of time from the time you click for the picture till it actually takes. I forget what the term is. Anyway, it takes me awhile sometimes, cause i will take a really cute pic of the dogs and then they move before the actual picture is taken. Anyone know what this is called.....I'm having a brain fart!

[judy]

I know what you mean. The thingie closing time. Good point because Yorkies move fast!

[Passionfruition]

Finding a truly great camera under $150 is tough. (*Alert: nerdy photographer-speak ahead*) What you want to look for in a good point-and-shoot is for it to be quick and responsive, and take good pictures in whatever lighting you request good pictures in. Every time your lighting changes (lighting=indoors, outdoors, night, day, florescent lights vs. daylight, etc etc.) your f/stops and shutter speeds and ISO's change, etc......of course, in a point-and-shoot, your camera chooses your settings for you - so naturally you want to look for a camera that will choose the right ones at the right times! (Which is hard to pick one out b/c every company says they have a good one, and it's just not true! So few point-and-shoots really make the grade, IMHO.)

I generally only recommend Canon cameras - and my favorite one is the SD700 or the newer SD800. What's super cool about these cameras is that they have Image Stabilization technology, so you are SOOOO much less likely to get blurry pictures. Even as a professional photographer, I'll gladly pay more any day to buy Canon image stabilized lenses for my professional digital camera.

(My newest lens I just purchased last week cost me $1100! It is an IS - Image Stabilized lens and also has a really low f/stop, which means it can take more beautiful pictures in even the lowest lighting situations!)

Anyway, here is a link to a review of the SD700. You can buy it refurbished for less which is a gamble to buy refurb, but is 99% of the time just fine, especially if you get it from a company that offers a good warranty, just in case.

Sorry to go on and on! Feel free to PM me if you (or anyone else) have any camera questions, etc. I'm always happy to help!