Good beginner camera

[JLC17]

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.
200-300

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?
Small (not tiny though)

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you?
3-4

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)
Standard

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
About an 8 I guess

Do you care for manual controls?
I don't right now...way too new to all of this.

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?
Vacations, friends, parties.

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
I don't plan on it, unless something turns out really well.

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
It's probably a good mix of outdoor/indoor.

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
No.

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?
I've been looking at Canon and Nikon. I'd rather stay away from Olympus because of the whole manual on CD thing.

Are there particular models you already have in mind?
Same as above.

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
Not that I know of, but I would like to stick with a camera that uses AA batteries. I'm awful at remembering to charge my phone!

Thanks for your help!!! :)

[PhilR.]

Since your requirements are nothing out of the ordinary, any digicam from one of the major manufacturers will do just fine. A good place to start would be the Canon A510, which is a full-featured compact that can be mail-ordered from newegg.com for $174. This would give you enough extra money to buy a larger memory card and extra set of rechargeable batteries.

Kodak has several good choices in the C-series, and Fuji has the E500/510 which can be found in your price range. Sony has several new models in your price range that use AA's as well.

Lastly, Nikon has several models in your price range as well, such as the 5600.

Don't sweat the decision - they are all good cameras. Stop at your local Wal-mart and see what they have. Most likely you will be able to find one of the above there.

PhilR.

[JLC17]

Thanks very much! I tend to get worked up over every decision!

I have looked at the Canon A510 and the Nikon 4600. Would you recommend one over the other?? Is the 5600 much better than the 4600??

I apologize if these questions are way too basic!! :o

[PhilR.]

Thanks very much! I tend to get worked up over every decision!

You're not the only one, that's for sure....

I have looked at the Canon A510 and the Nikon 4600. Would you recommend one over the other??

No, because they are both decent cameras. You need to determine what features are important to you, and then get the camera that has those features. For instance, in my case I would need manual exposure modes. I would therefore pick the Canon for my own use.

Is the 5600 much better than the 4600??

No, because they are essentially the same camera, with the only major difference being megapixels. Buy the one that has the megapixels you need, which from your original post would seem to be the 4600.



hth,
PhilR.

[nonilley]

If you want a small compact camera that you can take around in your pocket for those vacations, look into the Canon SD200. I looked into cameras for about 3 full weeks using this website. Originally I looked into the A510, and I would have bought it had I not needed something smaller.

Both would probably make an excellent choice.

[jessie25]

Personally I'd pick the Canon A510 over the Nikon 4600 - it's got a better combination of features for the price. But then, I own the A520, so I'm biased.