Which camera should I buy?

[baglunch]

Which camera should I buy? My wife and I are expecting our first baby in about a month, and I'm looking to upgrade from our current Kodak LS443 (4MP) for general use, but especially for relatively low-lighting as our house is somewhat dark.

Budget: $1000 for camera, memory, bag

Size: medium

Features: image quality is my main objective, but ease of use for upgrading from point and shoot is a close second; 7+ megapixels; standard zoom; fast startup and shutter release

General Usage: taking pictures of baby and family in a generally dark house, casual-use in and around the house. Perhaps on vacation and such. I'd like to have the option of making large prints, but most will be photo-album shots 4x6, 5x7)

Misc: Image stabilization would be nice, especially considering the low-lighting needs, and I'm not rock-solid myself. Rotating LCD would be a nice feature, but not necessary.

I've been looking at a Canon G6 someone is selling on craigslist, but I could use whatever advice you can give. Thank you!

[coldrain]

1000$?
Considering the baby is only baby once, maybe you can go for best... like a Canon EOS 350D/Digital Rebel XT, with a 28mm EX f1.8 DG Macro wide angle prime (field of view on the 350D 45mm) and Canon EF f1.8 50mm prime.
With a bag and a decent size memory card this may be just a bit over 1000$. but it might be worth it.

[Jason25]

I'm going to agree. Go for a DSLR with some nice primes to start. It's a fantastic setup for photographing children in virtually any condition. :)

[baglunch]

The 350 was my first choice until I began reading user reviews mentioning that it's not really a point and shoot camera. It looks like I might need to know a thing or two about F-stops, apetures, ISO speeds, or whatever, you know, actual camera stuff, in order to properly use that camera. I'm very comfortable with framing up a shot, and have gotten some nice pictures with my point and shoot Kodak LS443, but I don't know the first thing about setting anything manually. I need something that's going to take a really good picture right out of the box, and as I learn, allow me to take better pictures. But mostly, I want something that takes a picture quickly while the baby is still in the moment of discovering his hand or recognizing me, etc. while he's still making that face, and takes a good picture of it.

Also, I utterly forgot to mention that I'm in Canada. I meant CAD$1000. Best Buy up here has the 350 for $1149 (on sale), which doesn't include memory, case, or tax (14%). I probably couldn't walk out of there with that camera without spending $1500. So yeah, it looks like a beautiful camera, but I'm not sure it's the right one.

Is that right?

[Militaris]

For $1000 CAD the 350D is probably not a affordable option. The body is only part of the initital expense, which increases when you include a decent lens. There are cheaper SLR around although I suspect they would still be to expensive.

The Canon PowerShot G6 is still a good camera. A few alternative cameras worth looking at.

Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200: 8MP, 7X optical, hot shoe, Anti-shake system, Rotating LCD, Good image quality. Although quite large.

Canon PowerShot A620, a nice compact camera, good image quality, good performance, 7.1 Megapixel, 4x Optical and a rotating LCD display. Probably cheaper then the G6.

Fuji FinePix F10/F11: Again quite a nice camera, although limited manual controls, although excellent low light ability due to its ability of releatively low noise high ISO settings.

[baglunch]

Very cool. I'll have a look at those cameras. My wife will be very grateful if I stop moping about wanting a RebelXT.

[coldrain]

The 350D/XT is every part as much a point and shoot as a point and shoot (it is as complex as a G6 for instance). It has different programs for portraits, landscapes, macro photos, moving subjects, night photos and a no flash mode for for instance musea, if you do not want to know about shutter speed, aperture and such. It also has a full auto mode, when you do not pick a specific mode. And it has auto white balance, so you do not have to select the right white balance mode if you dont feel like it.

Complex? No. Best option for indoors photos of your new growing up familiy member? Probably. I enjoy the photos my dad made of me when I was little a lot.

Price... I do not know much about the US market and its prices, so I just looked some up at B&H photo and found the following:
Canon EOS Rebel XT $715
Canon EF 28mm f2.8 $160
Canon EF 50mm f1.8 $75

So, $950. That is cutting it close, I do not know if there are sharper prices to be found... I guess a "trip" to amazon.com will tell.

Of the cameras listed by militaris the G6 and the F11 seem to be the best options, considering you will want to make indoors photos without flash often.

[Jason25]

I really would go for a DSLR, you won't regret it if you do. We got a Canon S410 shortly before our son was born, and now I'm wishing I would have had my D50 back then (if it were available at the time) or a 300D. Hell, get a used DSLR if you have to :D