Digital camera selection help?

Question

Hi All,
Thanks for the help. I would like recommendations on a digital camera that records movies as well. Would like nice clear pictures (doesn't everybody?) but would like to spend under $200 if possible. Suggestions appreciated! Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi Barbara, knowing your budget upfront is the best way to approach digital camera buying because there are so many options at different prices.

For under $200 I'd recommend one of the Canon Powershots. Either of the newer models, A530 (4MP) or A540 (6MP) will easily come in at or under your budget. They're both currently available on Amazon for about $130 and $170 respectively. With the 530 you'll have some money left over to get a good large memory card, look for a 1GB or 2GB. Sandisk Ultra II cards are fairly cheap now, under $50 for a 1GB.

Although either camera will get you excellent image quality the biggest advantage with the 540 would probably be the larger lcd display at back - 2.5" versus 1.8".

Dpreview.com has a useful side-by-side comparison chart [0] and is generally a good resource to research digital cameras.

I recently recommended a 530 for a friend and he loves it.

Answer 2

I have a Kodak easyshare digital camera. It does a fairly good job and is one of the older versions. There are some newer versions that are better and they are priced under $200. I recently took mine to Ireland and came back with some great photos. Some of it depends upon the quality setting you put it on. The lower the quality the more pictures you can take, obviously the better the quality the less pictures you take. Of course, the better the quality, the better the pictures. Also, a 5x zoom isn't a bad bet when it comes to a digital camera. Try searching the net with the key words "digital cameras" and see what you come up with.