Digital Camera question...

[Belegon]

Get at least 5 MP...no reason to get less. You may save some money but six months from now you will be frustrated.

Get one that has an anti-shake feature. That is the one thing on mine that I am most upset with myself for cost trimming in the purchasing process. You will be VERY happy you have the anti-shake feature...GET IT!

Optical zoom is better than digital zoom. Get one that has both. I have 10x Optical and a bit more above that digital.

oh, and when you are at full zoom that anti-shake feature will really pay for itself...

 

[Lovepotion69]

I thought all pocket cameras were about 4-6 megapixels nowadays! New models come out very fast, basically within half a year, so you should be able to pick some old ones up for a good price.

Skip the idea of a 3.1 megapixel, they hardly sell them anyway (at least over in Europe!). If you want to take self-portraits a swivel LCD may be the way to go. I looked at the Canon A600 (think it was that one). It has a really nice big LCD and swivel. It was very light as well for easy carrying around in a purse etc. I'm considering getting a small P&S mainly cos it's not always practical to carry my DRebel.

Make sure you know what you want to do with the camera. Also, majority of them nowadays got tons of modes, so they're all pretty much the same. What you should go for is what you can afford, but also think about the quality of the lens. It's not the only pixels that count. Don't get a too cheap camera if you're after quality. The Nikon Coolpix ones aren't that expensive I think, very light weight and such. Canon's gear is good.

Generally you will be able to choose between, small, medium and large resolution options. ALWAYS choose to shoot on the highest possible resolution. Yes, it'll take more space, but you get better quality as well, unless you know for a fact you're only taking the shot for e.g. posting hot AV's of yourself here.

Make sure you get a memory card in the deal, or go out and buy one. And yes, extra batteries. You can buy a cheap tripod. If it's a P&S you don't need anything fancy.

You will most likely have to resize your photos before emailing and posting on forums. Photos online are 72 dpi and you will have to fix the dimensions so that you won't get people mad when they have to scroll all over the place to see it...

Digital photos also need some post processing preferably. Photoshop Elements is not that expensive.

 

[tolyk]

For pictures of yourself you're going to want to make sure the camera functions well indoors. I know my Kodak point and shoot has a horrible auto-white balance, so you'd be best off going with something with a semi-controllable white-balance. Presets I mean. The Canon Powershot line (anywhere in the 4 to 6 megapixel range) or the Sony Cybershot line will do you just fine.

As others have said, you don't need more than 5 or 6 megapixels, even a 5 can print off a good quality 8 by 10 photo.

I personally really like the Powershot line, but I've not actually used them, just read the specs and discussed them with people. The cybershot has the anti-shake that Bel was mentioning.

However, I simply must disagree with Belegon, Digital zoom is not a selling feature, at all. All it does is drop out some pixels and expand the remaining ones to appear as if the image is zooming while in actuality it's just lowering your quality. Optical zoom is useful, and when digital zoom is available, TURN IT OFF.

 

[zschachwitz]

.... anyone know what to look for in one...

I had one that I loved and someone appropriated it (read: took the bloody thing without my consent... *mutters*)

did you ever get a new/replacement camera? if so, which model?