Opening the floor

[ladynox25]

So....I've decided that I want to get myself a digital camera. Here's the deal: I'm on a limited budget, so I can't just get the top-of-the-line, all-the-bells-and-whistles, very expensive but also very neat model. What I want is good, solid quality, a decent amount of memory, and some zoom capability. I don't want to give up my old dinky point-and-shoot film camera in order to get a dinky point-and-shoot digital. I want something nice, in other words, but not too pricey.

So, all of y'all out there, those who have digital cameras and those who know a heck of a lot more than I do, what should I be looking at? What models are good? What's the price range I should be looking at for what I want?

The floor is yours.

Edit: I don't know if this matters or not, so y'all can tell me, but it needs to be compatable with both Mac and PC, software-wise.

Comments

Re: English, please?

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

SLR="single-lens reflex" Fancy-pants camera type used by people who Do Photography, rather than just taking pictures. Finding further details is left as an exercise for the student.

Mpixels="megapixels"=10^6 pixels, i.e. what is the maximum resolution the camera is capable of (more pixels per image=>better resolution). For reference, your typical computer monitor is 1064x768 pixels.

You're clearly just looking for recommendations of cameras to look at (see, this is a problem w/ asking nerdy people for technology advice, they want you to be all specific about what you want, so they can advise you about the most intimite details of the devices), so here:

My camera (Canon power-shot digital elph s110) is several years old now, but is sufficient for my needs. It's served well, is fairly sturdy and small, takes decent photos, but doesn't do much in the way of on-board image processing (which is fine, because I just do all that on my computer). It's more recent incarnation (which is undoubtedly much swizzier) costs in the $200-$300 range.

I have a friend who uses some version of the Nikon Coolpix, and likes it. I'm not sure which model, though, one of the mid-range ones, which is probably beyond your budget, but the low-end models might also be good.

Re: English, please?

[texas-tiger.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Re: English, please?

[annewashere.livejournal.com]

anecdotal:

It's hard to go wrong with that line of little Canons that Jamie recommends up there, plus they take standard memory that you can use in other things. I've heard folks with bad experiences with HPs. You could do worse than just going back into Best Buy and getting the Canon that's in your price range. Simple solution...