King

I am looking to buy a digital camera. I want to spend between $200 - 300 Canadian. I don't know too much about digital camera's, so I am looking for some input from you guys. What is a good brand for digital cameras? What would be the standard megapixels, optical zoom, and digital zoom for that price range? I have been looking at some cameras at best buy and many of them are similar in stats, so I don't even know where to start. Any advice on this would be great.

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mrynit

go to your local library and look for consumer reports magazine. they frequently have evaluations of cameras.

5MP is good. +/- it is about print out size.
you want more optical zoom than digital as optical is better quality

here is a good tutorial http://www.computerforum.com/43610-d...era-101-a.html

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Infinite Recursion

I favor Sony digital cameras... each one has pros and cons. The last one I got was a bit overkill, just make sure you are not paying for things that you would probably never use.

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DaWei

You don't want less than 5 megapixels if you're going to make prints. Eight is better.

Digital zoom is worthless. It's nothing but a crop. In other words, the resolution goes down.

You need to make sure that the megapixel number is true pixels (an RGB triplet per pixel). Some manufacturers will mislead you.

If you're at all serious, you want some control. By this I mean things like white balance, ASA number, shutter speed, and aperature. You also want through-the-lens viewing. That is, the viewfinder or display accurately reflects what the sensor is seeing. Otherwise, you get parallax error for close up work.

Check the ability to focus close, if it isn't a fixed focus job. One wouldn't even get fixed focus if one were truly serious.

Lens interchangeability is a big plus, as is stabilization in either the lens or the body. The reaction time is important. Does it take half a dam' second to actually snap the picture after you press the button? Not good for action. How long after one picture before you can take the next?

Get plenty of memory so as to avoid having to lug something around that you can download 'em to. Get spare batteries.

Again, if you're serious, get a camera with RAW output.

If you're just going for point and shoot, you can just about step up to the counter, close your eyes, and go "eeny meeny miney mo".

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King

Thanks for the info guys.

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The Dark

One thing I did was to go to flickr and look at photos taken by other people with the camera I was looking at.

King

My friend recommended this one:
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...94&catid=22474

Does that look decent for the price?

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