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ok, I want to buy a digital camera for my sister. I want to spend around $400 for just the camera (plus whatever extras cost). I know that the size of the camera is important to her, she would like for it to be small and easy to carry around. Now thats about as much as I know...after that I'm lost in confusion about what I should get. I've seen the Canon S400, it looks pretty good but I dont think it has that many features like the Sony Cyber-Shot cameras do, but then again, a guy working at Best Buy told me that the Sony digital cameras dont have that good of quality in their pictures compared to Canon and Nikon, and the likes, although he did say that the Sony digital camcorders are pretty good. Also, whats the difference between Canon S400 and Canon A80? I've checked out dpreview.com but that just was way too much to read...so does anybody have any suggestions?

Digicams have come down in price quite a bit...you can now get a decent 4.0 megapixel camera for around $250 which is suitable for everything short of video capture.
A friend of mine has a nice small Casio Exilim he really likes...got it from Radio Shack linked here
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F001%5F002%5F000%5F000&product%5Fid=16%2D3630

Insofar as those two canons you mentioned go, it looks like the A80 is more of a professional kinda camera with extra features and stuff (manual focus options, ability to change exposure times and crap like that). The other difference is about $50.

~Turkina[/url]

I love my Canon powershot G2.

It really depends what you're looking for in a camera. I have a Minolta X20 because I wanted something inexpensive that I could easily fit into a pocket that had 3x zoom and used standard batteries. Around the same time on of my friends replaced his old camera with a Canon Powershot G5 which he has been fairly happy with.

If this is your first camera and you want a really good camera without spending too much, i'd recommend the Canon A70 or A75. It's considered the best "starter" camera by many, has a ton of manual controls (you can take a 15 second exposure with it), and it's fairly inexpensive. You can always find get lense filters and addons for it which is awesome.

I'd avoid the Exilim that Turkina recommended because it doesn't have optical zoom (which is an absolute must) and the lens leaves a little to be desired in terms of image quality. I was actually considering that one before I decided to get the X20 (which was considerably cheaper as well).

If you really want to find out what's best for you, go to http://www.dcresource.com or http://www.dpreview.com and check out some good camera reviews.

dcresource Canon A70 review You'll find a link some images the reviewer took with that camera at the bottom of the page. Be sure to view full size images and disable image resizing in your browser.

Sony Cybershots actually have better quality than thier respective competion for the price. I have the V1, and have tried quite a few other cameras, and the V1 consistantly took better shots for focus and contrast (exposure). The only problem I have had was the reds are a bit saturated, but every camera has a quirk.

The most important feature in a camera is accuracy of focus, because that cannot be fixed in software. Sony has that and plenty of features if your sister is panning on getting creative. DONT buy those thin one-lens cameras. Great for day to day shots, but they stink when you want to get artsy. Never believe store clerks because they just pass on crap from pissed off customers or rumors which you can never tell to be true.

See my pics at
http://www.markwyman.com

And then of course check out the various forums at
http://www.dpreview.com/

-Mark

Canon Powershot A80. It's a wonderful camera and 350 from Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=30-120-107&DEPA=7

4MP and an adjustable screen. It's sweet.

Just about all cameras from Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Olympus, Fuji, Sony and the likes are pretty good today. The question is what features does she need, and what does she want.

LJ correctly pointed out:

I'd avoid the Exilim that Turkina recommended because it doesn't have optical zoom (which is an absolute must) and the lens leaves a little to be desired in terms of image quality.

I thought it had optical zoom for some reason..mm..unless thats not the one my friend has.....yeah..I second the motion for optical zoom though


~Turkina

I just blew 1K on a Canon Digital Rebel - hope it is nice ... I've heard nothing but good things from A70 - seems like a solid p&s.

horst250 wrote:

I just blew 1K on a Canon Digital Rebel - hope it is nice ... I've heard nothing but good things from A70 - seems like a solid p&s.

You won't be sorry you bought the Rebel (Kiss Digital here in Japan), it's a great camera. I have both the Rebel and S400 (Ixy 400).

gubbar924,

If size matters, then I'd recommend the S400 over anything in Canon's A series. The advantage (in general) of the A series over the S series is more manual controls.

BurntFingers wrote:

If size matters, then I'd recommend the S400 over anything in Canon's A series. The advantage (in general) of the A series over the S series is more manual controls.

Not only manual controls, which are an absolute must if the person you're buying for enjoys photography, but the A70 also has a lot of lens add ons you can buy for it (like filters, wide angle lenses, etc).

If you're buying a digital camera for someone who uses cameras to take pictures at weddings and family get togethers and stuff like that, then you may be okay if it doesn't have a lot of manual controls. However, if you're buying this camera for an aspiring photographer or someone who you think may use it a lot, then they may get bored without manual controls.

The A80 is nice but it really doesn't do a lot more than the A70--there are just some incremental improvements (higher quality CCD, possibly a better lens, etc). The images will be slightly larger but it also requires slightly more memory per shot thus fewer shots on a card. You're getting a camera that's a bit better but you're also paying an awful lot more, comparatively (about $100 more). If the extra money isn't a big deal then go for it. The reason so many people swear by the A70 is because it is truly an exceptional deal. Remember: you're going to have to add quite a bit to the price of the camera before you get a whole package price. You'll definitely want a larger memory card (128MB = $45) and you may want an extra battery ($40).

The best way to make the correct choice is to read about the more popular cameras at places like http://www.dcresource.com and http://www.dpreview.com. They both have good reviews and tons of pictures; the advantage of dpreview is that they also list what cameras they consider "very good" for their price range so you can weed out the field a lot that way.

First look for a camera with a good optical zoom.

Second dont get a sony as they only use memory sticks and you will want flex in memory usage so that down the road you can buy her a 512- 1 gig card.

Third get one with the option of using alot of different battery types paying special attension to the more advanced forms of batterys that hold a larger charge.

Fourth dont get an older model get a newer one and look at various sites that talk ONLY about digital cameras. You want to see long battery life above all else. Nothing is more upsetting then having something happen you want to remember and having the battery start to die.

Finaly look at megapixels and dont settle for anything less then 4 megapixels preferably one with 5-6 as some of them are now in the 350 range and have many useful features.

Oh on size dell of all places has a nifty fairly high pixel count camera that is rather small too. But I dont know if it has good enough optical zoom or battery life. Again above all else check a dedicated camera website or 3.

thanks guys for your help. After some consideration, I think I'll just get my sister the Canon A80.