What digital camera should I get?

I'm currently looking to buy a digital camera. The type I'd be looking at is in the $200 to $400 range. For example, something similar to a Casio Xslim type. I've been to look at some and I like the Xslim the best. Whether you tell me to go with the Xslim or buy something else, any suggestions would be appricated. Thanks.

How many megapixels you want? For family settings, usually 5megapixels is more than enough. It'd be cheaper too. But if you want to go even higher, Sony's DSC-M1 8.1 megapixels is pretty nice. I think the price is around $400 if it didn't go up again after that sale a month ago.

Somewhere around 7 mega pixels is what I would be looking at

Then you can try SONY DSC-W70. It's 7 mega pixels with ISO of 1000, anti-hand shake feature, with 1.3 second of camera activation time. Closest shooting range is 6cm. It also has lots of modes - moonlight shot, beach shot, firework, snow, candlelight, etc.

But the price between 7megapixel and 8 isn't that much of a difference. So for extra $50-$100, you can get 8 megapixels. Sony's DSC-W100 (8 mega pixel) is the same as Sony DSC M-1. The only difference is that M-1 is a touch screen instead of all buttons. The shutters and so on are still buttons, but the menus for M1 are touch screen format.

The biggest thing about buy a new digital camera is its brand. Canon and Sony's the best.

You may find this to be handy.

Other than that I don't have any suggestions for a compact. All my research lately has been dedicated to dSLRs.

Originally Posted by F3

You may find this to be handy.

I'll second that, www.dpreview.com & www.dcresource.com are a great place to start, a lot of reviews and info can be found there. I also suggest taking a look at the forums over at DC Resource, you can lean a lot just looking around, and they have a great buyers guide as well.

Solarian Wolf also has a good point, Canon and Sony's are great (for the most part), I've also heard some good things about some of Fuji's cameras. Casio however, I'm not too sure about, I haven't had any experience with them. I'm also a big fan of Nikon's DSLRs, but I don't really know anything about their compact cameras.

Although I can't really recommend any specific model, I can give you some things to look for when buying a camera:

-Noisy little things them compacts are. (Random titles...o_0)

One problem with lot of cameras in the 7MP+ compact range, is the photos tend to get really Noisy (grainy) at medium to high ISO levels (around ISO 200-1600). So read some reviews and look at some sample photos before you buy one.

-Image stabilization IS your friend!

Look for one with anti-shake (or Image stabilization [IS]). Compacts can be very hard to hold still at times, and blur easily - especially in low light.

-Try it out before you buy it! (Even if you're going to buy it online, try one out at a store first.)

I was looking at DSLRs last year and I looked at many cameras, read review after review, and finally narrowed it down to 3, the Canon 350D, Nikon D50, & the Konica Minolta 5D. I really didn't look at the D50 too much, I mean it looked like a good camera, but the specs just didn't really seem to be particularly greater than the other two. Oddly enough, after I tried them out - I went with the D50, as the Canon just didn't feel right in my hands and the Minolta was too slow for my tastes.

...Long story short: Try it out before you buy it!

-Optical viewfinders, LCDs and the sun don't mix.

Optical viewfinders seem be getting harder to find on consumer level cameras, and that's not a good thing. I strongly recommend getting a camera that has one - if you have ever tried taking a photo in the mid-day sun, looking through an LCD - You'll know why.

-Lots O' storage!

Buy at least a 1Gb card, a 2Gb card would be even better, especially if you get a camera over 6MP.

-More Mega-Pixels = better image? No, no, no...

One thing a lot of people seem to think the more Mega-Pixels, the better the image - This however, is not the case. More MP just means a bigger image, not a better image - that depends on the lens more than anything.

I don't know if that was of any help or not, but that's about all I can think to say on the subject...

For digita compact cameras, Fuji and Canon are excellent. You probably wont find optical viewfinders unless you get a DSLR, which is way out of your price range. Also, the new samsung NV10 has been getting good reviews and is pretty compact.

Definitely fllow that link to dpreview and read some reviews, also, they're forums are great. You'd be better off registering there and asking a camera related question, or simply do a search because there are many confused people just like you

Thanks lots. I will check out the avenues that you all suggested. Thanks again!

*Bows in reverance*

Forgot to mention, If you want slighly more opinionated reviews of cameras, check out www.kenrockwell.com and go to the [How to] section. It's got alot of reviews of Canon compact cameras. Might be worth a read. goodvluck