Help With Picking a Digital Camera?

Question

I am looking to get a digital camera that's between $80-$130. Here is a list of the features I want:
Quick photo taking. I have a two year old and I don’t' want all of this photos being blurry. Most of the ones I have taken lately are with his eyes half closed. So I need to be able to take a quick photo.

Zooming: I would like the option to manually zoom in, doesn't have to be a lot, but just enough. Our current camera has no zoom so I have to walk closer to what I'm taking a photo of.

Quality: I would like to be able to print an 8 1/2 X 11 of the photo I took. So I don't need a ton of mega pixels but enough to have a photo of that size.

And lastly, a good flash: My friend's camera always washes everyone out with the flash. She's played around with it but everyone still comes out white, so maybe a camera with a not-so-bright flash. I am white enough without having a flash make it worse! :)

So if you know of any good brands and models, I would appreciate it! Thank you.

Answer 1

your requirements and price range don't quite match.

Understand, that indoor photos of a 2-year old is one of the most difficult things to photograph. They never stop moving and you need lightning fast response from a camera to capture the perfect moment.

While you can get a number of decent (not great) cameras for sub $150, it may not do everything that you want it to do.

Stick with the name brands. Canon, Sony, Fuji, Pentax, oh, and don't forget Panasonic- they've been making some great cameras recently.

Answer 2

My Dad and I both got Sony Cybershot Cameras.
Mine is a little older but it has zoom on it and the option to change the pixels. It also has video and a play mode to view your pictures/videos after you took them.
My Dad has the newer one and it has some all of the same features of mine though some are different: he has one that allows you to- low flash, no flash, flash, take waterslide scenes with rich blue color, take snow scenes with really white color, landscape, soft background, portrait, and I few more I think but I can't remember. They really are great cameras. Look around at Best Buy and find a Sony Cybershot, they are awesome.
Ps- They take pictures pretty fast.

Answer 3

well my camera cost $359 (at circuit city, regular is like $400 or so) but it has what you want. you can have manual or automatic focus. you can zoom (3x optical and i forgot how much digital). for the flash situation, it has its normal flash, soft flash, red eyes, auto, none. it has many seetings in the 'best shot' mode. some of these settings are anti shake (for hand and subject movement), children (fast shutter speed so it wont be blurry), flower mode, a mode for ebay, monochrome, twilight, retro, trees, flowing water, portrait, pets, food, etc, etc. or you can just take a normal snap shot. there is also a voice recorder, and you can take videos. the videos are very fun, they last as long as your battery life and as much as ur memory card will hold. the battery is a rechargeable lithium ion battery which taked 3 hrs to charge so i bought a spare battery and a rapid charger so it takes 2 hrs and i can take pictures while its charging or if im out and one dies i have a back up. it takes sd memory cards. it has a huge screen which is wonderful. it has many filters.i think it is very user friendly, but i am good with things like that. it had where you can take multiple pics incase someone blinked stuck out tounge, etc. its is very small and light and it comes ith a wrist strap. i absolutely love it. you need a memory card because the internal memory hold 2 pics (you can change the size of the pics and it will hold more but i didnt want to mess with that i wasnt sure what it would do). i suggest 2gb. yes it does cost more but trust me it is worth it for sure. it is a casio exilim ex z-850 digital camera. here it is at circuit city: http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Casio-Exilim-EX-Z850-Digital-Camera/sem/rpsm/context/99000922/oid/147855/catOid/-13062/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do . i love it so much. there are lower versions and there is a higher version. they can all be found here: http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Digital-Cameras/sem/rpsm/context/99000922/N/40000922+21013062/catOid/-13062/rpem/ccd/shopbybrand.do . i dont like the higer one. the lower versions are good and much smaller but i dont like them. they are also cheeper. i hope this helped. contact me if you have any questions about it the camera, and if you do get it and need help with using it feel free to contact me. good luck!

Answer 4

I would recommend looking at the Casio Exilim line. The lower end, which are still good cameras, will cost between $149 - $179, which above your range, but worth the extra $$. Otherwise, you are bound to get very poor digital camera.

Here is the Casio Exilim:
http://exilim.casio.com

They are available at Radio Shack at http://www.radioshack.com

Answer 5

Canon